Island Fashion will vie for her third straight Grade I win in the $250,000 Santa Maria Handicap, part of a loaded Presidents' Day race card at Santa Anita Park on Monday. The $200,000 San Luis Obispo Handicap (gr. IIt), a 1 1/2-mile tilt for older turf horses, also headlines the program.
A 4-year-old daughter of Petionville trained by Marcelo Polanco, Island Fashion won the La Brea Stakes Dec. 27 at Santa Anita and the Santa Monica Handicap Jan. 25. Both of those grade I races were seven furlongs. Monday she'll stretch out to 1 1/16 miles.
"This distance is much better for her," Polanco said. "Going seven-eighths, she has to force herself a lot more. A mile and a sixteenth she can take a breather and will be a lot more dangerous going long."
Kent Desormeaux, who rode Island Fashion in her previous Grade I wins, will be in the irons again Monday.
Six other fillies and mares will compete in the Santa Maria, including Breeders' Cup Distaff (gr. I) winner Adoration and Argentine-import Star Parade.
In five starts since coming to the United States, Star Parade has won three times, including the Bayakoa Handicap (gr. II) Dec. 7. She'll be making her grade I debut for trainer Darrell Vienna in the Santa Maria.
Adoration ran a distant second to Star Parade in the Bayakoa her last time out.
The $200,000 San Luis Obispo Handicap (gr. IIT) is the Presidents' Day co-feature. Twelve horses are entered in the 1-½ mile turf race – the largest San Luis Obispo field in 14 years. Stakes winners Researched, Runaway Dancer and Fairly Ransom head the crowded field.
$250,000 Santa Maria Handicap (gr. I, Race 8, 4:07 p.m. PST), fillies & mares 4 & up, 1 1/16 milePP. Horse, Jockey Weight
1. Preeminence, Corey Nakatani, 117
2. Bare Necessities, Jose Valdivia Jr. 118
3. Angel Gift, Gary Stevens, 112
4. Island Fashion, Desormeaux, 121
5. La Tour, Alex Solis, 112
6. Adoration, Mike Smith, 120
7. Star Parade, Victor Espinoza, 114
San Luis Obispo Handicap (gr. IIT, Race 9, 4:37 p.m. PST), 4 & up, 1 1/2 miles on turf PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight
1. Meteor Storm, Jose Valdivia Jr., 113
2. Puerto Banus, Victor Espinoza, 115
3. Señor Swinger, Javier Santiago, 113
4. Researched, Gary Stevens, 115
5. Adminniestrator, David Flores, 113
6. Gene de Campeao, Omar Berrio, 114
7. Continental Red, Corey Nakatani, 115
8. Fairly Ransom, Alex Solis, 115
9. Labirinto, Tyler Baze, 115
10. Bourbon County, Luis Jauregi, 112
11. Runaway Dancer, Mike Smith, 113
12. Continuously, Kent Desormeaux, 116
