Leading trainer Phil D'Amato hopes to cap the final weekend of a glorious meet with a flourish when he sends out Leggs Galore in Sunday's Grade 3 Wilshire Stakes for fillies and mares three and up at a mile on turf at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
Should the four-year-old gray daughter of 2014 Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Bayern win, it would give her four stakes victories at the meet, her only loss coming in the Mizdirection Stakes, when she experienced a troubled trip.
“She's training well, so hopefully it's all systems go for Sunday,” said D'Amato, who holds a 48-43 lead over runner-up Peter Miller in the trainers' standings, exceeding his expectations.
“I thought my stock would take a little longer to blossom,” he said, “but we struck early on and kept it rolling.
“It's basically a credit to my owners and my team. We hope to keep things going like they're going.”
Owned and bred by William Sims, Leggs Galore on May 9 won the Fran's Valentine stretching out to a mile for the first time, leading throughout against California-breds.
She has won six of her last seven starts, including a string of five straight prior to her Mizdirection mishap.
Despite being five wins behind, with eight horses entered the final two days of the meet to D'Amato's 13, Miller still holds a mathematical chance of capturing the title.
Miller has three horses entered today: 2-1 morning line favorite Texas Wedge and 5-1 chance Commander in the third race and 9-5 favorite None Above the Law in the ninth.
Sunday, Miller has five entered: 8-5 Paid Informant in the second, 4-5 Neptune's Storm in the seventh, 5-2 Laurel Canyon in the eighth, 12-1 Querelle in the ninth, and 3-1 Gypsy Blu in the 11th and final race.
D'Amato has eight entered today: Lips Like Sugar, 30-1 in the first; Tilted Towers, 8-1 in the third; Hollywoodhellraiser, 15-1 in the fifth; Ready Soul, 6-1 in the seventh; Palace Coup, 5-1 in the eighth; Cargo, 8-1 in the ninth; and Red King, 5-2, and Acclimate, 9-5, in the 11th.
D'Amato has five entered Sunday: Burgo Alley, 5-2 in the first; On Mars, 2-1 and Beguiled, 5-1, in the second; Leggs Galore, 3-1, in the sixth; and Big Clare, 5-1, in the 11th.
Stay tuned.
The Wilshire, race nine of 11 with a 1 p.m. first post time: Quiet Secretary, Jessica Pyfer, 8-1; Brooke, Umberto Rispoli, 5-1; Gidgetta, Mario Gutierrez,6-1; Querelle, Trevor McCarthy, 12-1; Warren's Showtime, Juan Hernandez, 5-2; Leggs Galore, Ricardo Gonzalez, 3-1; Stela Star, Flavien Prat, 4-1; and Ippodemia's Girl, Joe Bravo, 12-1.
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