santa anita | Horse Racing Free Tips

Bella Vita Makes Short Work Of Cal-Bred Rivals In Spring Fever

In a thoroughly dominant performance, Kaleem Shah's Bella Vita, idle since May 16, made short work of six rivals as she powered to a 4 ½-length win in Sunday's $100,000 Spring Fever Stakes at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif. Ridden by Flavien Prat, the California-bred filly by Shah's 2014 Breeders' Cup Classic winner Bayern got six furlongs in 1:10.33.

Breaking alertly from her outside post position, Bella Vita looked to be in control the entire trip, as she sat a measured fourth, about two lengths off the lead 3 ½ furlongs from home. With Square Peggy rushing up on her outside, Bella Vita shifted out and in an eye-catching move, collared her rival approaching the quarter pole and drew off to win in-hand with her ears pricked.

“One thing about this filly, she's very tractable,” said Callaghan. “(Prat) said she's very push button. You can put her wherever you want, and I think when you have that tactical speed but you relax, it's nice for the jockeys so they can put her wherever she wants (to be).”

A close second in the six-furlong Evening Jewel Stakes May 16, Bella Vita was pounded down to 1-5 and paid $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10.

“Bayern certainly brings back lots of memories and this filly, she was bred by John Sikura and I'm so happy for John,” said Shah, who ponied up $400,000 to purchase Bella Vita out of a 2-year-olds in training sale in April of 2019. “I hope that this filly, along with many other progenies of Bayern, go on to bigger and better things.”

A runaway 5 ½-furlong turf maiden winner in her second start on Feb. 16, 2020, Bella Vita, who is out of the Storm Cat mare Queenie Cat, is now 5-2-2-1 and with the winner's share of $60,000, increased her earnings to $146,996.

Ridden by Alexis Centeno for Doug O'Neill, She's a Dime was second best, finishing 1 ¾ lengths in front of longshot Dr Wysong. Off at 8-1, She's a Dime paid $4.40 and $2.80.

Off at 22-1, Dr Wysong rallied wideout under Abel Cedillo and paid $4.40 to show while finishing 1 ½ lengths in front of Cassie Belle.

Fractions on the race were 22.70, 45.91 and 57.95.

Sponsored by the CTBA, the Spring Fever is part of the CTBA's Golden State Series, for eligible California-bred or sired runners.

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Santa Anita Boosting Big ‘Cap Day Overnight Purses By $15,000 Per Race

Santa Anita Park and Del Mar Thoroughbred Club have joined forces to create the $1 Million Wild West Bonus providing $1 million in additional money to winning connections of any horse that sweeps three of Southern California's most prestigious Grade 1 races, the $400,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6, the $300,000 Hollywood Gold Cup (at Santa Anita) on May 31 and the $750,000 TVG Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 21.

Including the $1 million bonus, any horse sweeping these three races would bank a total of $1,870,000.

All three races are run at the North American classic distance of a mile and a quarter.

Santa Anita has also increased the purses of the China Doll Stakes to be run March 6 from $75,000 to $100,000. Additionally, Santa Anita will raise purses on all overnight races on Big 'Cap Day by $15,000 per race in an effort to ensure big fields and reward owners and trainers who continue to support Santa Anita on its most significant programs.

For additional information on the $1 Million Wild West Bonus, call Santa Anita's Racing Office at 626 574-6352.

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Charmaine’s Mia Takes Buena Vista On The Stretch-Out For D’Amato

Relegated to sprinting in her last 21 starts, trainer Phil D'Amato's Charmaine's Mia handled a stretch-out to one mile on turf with aplomb on Saturday at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif., as she pressed the early pace en route to a one-length score in the Grade 2, $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes. Ridden for the first time by Flavien Prat, she got the distance in 1:33.93.

With longshot Bohemian Bourbon fully committed to a front-running trip, Charmaine's Mia, who was an impressive 2 ½-length winner of the G3 Las Cienegas Stakes at six furlongs on turf Jan. 9, sat a close second to the quarter pole, where she took command and then held multiple graded stakes winning Mucho Unusual safe in the final sixteenth of a mile.

“She broke sharp,” said Prat, who collected his third win on the afternoon. “She's really fast out of the gate and I wanted to be on the lead, but the inside horse (Bohemian Bourbon) was pulling very hard, so we were second, which was as good place to be. When we made the lead at the quarter pole, she got a good breather and from there, she finished really well.”

Formerly based in Toronto at Woodbine, Charmaine's Mia was off at 16-1 in the Las Cienegas, which was her Southern California debut and first start for D'Amato. Heavily backed today at 6-5 in a field of nine older fillies and mares, she paid $4.60, $3.00 and $2.40.

“It's huge, Flavien said there's more in the tank,” said D'Amato. “She rated nice. If she needed to go a little further, it wasn't a problem. So that definitely broadens her horizons and maybe has us starting to look at Grade I's.”

Owned by Agave Racing Stable and Rockin Robin Racing Stables, Charmaine's Mia, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by The Factor out of the Bernstein mare Charming Vixen, notched her second graded stakes victory and improved her overall mark to 27-6-4-2. With the winner's take of $120,000, she increased her earnings to $352,976.

Trainer Tim Yakteen's Mucho Unusual, who was mid-pack early, put in a solid late run but ran out of real estate while finishing three quarters of a length in front of Warren's Showtime. A winner of two consecutive graded stakes at the current meeting, she was the second choice at 7-2 and paid $4.20 and $3.00 with Abel Cedillo up.

Consistent Warren's Showtime, who had three horses beat heading into the far turn, put in a solid late bid as well, but was third best on the day under Juan Hernandez. Off at 5-1, she paid $3.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 22.65, 45.93, 1:09.75 and 1:21.75.

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Sunday’s Insights: Deep Msw of Grassy Sophomore Sprinters On Tap at Santa Anita

5th-SA, $61K, Msw, 3yo, 6fT, 5:42 p.m. ET

NAISMITH (Medaglia d'Oro) will lace them up for the first time for MyRacehorse and Hall of Famer Richard Mandella. The half-brother to GISW and young Darby Dan stallion Klimt (Quality Road) and GSP West Coast Chick (Malibu Moon) was a $385,000 KEENOV weanling and $150,000 OBS July 2-year-old.

The rail-drawn Epidemic (Orb) has some bullets in the holster for his unveiling as well. Ryan Hanson trains the half-brother to millionaire Stanford (Malibu Moon), who most recently brought $165,000 as an OBS March 2-year-old.

A very strong third in his lone prior attempt on grass in the Del Mar Juvenile Turf S. Sept. 7, the maiden of six starts Ambivalent (Constitution) gets some major class relief. He makes his first attempt since finishing a well-beaten third in the GIII Bob Hope S. Nov. 15.

TJCIS PPs

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