Mrs. Astor 'Relishes A Route Of Ground', Wins Santa Barbara
Mrs. Astor got back on the beam for trainer Jonathan Thomas Sunday when rolling to an authoritative five-length victory under Umberto Rispoli in the $100,000 Santa Barbara for older fillies and mares going 1½ mile on turf at Santa Anita.
Mrs. Astor entered the Santa Barbara following a second-place finish in the Santa Ana (G3) at 1¼ miles on turf when making her seasonal debut March 15 at the Arcadia, Calif. tracl. That effort followed consecutive graded stakes wins to close out 2024 in the Red Carpet (G#) at Del Mar and Robert J. Frankel (G3) at Santa Anita in December.
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Bet down to the even-money favorite, Mrs. Astor settled in fourth as 17-1 longshot Sakura Blossom set a pace of :23.54, :47.11, 1:11.54 and 1:37.35 through one mile. Mrs. Astor then drew into contention with an outside rally on the final turn, surged in front of new leader Starry Heavens just past the quarter pole and then extended her advantage through the stretch to bag her third graded stakes win.
Starry Heavens, a European import making her second U.S. start for trainer Phil D'Amato, held second by a nose over Sophisticate.
'Last time (in the Santa Ana), I messed up,' Rispoli said. 'I have to totally admit that it was my fault when I got beat. I gave her so much confidence. She looked like a filly that traveled well and you think that once she comes off the heels of the other horse that she is going to have a turn of foot. But she didn't that day.
'Today, I kicked my legs out at the three-eighths, and she had a long acceleration. She was much the best. She liked the track (which received light rain). It was a plus for us. But I definitely rode her better than last time.'
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Mrs. Astor's winning time on a firm course was 2:27.95.
'She really relishes a route of ground,' Thomas said. 'There's only a handful of opportunities, so we have to make the best use of them when we can.'
For fillies and mares going long on turf, the next graded stakes spot at Santa Anita is the 1¼-mile Possibly Perfect on June 14. The following day, closing day of the Hollywood Meet, Santa Anita hosts its iconic San Juan Capistrano (G3) at about 1¾ miles on turf for 3-year-olds and up.
Thomas said taking on males in the San Juan Capistrano could be next for Mrs. Astor.
'I'm going to take a look. I'm curious about stretching her out,' Thomas said.
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A 5-year-old mare by Lookin At Lucky out of the Creative Cause mare Causal, Mrs. Astor is a homebred for George Strawbridge's Augustin Stables. She improved to 5-5-3 from 18 career starts and $435,235 in earnings.
Mrs. Astor paid $4.20 for the victory.
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