Trainer Richard Baltas’ fifth win in the past eight runnings of the Santa Ana Stakes was a surprise as Lady Claypoole and jockey Tiago Pereira rallied from last on the far outside to win at 11-1 odds Saturday at Santa Anita.
A 5-year-old mare bred in Ireland, Lady Claypoole ($25.40) won her third race in a row and first at the stakes level, taking the $100,000, Grade III Santa Ana by 2 1/2 lengths over Mrs. Astor, with Starry Heavens third and heavy favorite Kathynmarissa fading to fifth in a field of seven fillies and mares.
The 1 1/4-mile race, starting on the turf hillside, was clocked in 2:01.40, the slowest of six runnings of the Santa Ana at this distance.
Baltas won the Santa Ana with favorites Goodyearforroses in 2017, Madam Dancealot in 2018 and Elysea’s World in 2019 and second betting choice Going to Vegas in 2021. The Santa Ana wasn’t run in 2020.
“She has been getting good,” Baltas said of Lady Claypoole in a TV interview. “(Pereira) gets her to settle. He’s (given) three perfect rides. You have to give a lot of credit to him.”
The upset helped to produce a two-day carryover in the Santa Anita pick-six, adding more than $218,000 to the Sunday pool.