What’s On Track: Sizzling Stakes Action from Near and Far (and everywhere in between)

TORONTO — By Matthew Lomon

Stakes Winner Showdown

Los Alamitos Race Course is set to host the $200,000 Starlet Stakes (G2) on Saturday afternoon.

Stakes winners Chatalas (2-1) and Nothing Like You (9-5) head what’s expected to be a small field of 2-year-old fillies vying for the top prize.

Chatalas has experienced just about everything a racehorse can, even if she’s only got four career starts to her name. The filly was victorious in her pro debut, finished fourth in the Del Mar Debutante (G1), won the Chandelier (G2), and ran to a ninth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

Nothing Like You, on the other hand, just recently graduated to the stakes level on Nov. 18. The Kentucky-bred crossed the finish line first to capture the Desi Arnaz Stakes by a nose at 5-1. Altogether, the Juan Hernandez mount is 2-1-0 from five starts.

Team Effort

The lone stakes on Woodbine’s Saturday card features a pair of Kevin Attard trainees who will try to channel their inner Jeff Kent and Barry Bonds, who as San Francisco Giants teammates finished one-two in 2000 National League MVP voting.

Fashionably Fab (even-money) and Strega (4-1) will join three other hopefuls on the Tapeta for the $100,000 La Prevoyante Stakes.

The younger of the two, Fashionably Fab, has found her stride lately, reeling off three straight wins, including the Eternal Search and Ashbridges Bay Stakes.’ Overall, the filly is 6-0-2 in 10 career starts.

The elder Attard disciple had strung together a solid four-race stretch before hitting a wall last time out in the Eternal Search (second-to-last). Tough trip aside, Strega owns a respectable 4-3-4 line through 16 tries.

State of Champions

The LSU Tigers’ football, baseball, and women’s basketball programs have all given the state of Louisiana plenty of reasons to celebrate champions lately, but so has the Louisiana Champions Day at Fair Grounds.

This Saturday will be the 33^rd edition of the most exciting day on The Pelican State’s racing schedule. Taking center stage is the $150,000 Champions Day Classic. The 1 1/8-mile dash drew a field of six, headlined by 3-5 opening line favorite Touchuponastar.

Like Joe Burrow in the 2019 Heisman Trophy race, the 4-year-old gelding stands well above the competition, and for good reason. In 12 career starts, Touchuponastar has always landed in the money, running to a remarkable 9-2-1 line.

After taking home five Black Type Stakes, the Jeff Delhomme trainee tried his hand at the graded level in the Steve Sexton Mile (G3) on May 29, finishing second by 1 ½-lengths.

Seasonal Sprints, etc., etc.

Seasonal sprints? Festive fixtures? Holiday heats? These are all appropriate tags for the set of stakes coming to Oaklawn Park in Arkansas this Saturday.

Leading off the double feature is the Ring the Bell Stakes, a six-furlong contest for horses aged 3-years and older. Leaving the gate as race six, the $150,000 affair includes two strong competitors in Tejano Twist (8-5) and Ryvit (2-1).

The former is a graded stakes winner (Grade 3 Whitmore Stakes) and 8-6-4 through 27 career starts, while the latter is also a graded victor (Grade 3 Chick Lang), who most recently captured the Steel Valley Sprint Stakes on Nov. 20.

Following race 9 is another $150,000 competition, the one-mile Mistletoe Stakes. Lovely Ride (4-1) is looking to author a performance indicative of her name, as the mare chases a second consecutive Mistletoe triumph.

Lately, it’s been a struggle for Lovely Ride, who’s faltered to finishes of fifth, fourth, and sixth in her last three attempts. Perhaps a familiar quest will get the Sean Williams trainee back on track.

Upward Trajectory

Woodbine’s Sunday special, the $100,000 Steady Growth Stakes, fits the career arc of one of its contestants to a tee.

A 5-year-old gelding out of spring farm, Cruden Bay has been the epitome of steady growth through 19 lifetime starts. After finishing sixth in three of his first four races, the Don MacRae trainee has missed the podium just once in the ensuing 15 starts.

Sunday’s attempt will be Cruden Bay’s first shot at stakes success, having previously never run at the level despite proving more than capable in a large sample size.

But, a 3-4-0 record through seven tries in 2023 prompted MacRae to raise the stakes.