Trainer
Ben Cecil and owner Arnold Zetcher came away enthused and with raised
expectations for 4-year-old filly Andina after Saturday’s 56th
Osunitas Stakes. The Irish-bred daughter of Singspiel held off Wild Mia by a
head in the 1 1/16-mile turf race, her fourth factory and 12th
in-the-money finish in 15 career starts.
“We
figured out she doesn’t want to go a mile and a quarter (sixth in the April 16
Grade II Santa Barbara Handicap),” Cecil said. “But at this level she’s very
tough. Now we need to get her a win in a graded stakes. We’re looking at the
Mabee (Grade II, $250,000 John C. Mabee, Sunday, August 14) and the Palomar at
the end of the meet.” The Grade II Palomar Handicap is set for Labor Day,
Monday, September 5, and is 1 1/16 miles on the turf, a sixteenth shorter than
the Mabee.
“We
bought her in Europe as a two-year-old and she has been an amazingly consistent
filly,” Zetcher noted. “The way she held on here and wouldn’t let those
other fillies go by her…what a race she ran today.”