Santa Anita's 45th running of the
Grade III, $100,000 Santa Ysabel Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles includes
Grade I Hollywood Starlet winner Killer Graces and runner-up Charm the Maker.
They will face flashy Eden’s Moon, who broke her maiden by 11 ½ lengths for
trainer Bob Baffert while going one mile on Jan. 8.
Killer Graces and Charm the Maker
renew their rivalry in the Santa Ysabel. Charm the Maker came out 1 ¼ lengths
ahead when winning Hollywood Park’s Sharp Cat Stakes on Nov. 13 before Killer
Graces turned the tables by one-half length in the Grade I Starlet on Dec. 10.
Both have been freshened since then.
Joe Talamo is the regular rider for
Killer Graces, trained by Jerry Hollendorfer for a partnership. The Congaree
offspring has earned $394,830 from a 3-3-0 mark in 8 starts. Rafael Bejarano
replaces Gomez atop homebred Charm the Maker, who is trained by Ron McAnally
and owned by his wife, Deborah. The Empire Maker filly has posted a 2-1-1
record in 4 starts for winnings of $208,200.
Kaleem Shah purchased Eden’s Moon at
auction for $390,000 last May. The daughter of Malibu Moon was 2-5 when beaten
by well-regarded Reneesgotzip in her six-furlong debut last December at
Hollywood Park. When stretched out to one mile at Santa Anita on Jan. 8, she
demolished her opposition. Martin Garcia has the return riding assignment as
Eden’s Moon steps into graded stakes competition.
The complete field for the Santa
Ysabel Stakes, with jockeys and weights in post position order: Coup de Coeur,
Rosario, 118; Eden’s Moon, Martin Garcia, 118; Batalha, Chantal Sutherland,
118; Willa B Awesome, Martin Pedroza, 118; Lady of Shamrock, Smith, 118; Killer
Graces, Talamo, 123, and Charm the Maker, Bejarano, 118.