It was love at first sight for Joel Rosario when he worked Charm the Maker last Saturday for Saturday’s Grade I Las Virgenes Stakes for
3-year-old fillies at one mile. Santa Anita’s leading jockey will ride
the daughter of Empire Maker in a race for the first time in the Las
Virgenes.
“Rosario worked her and he loved her,” Hall of Fame trainer Ron
McAnally said. “I just told him to let her run the last part, just chirp
to her, don’t hit her; run the last quarter of a mile.
“His agent (Ron Ebanks) called me Sunday morning and said, ‘My rider loves that filly.’”
Charm the Maker broke in and bobbled slightly when she finished
fourth in the Grade III Santa Ysabel Stakes on Jan. 28, but that wasn’t
her only issue.
“In the Santa Ysabel, she got mud in her trachea and on top of
that, she was trying to get her air and bled,” McAnally said. “Saturday
she wasn’t blowing when she came back. We scoped her and everything was
clean.”
The field for the Las Virgenes: Your Special Day, Mike Smith,
30-1; Charm the Maker, Joel Rosario, 5-1; Willa B Awesome, Martin
Pedroza, 6-1; Killer Graces, Joe Talamo, 5-1; Eden’s Moon, Martin
Garcia, 9-5; Made to Love Her, Rafael Bejarano, 12-1; Reneesgotzip,
Corey Nakatani, 8-5; and Open Water, Victor Espinoza, 20-1. .