BENDABLE, MISS SOUTHERN MISS, GLIDING BY & ALGORHYTHMIC ALL PROMINENT IN SATURDAY’S WISHING WELL STAKES

By Mike Willman —-

BENDABLE, MISS SOUTHERN MISS, GLIDING BY & ALGORHYTHMIC ALL PROMINENT IN SATURDAY’S $70,000 WISHING WELL STAKES AT 6 ½ FURLONGS DOWN SANTA ANITA’S HILLSIDE TURF

ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 21, 2018)—A wide-open field of 11 older fillies and mares, headed by Bendable, Miss Southern Miss, Gliding By and Algorhythmic, are set to go 6 ½ furlongs down Santa Anita’s hillside turf course on Saturday.

A Grade III winner on dirt this past June for trainer Richard Mandella, Claiborne Farm’s homebred Bendable exits the best race, as she ran a close second to highly regarded Coniah in the Grade III, 6 ½ furlong turf Las Cienegas Stakes on Jan. 20, in what was her first try on turf.

Keith Desormeaux’s Miss Southern Miss exits a sharp allowance win over the course, while Gliding By makes her second start for Richard Baltas and course specialist Algorhythmic, trained by Mike Machowsky, takes her first swing in graded stakes company off the bench.

BENDABLE

Owner: Claiborne Farm Trainer: Richard Mandella

Second, beaten 1 ¾ lengths by Coniah, who came back to run a gallant second in Sunday’s Grade III Las Flores Stakes on dirt, Bendable has the look of a mare on the improve as she tries the hill for the second time on Saturday. A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by Horse Greeley, she won the Grade III, six furlong Desert Stormer Stakes four starts back on June 18 and will be making her 10th career start. With four wins, two seconds and as many thirds, she’s well accomplished and looks like the probable favorite.

MISS SOUTHERN MISS

Owner: Peter L. Cantrell Trainer: Keith Desormeaux

Precocious at age two, she was a first-out maiden winner going 5 furlongs and was subsequently second in a pair of stakes, the ungraded Landaluce here in July, 2016 and the Grade II Sorrento Stakes going 6 ½ furlongs on dirt in August, 2016 at Del Mar. A winner of the ungraded Surfer Girl going a mile on turf in October, 2016, she had been winless in four starts prior to powering to a 1 ¼ length hillside allowance win this past Jan. 25. Bred in Kentucky by her owner, this 4-year-old daughter of More Than Ready appears to back on the ascent for the potent team of Keith Desormeaux and his Hall of Fame brother, Kent.

GLIDING BY

Owner: Harry Bederian, Harout Kamberian & Hagop Nakkashian Trainer: Richard Baltas

A sharp fourth after stalking the early pace in her Southern California debut, the Grade III, 1 1/8 miles turf Robert J Frankel Stakes on Dec. 30, this 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by Artie Schiller will cut back in distance in her second start for the always dangerous Baltas. An indicator of her readiness could well be an impressive work tab, as she has had four recorded breezes since the Frankel, including a bullet half mile on Feb. 11 of 47.40—best of 101 drills at the distance that morning.

ALGORHYTHMIC

Owner: Richard and Kate Barton Trainer: Mike Machowsky

Idle since annexing her fourth consecutive win down the hillside turf on July 4, this 6-year-old California-bred mare by Vronsky was claimed five starts back for $32,000 on March 10, 2017. With a 9-5-1-1 record over the course, Algorhythmic, who will likely be on or near the early lead Saturday, gets a major class test, as this will be her first-ever stakes assignment as she seeks her fifth consecutive win. Odds-on in her last three wins in allowance company, she’ll be reunited with regular rider Joe Talamo.

THE $70,000 WISHING WELL STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 10 of 10Approximate post time 5 p.m. PT

1. Princess Princess—Tyler Conner—120
2. Miss Southern Miss—Kent Desormeaux—120
3. Cuyathy—Austin Solis—120
4. Bendable—Mike Smith—124
5. Samba Inc—Flavien Prat—124
6. Anita Partner—Tyler Baze—120
7. Gliding By—Rafael Bejarano—120
8. Malibu Stacy—Corey Nakatani—122
9. Barbara Beatrice—Tiago Pereira—122
10. Algorhythmic—Joe Talamo—122
11. Mongolian Shopper—Stewart Elliott–120

First post time for a 10-race card on Saturday is at 12:30 p.m. Admission gates open at 10:30 a.m. For additional information, please visit www.santaanita.com.

Note: Saturday’s Wishing Well is named for the stakes winning dam of 1989 Santa Anita Derby, Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner, Sunday Silence. Trained by Charlie Whittingham, Sunday Silence also won the 1989 Breeders’ Cup Classic and earned Eclipse Award honors as top 3-year-old Colt and Horse of the Year.

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Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.