HEAVILY FAVORED ADARE MANOR ALL-OUT TO DENY BIG SWITCH BY A HEAD IN $75,000 SANTA ANITA ALLOWANCE FEATURE, UNCLE MO FILLY GETS MILE IN 1:36.59

ARCADIA, CA (March 31, 2023)—Heavily favored at 1-2 but all-out to win, Bob Baffert’s Adare Manor made her second start off the bench a successful one as she fought off a resolute Big Switch by a head in Santa Anita’s $75,000 allowance feature on Friday. Ridden by Juan Hernandez, Adare Manor got a flat mile over a main track that had not been playing too fast all day in 1:36.59.

Breaking sharply from her number two post position, Adare Manor had a length on her stablemate Ganadora in the run up the backside. As Ganadora began to weaken heading to the far turn, Adare Manor was then engaged by Big Switch at the three furlong marker and those two raced as a team to the wire with Big Switch gaining inches late in the shadow of the wire.

“We gave her the time off and she’s come back well, she needed her last race,” said Baffert. “She ran against a pretty nice filly today. That filly made her run…From here on, we’ll just stay home and run in these stakes here.”

A 13 length winner of the Grade III Las Virgenes Stakes five starts back at age three and subsequently second as the 3-5 favorite in the Grade II Santa Anita Oaks on April 9, 2022, Adare Manor was a disappointing second as the 4-5 favorite in a seven furlong allowance here off a nearly five month hiatus, but was off at 1-2 today in a field of five older fillies and mares and paid $3.00, $2.10 and $2.10.

A 4-year-old filly by Uncle Mo out of the Giant Gizmo mare Brooklynsway, Adare Manor is owned by Michael Lund Petersen. With today’s win, she now has three wins and four seconds from nine starts. With the winner’s share of $45,000, Adare Manor increased her earnings to $381,600.

The lone California-bred in the field, George Krikorian’s homebred Big Switch was off at 4-1 with Joe Bravo and paid $3.20 and $2.20 while finishing 5 ½ lengths in front of Shared Future.

The longest shot in the field at 21-1, Shared Future, with Tiago Pereira up, paid $2.80 to show and finished 6 ¼ lengths better than Ganadora.

Fractions on the race were 23.04, 47.02, 1:11.30 and 1:23.60.

Racing resumes with first post time for a nine-race card on Saturday at 1 p.m.