STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

SATURDAY, MARCH 25, 2023

• BEHOLDER’S BABY TEENA ELLA MAKES STAKES DEBUT SUNDAY • CLEAR SKIES AND A FAST TRACK LURES SATURDAY WORKERS • COAST-TO-COAST PICK 5 RETURNS SUNDAY • FREE ADMISSION, PARKING, PROGRAMS & PP’S FOR MONDAY CARD • FIRST POST TIME AT 1 P.M. ON SATURDAY, SUNDAY & MONDAY

BEHOLDER’S BABY TEENA ELLA MAKES STAKES DEBUT SUNDAY

Teena Ella will become the first offspring of four-time Eclipse Award Champion Beholder to run in a stakes race when she goes postward in Sunday’s $100,000 Angels Flight on the hillside turf course.

By prominent turf sire War Front, Teena Ella earned her stakes shot for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella with a sharp six-furlong maiden win when switched to the grass here for start No. 3. In her two previous outings, both going six furlongs on the main track, Teena Ella showed speed for a half mile before fading in the stretch.

“Obviously she showed she can handle the turf the other day and has really been doing well,” said Mandella, who also trained Beholder. “She looks like a filly that is growing and improving. I certainly hope that’s the case.”

Teena Ella is listed as the 3-1 co-second choice on the morning line for the Angels Flight. She has worked four times since her graduation victory including a quick half-mile drill in 47.40 seconds on Monday. Jockey Kazushi Kimura was up for the work and has the call in the Angels Flight. He replaces Santa Anita leading rider Juan Hernandez, who has opted to ride 8-5 morning-line favorite Manhattan Jungle for trainer Michael McCarthy.

Teena Ella is a homebred for Spendthrift Farm, who also bred and campaigned Beholder. She is the third foal out of her Hall of Fame dam and only winner. Beholder’s first two foals, Karin With an I and QB One, were a combined 0-for-6 on the racetrack for Mandella.

“The first two were a little disappointing, but this one is doing pretty good. We have high hopes,” Mandella said.

Beholder won four Eclipse Awards during five seasons of racing when racking up a record of 26-18-6-0 with earnings of $6,156,600. She was champion 2-year-old filly in 2012 when she won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies and then champion 3-year-old the following season when she beat older in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. Beholder would then be named the champion older female of 2015 with a campaign that included a win against boys in the Grade I Pacific Classic. She repeated that championship feat in 2016 after adding a second victory in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita when defeating heavily favored Songbird by a dramatic nose.

Last year, Beholder was inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The Angels Flight goes as the seventh race on Friday with a scheduled post time of 4:07 p.m. The field in post position order: Manhattan Jungle, Juan Hernandez (8-5); Broadway Girls, Umberto Rispoli (3-1); Ragtime Rose, Ramon Vazquez (7-2); Teena Ella, Kazushi Kimura (3-1); Pleasant Wave, Joe Bravo (12-1); Fast and Shiny, Abel Cedillo (8-1).

CLEAR SKIES AND A FAST TRACK LURES SATURDAY WORKERS Santa Anita horsemen have had to navigate a series of rainstorms this winter, which has occasionally thrown a wrench in training plans, but on Saturday all were greeted with clear skies and a fast track. The result was 126 timed workouts combined between the main track and training track.

Among those to drill on Saturday was Parnelli, who was scratched from the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap on March 5. Trained by John Shirreffs, Parnelli worked six furlongs on the main track in 1:13.0. He is being pointed to the Grade II Californian going 1 1/8 miles here on April 22, Shirreffs said earlier this week.

The sprinter Straight No Chaser also worked for trainer Dan Blacker. The 4-year-old Speightster colt went five furlongs in 59.20 seconds, which was the second-fastest of 22 works at the distance. Straight No Chaser most recently was third as the favorite in the GIII Palos Verdes won by Hopkins on Feb. 5.

Blacker on Saturday said he may look for an allowance sprint for Straight No Chaser in the coming weeks, but the Grade III Kona Gold going 6 1/2 furlongs on April 22 is also a possibility.

Also working Saturday was the only four-time winner at the Classic Meet, Unwritten Code for trainer Jorge Periban. The 4-year-old Desert Code filly went five furlongs in 1:00.80. Unwritten Code, who has won five straight races in all, took down a $20,000 claimer here on Jan. 6, $25,000 claimer on Jan. 20, first-level allowance for statebreds on Feb. 10 and then a starter allowance on March 4.

COAST-TO-COAST PICK 5 RETURNS SUNDAY

The $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 with player-friendly 15 percent takeout rate returns Sunday with races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park. The sequence kicks off at 1:06 p.m. PT with the eighth race from Gulfstream Park.

Gulfstream Park’s eighth race is a 1 1/16-mile turf allowance for older fillies and mares. A field of 10 is entered. The sequence also includes the ninth and 10th races from Gulfstream, the third race from Santa Anita and concludes with the fifth race from Santa Anita at approximately 2:29 p.m.

Saturday’s Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 averages 8.0 starters per race before scratches. Last Sunday’s Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 returned a whopping $146,568.20 to one lucky winner.

FREE ADMISSION, PARKING, PROGRAMS, PPs FOR SPECIAL MONDAY CARD

With Friday’s card canceled due to 3.2 inches of rain this week, Santa Anita Park will offer fans and horsemen a special eight-race card on Monday. First post is set for 1 p.m.

Fans will be treated to free parking, free admission and a free racing program, as well $2 hot dogs, $3 beers and $5 margaritas. In addition, fans will receive free access to Daily Racing Form’s digital past performances.

Admission gates open at 11 a.m.

FINISH LINES: Scatchmejamin returns in a first-level allowance on Sunday after providing top Quarter Horse trainer Paul Jones with his first-ever win at Santa Anita on March 3…First post time on Saturday, Sunday and Monday is at 1 p.m… On Sunday April 9, Santa Anita will host the biggest Easter Egg hunt in the San Gabriel Valley in the Infield as part of the holiday celebration…Santa Anita VIP host Jeff Chapman will be Tom Quigley’s featured handicapping guest Sunday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 11:50…There is a $205,612.04 Rainbow 6 carryover for Saturday’s card. The sequence starts with the fourth race at approximately 2:30 p.m.…The win rate for favorites has ticked up to 35.31 percent entering Saturday’s card…