Dearest Trickski stakes claim with La Brea win

Dearest Trickski has come a long way in less than a year.

A Florida-bred who was racing against $10,000 claimers in the spring at Lone Star Park in Texas, Dearest Trickski is now a Grade I winner after her wire-to-wire victory in the $250,000 La Brea on Saturday at Santa Anita.

Claimed for $32,000 by trainer John Sadler for owner Tom Mankiewicz on Aug. 4 at Del Mar, Dearest Trickski, who was the 4-1 third choice Saturday, has not lost since. The 3-year-old daughter of Proudest Roman has won four in a row -- and seven of 12 overall -- while moving up the class ladder.

Ridden for the first time by Mike Smith, Dearest Trickski ran the seven furlongs in 1:21.09 in defeating 8-1 shot Unspoken Word and 10 others.

“John just told me to let this filly do her thing, to just leave her alone,” said Smith. “She is very quick and she left the gate today like we were running 870 [yards] at Los Alamitos. She relaxed and finished great.”

A winner against $20,000 maidens in her career debut Jan. 25 at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., Dearest Trickski isn’t the first female Sadler has claimed for $32,000 for Mankiewicz that went on to become a graded stakes winner. In 2004, Victory Encounter won the El Encino at Santa Anita after being claimed the previous spring.

“She has been great on the synthetic surfaces,” said Sadler, whose other La Brea entrant, Dawn After Dawn, was scratched earlier in the day to await the El Encino Stakes on Jan. 13. “Some horses don’t like them, so you hope that you have some that will really move up on them and she has been that horse.”

Making her first start in California and first for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, Unspoken Word finished 2 1/4 lengths in front of Glorified, and 5-2 favorite Sindy With An S was fourth.

Spring Awakening, the 1-2 favorite, did the expected and won the $139,500 California Breeders’ Champion Stakes at Santa Anita. Ridden by Garrett Gomez and trained by Mike Mitchell, the 2-year-old In Excess filly defeated 7-1 shot Onebadkitty and seven other California-breds for her third win in six starts. She ran the seven furlongs in 1:22.09 and won by one length.

In the day’s other stakes race, Yankee Bravo, a lukewarm 3-1 favorite in his U.S. debut, finished strongly once he found room in the final eighth of a mile and won the $79,850 Eddie Logan.

A 2-year-old Yankee Gentleman colt who won by six lengths in his only other start earlier in the year in England, Yankee Bravo ran down Sky Cape to win in 1:37.64 for the mile on turf. Alex Solis rode Yankee Bravo for trainer Paddy Gallagher.

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bob.mieszerski@latimes.com