Sharp Lisa Shows She Has Game On

Five starts into her career and Sharp Lisa has yet to run at the same racetrack twice.

Santa Anita became the latest venue for the Dixieland Band filly, who made the most of her trip in Monday’s $150,000 Santa Ynez Stakes.

In a Grade II that did not include Sweet Catomine and Splendid Blended, the two best 3-year-old fillies in California, Sharp Lisa, the 9-10 favorite, surged past 7-1 shot No Bull Baby late to win for the second time. Trained by Doug O’Neill for J. Paul Reddam, Mark Schlesinger and Pablo Suarez and ridden by Tyler Baze, Sharp Lisa, who won by 1 1/2 lengths, ran the seven furlongs in 1:23.10.

Previously, she had beaten maidens at Calder, finished second in the Alcibiades at Keeneland in her first start after being purchased privately, was sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Lone Star Park in Texas and was second to Splendid Blended in the Hollywood Starlet last month at Hollywood Park.

“She’s amazing,” O’Neill said. “I think every trainer’s dream is to have a horse like this. We wanted to build her confidence and our confidence, so now we might be a little more eager to face a filly like” Sweet Catomine.

No Bull Baby, who took over the lead from stablemate and 5-2 second choice Mother with about an eighth of a mile to run, wound up three lengths clear of 6-1 shot Hot Attraction; then came Mother, Northern Mischief, Bulita and Ninadivina. Revealed was scratched because she had run last in Sunday’s Santa Ysabel.

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In Monday’s $104,762 San Miguel, trainer Wayne Lukas collected his first stakes win at Santa Anita in nearly two years, but it wasn’t easy.

Going Wild, the 1-2 favorite in a field reduced to four after Bushwacker and Senor Fango were scratched in the morning, held on to beat 3-1 second choice So Long Birdie by a nose. Owned by Bob and Beverly Lewis, who purchased the son of Golden Missile for $600,000 last February, Going Wild won for the second time in five starts, winning with jockey Mike Smith in 1:09.62 for the six furlongs.

“We lost some time with the rain and everything, and I knew he wasn’t going to be as sharp as he was earlier,” Lukas said in reference to Going Wild’s Dec. 26 maiden victory. “But we got another win under him. We can build off this.”

Before Monday, Lukas’ last stakes score at Arcadia had been with Repository in the 2003 Winter Solstice.

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In the third day of his latest comeback, jockey Patrick Valenzuela got his first win since last summer at Hollywood Park, winning seventh with 4-1 shot Redmeansgo. The reaction to Valenzuela’s victory when he returned to the winner’s circle was mixed among the on-track crowd.

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Maddy’s Lion, the 3-1 third choice in a field of six 3-year-olds, won the $80,400 Jimmy Winkfield Stakes at Aqueduct.

Formerly called the Best Turn, the name of the six-furlong sprint was changed to honor Winkfield, an African American jockey who won the Kentucky Derby some 100 years ago and was elected into racing’s hall of fame last year.

Owned by Dennis Federico and trained by John Pregman, Maddy’s Lion, a son of Lion Hearted, won for the third time in five starts, easily beating 3-2 favorite More Smoke by 6 1/4 lengths.

Ridden by Pablo Fragoso, he completed the distance in 1:11.43.