All Star Heart earned her first graded score in the Las Palmas on Santa Anita's closing day (Benoit Photos)

by Jennifer Caldwell

Gerald L. Gibbs' homebred All Star Heart lived up to her name on Sunday when drawing off to a two-length victory in the Grade 2, $150,000 Las Palmas Stakes to close out Santa Anita's Autumn Meet. With Brice Blanc aboard, the Ron McAnally-trained four-year-old came running four wide down the stretch to finish a mile on the good turf in 1:35 3/5.

"I had a beautiful trip," Blanc said. "I just followed Malibu Pier all the way around which was pretty much my strategy. My filly relaxed really nice and did what I wanted her to do at the top of the lane and I was able to out kick her. She has a tremendous finish. She's a big strong filly who can cover a lot of ground."

All Star Heart paid $7.20, $3.60 and $2.80 as the 5-2 second choice behind 7-5 favorite Malibu Pier. City to City saved ground early in the rear of the pack before finding her way blocked in the lane. The chestnut miss scooted between rivals and came running to take second, three parts of a length in front of third-placer Sarah's Secret.

Malibu Pier was another three-quarters of a length back in fourth, and Ash Zee set the pace through fractions of :23 4/5, :48 3/5 and 1:12 2/5 before fading to last. Anniversary Gift, Private Affair and Turning Top were all withdrawn.