Super Corredora back in winning groove in BC WAYI Zenyatta

Last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) champion, Super Corredora, didn’t look anything like herself in two starts early this season. But the John Sadler filly was back to her front-running best in Sunday’s $201,000 Zenyatta (G2) at Santa Anita, where she booked her spot in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1).

Early speed was also decisive in the other Breeders’ Cup Challenge race on the card, the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2), as Listenupshance went wire to wire in a scratch-reduced field to pick up a superfluous Sprint (G1) ticket. The Doug O’Neill trainee already had one in his pocket from the Bing Crosby (G1) last time out at Del Mar. The same rival who almost caught him that day, Maximum Bourbon, was runner-up again here.

Zenyatta (G2)

Super Corredora certainly had the pedigree to train on from two to three, as a daughter of Gun Runner and close relative of his $2.1 million-earner Gunite. Yet after tiring to fourth in the Feb. 8 Las Virgenes S., and backpedaling to a remote sixth in the March 8 Santa Ysabel (G3), the jury was out on whether she would recover her Eclipse Award-winning form. 

The Zenyatta turned out to be an open-and-shut case for Super Corredora, despite facing elders and the progressive Rabeeba off the layoff.  Overlooked as the 7.80-1 fifth choice in a seven-horse field, Super Corredora established a clear lead for the first time since the 2025 Breeders’ Cup. New rider Joel Rosario helped her along through fractions of :23.12, :46.44, and 1:10.40, and she kicked away to a 2 3/4-length victory. 

Super Corredora rewarded her loyalists with $17.60 after finishing 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.93.

Majestic Oops rallied to take second from Rabeeba, who stalked throughout but could not sustain her effort in the stretch. Magnificat rounded out the superfecta, followed by She’s No Quant; 2.30-1 favorite Om N Joy, who didn’t threaten from off the pace; and the tailed-off Howin.

Co-owned by Spartan Equine Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, Robert C. Gardiner, and Michael W. Olszewski, Super Corredora advanced her line to 7-3-1-0, $1,220,100. The bay took three starts to break her maiden before suddenly turning the corner last October, so it’s a good sign she could deliver off the bench on Sunday. 

Rosario revealed that his instructions were to waste no time in going forward. 

“John told me not to play around too much and go to the lead. She did unbelievable,” Rosario said. “I want to thank John for the opportunity and West Point and everyone on the team. I ride a lot of horses for John. Sometimes the decision is a little tough, but I always appreciate John for all the opportunities. 

“She’s pretty nice. She broke well out of there. John said just go on and let her do her thing. She put in a good race. She kind of threw her head in a little bit sideways (in the gate). You have to be careful with that because she can throw her head and miss the break, but she did great.”

Super Corredora’s little pre-race behavior in the gate also gave Sadler pause.

“That had me concerned there for a moment,” her trainer said, but he had no concerns about her fitness.

“I think we had her pretty fit. I toyed with the idea of running her in the Torrey Pines (G3) or something at the very end at Del Mar, but I just said, ‘No, I’ll just take my time and get her ready.’ 

“You know the hesitations. It’s first time against older, and there were some nice horses in there, so I was really thrilled with her effort. She trained very well. I’d like to thank West Point for being really patient with her, and Becky Maker of (Shantera Farm), that’s where she vacations in Kentucky. She came back in great shape.”

Her Bluegrass sabbatical was a homecoming, for Super Corredora was bred by Woodford Thoroughbreds in Kentucky. The $400,000 Keeneland September yearling is out of the Super Saver mare Super Simple, who is herself a half-sister to stakes winners Optionality and Simple Surprise (the dam of Gunite).

Sadler is looking forward to a more productive four-year-old campaign for Super Corredora in 2027.

“She is going to have a good year next year also. She is a nice filly, and what more can you say.” 

Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2)

After the vet scratches of reigning titleholder Imagination and the speedy Ahrens, Listenupshance had only two rivals left to beat in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship. Bettors preferred Maximum Bourbon to reverse the Bing Crosby form, sending him off as the 7-10 favorite and Listenupshance as the 6-5 second choice. 

When Listenupshance was caught flat-footed at the start, Maximum Bourbon tried to take advantage by cutting across to the rail. But Listenupshance revved up quickly to regain position and take charge through an opening quarter in :21.98. From that point on, Maximum Bourbon was playing catch-up without quite getting there.

With Emisael Jaramillo back aboard, Listenupshance zipped in :43.86 and :55.87. Although the Shancelot gelding decelerated late, it was not enough for Maximum Bourbon to run him down. Listenupshance kept him at bay by three-quarters of a length while covering six furlongs in 1:08.70.

March of Time, the relative outsider at 5.40-1, tried to hang with the principals early, but they got away from him. He crossed the wire another 2 1/4 lengths adrift. 

Jaramillo noted that Listenupshance has a habit of getting off a beat slow. 

“If you go back and watch his last few races, he’s been behaving badly in the gate and giving the other horses one or two lengths at the start,” the winning rider said. “But he has the ability in about two jumps to get where he wants to be. I had to use him a little bit to get to the front.

“He wasn’t 100 percent for this race. This was preparation for the Breeders’ Cup. After (the Bing Crosby), we wanted to keep him fresh and happy. Now he’ll be 100 percent for the Breeders’ Cup and will be tough.”

“I thought it was super impressive,” O’Neill said of his winning effort. “According to Emisael, he just kind of just froze leaving there, and then he got him back involved. I know they went :21 and change. And he had to go :21 flat. It was very impressive. 

“When that five (Maximum Bourbon) came to him somewhere down the lane, I was like, ‘Uh oh.’ He just found another gear and kept plugging away. Definitely I think his most impressive race to date.”

Great Friends Stable and Run Fast Racing’s Listenupshance has been upwardly mobile all season. The erstwhile claimer placed in the Palos Verdes S., San Carlos (G3), and True North (G3) before his Bing Crosby breakthrough. The dark bay made it two straight on Sunday, increasing his earnings to $558,570 from his 14-5-3-3 line. 

A $10,000 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky October yearling, Listenupshance was bred in the Bluegrass by Al and Michelle Crawford Racing. His dam, Listenupnow, is a Hard Spun half-sister to Grade 1 winner La Coronel. Interestingly, this is the extended family of an entirely different type of Breeders’ Cup contender, Turf (G1) threat Burnham Square. 

Run Fast Racing’s founder, Adam Kluger, commented on what it means to have a bargain-basement runner competing at the highest levels of the sport.

“It’s incredible. Power is in the people, not in the pockets,” Kluger said. “We are going to show everybody that this sport is beautiful, and people need to feel like a participant, not just a spectator. That’s what makes everything work.”