Super Corredora bids to revive Oaks prospects in Santa Ysabel

After trailing home in a four-horse field in her Las Virgenes S. comeback, champion Super Corredora bids to regain top form in Sunday’s $100,000 Santa Ysabel (G3) at Santa Anita. Among her rivals are sharp maiden winners Forced Entry and French Blue from the barn of Bob Baffert, who has won the Santa Ysabel five years in a row and 10 times overall.

The 1 1/16-mile affair serves as a scoring race on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, worth points on a 50-25-15-10-5 basis to the first five finishers. The Santa Ysabel is also a course-and-distance stepping stone to the track’s final prep, the April 4 Santa Anita Oaks (G2).

Super Corredora improved with racing during her two-year-old campaign, suggesting that she could follow a similar trajectory at three. The John Sadler trainee took three starts to break her maiden, but she rapidly followed up with an Eclipse Award-clinching upset of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). 

Because Super Corredora’s progress coincided with stretching out to two turns, the Gun Runner filly was expected to pick up where she left off in the Feb. 8 Las Virgenes. Instead, she weakened after forcing a fast pace and checked in 6 3/4 lengths behind Meaning, with old foe Explora settling for second, and Bank Shot along for third. Super Corredora is eligible to move forward second off the layoff with regular rider Hector Berrios.

French Blue, another daughter of Gun Runner, is the first foal from 2021 Beaumont (G3) winner Twenty Carat. A Three Chimneys homebred, French Blue rolled in her six-furlong debut Jan. 8. Now she will try to stretch out with new pilot Florent Geroux.

Juan Hernandez, who rode French Blue last time, sticks with stablemate Forced Entry. From the first crop of Baffert star Charlatan, the Mike Pegram, Karl Watson, and Paul Weitman runner crushed a one-mile maiden Feb. 1. 

Michael McCarthy sends out recent maiden winner Piney Woods, who is out of a full sister to Moraz, the near-miss runner-up in the 2021 Santa Ysabel. Piney Woods has been on a learning curve in both of her starts, rallying for third to French Blue in her slow-starting debut and still racing greenly in her 6 1/2-furlong graduation. But the Cupid filly figures to enjoy the added ground here.

Cee Drew goes turf-to-dirt for Dan Blacker after getting up in time in the Cal Cup Oaks. Although she is untested on the main track, her sire, the versatile Cistron, scored his signature wins on dirt including the 2019 Bing Crosby (G1). 

Fellow Cal-bred My Love Caroline, who was demoted to fourth in last summer’s California Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association S., made a triumphant return in a Jan. 23 sprint allowance. But the Jorge Periban pupil makes her first start around two turns and in open company on Sunday.