Senator Ken Maddy

Oak Tree at Santa Anita is set to get their 31-day meet started Wednesday

with

an opening-day card featuring the $100,000 Senator Ken Maddy H. (G3). A field of 12

is scheduled to go

forward in the about 6 1/2-furlong turf event with two also-eligibles waiting at the

ready.

Las Cienegas H. (G3) winner ELUSIVE DIVA (Elusive Quality) will be making her

first start since a disappointing sixth in the Green Flash H. at Del Mar. The

four-year-old filly has two starts over the Santa Anita grass, both at the Ken

Maddy distance, and proved victorious in both -- first in the Wishing Well

H. and later in the Las Cienegas over Winendynme (Dynaformer), who came back to

win the Tranquility Lake S. in her next start. Trained by Mark Glatt, Elusive

Diva has been putting in solid workouts lately and could turn in an impressive

performance under jockey Patrick Valenzuela.

SHINING ENERGY (Rahy) is being shortened after her second consecutive

off-the-board finish over a mile. The three-year-old chestnut comes off a

ninth-place finish in the nine-furlong Del Mar Oaks (G1). The Julio Canani

trainee hit the wire 5 1/2 lengths back after weakening in the stretch of that

one. Shining Energy has good late speed, earnings a 109 BRIS Late Pace rating when

annexing the San Clemente H. (G2) two back and is two-for-three over the

Arcadia, California, sod. Corey Nakatani has the call.

VALENTINE DANCER (In Excess [Ire]), who could opt for Sunday's Lady's Secret

Breeders' Cup H. (G2), has not missed the board since finishing sixth in

the Fran's Valentine S. in April of 2004. Since then, the five-year-old Craig

Lewis trainee has strung together an excellent run, including a win in this

year's Fran's Valentine and placings in the A Gleam H. (G2), Clement L. Hirsch

H. (G2) and Winstar Distaff H.

(G3). She has performed well on both surfaces and should

finish with the leaders under regular jockey John Court.

PICKLE (GB) (Piccolo) will be seeking her third Grade 3 win stateside as she

comes off a solid second in the Hillsborough H. at Bay Meadows. This will be the

four-year-old's first start over the Santa Anita course, but she has managed to

make good work at other California courses and shouldn't have much of a

problem here. Look for her to run at the top of the pack under jockey Rene

Douglas.

VERY VEGAS (Storm Boot) should be found on the early lead, but could find

herself in a speed duel with BELLA BANISSA (Good and Tough). Despite this, she

could still hit the bottom of the gimmicks for trainer Marcelo Polanco.

TARA'S TOUCH (SAf) (Tara's Halls) exits a victory in the Royal North H. (Can-G3).

This win came right on the heels of a disappointing 10th-place outing in the Winstar Distaff H. Tara's Touch has fared well at the shorter distances

and could threaten.

ABOUNDING TRUTH (Proudest Romeo) only has one turf start under her belt, a

second in the Daisycutter H. two back. She rallied in the stretch after quick

opening fractions and could make up ground in the end if a speed duel

materializes in the opening stages of this one. CHASETHEGOLD (Touch Gold) has

not scored a victory since defeating allowance company by a head in June of last

year. She

has produced mixed results since then, finishing fourth to Elusive Diva in the

Las Cienegas, and loses Nakatani, who will be aboard Shining Energy.

Bella Banissa finished second in her career debut, the Nursery S., and again in her next outing, the Landaluce S. (G3). She has

only placed off the board once in seven starts but could be hindered in the end

by Very Vegas' early speed.

PUXA SACO (Dehere) has been unlucky in her past two outings, finishing eighth

in the A Gleam and sixth in the Rancho Bernardo H. (G3), and will be making her

first start on the turf since January. We will go against. THE YELLOW SHEET

(Benchmark) will be taking a step up here, making her first start in the graded

waters, and the competition might be a little much for her. NAVAJA (NZ) (Daggers

Drawn) is unplaced in four starts over the Santa Anita turf and has not produced

the results needed to compete here.

The two also eligibles, ROYAL WAVE (Royal Academy) and AHURIRI HIKAWAI (NZ)

(Exploding Prospect), will most likely be outclassed if they draw in to this one.