Star-studded field set for Santa Monica

Nine fillies and mares are set to go seven furlongs in Sunday's $250,000

Santa Monica H. (G1) at Santa Anita, and four of those are already Grade/Group 1

winners. Heading the list are 119-pound co-highweights ALPHABET KISSES (Alphabet

Soup) and LEAVE ME ALONE (Bold Badgett), both of whom are also cross-entered in

Saturday's Sunshine Millions. The former comes into this test off a

third in a December 16 Hollywood allowance, but was an easy three-length winner

of the seven-furlong A Gleam H. (G2) in early July. The Martin Jones trainee

captured the La Brea S. (G1) in 2004 and will get a jockey switch to Pat

Valenzuela for Sunday.

Leave Me Alone was second in

the December 31 La Brea most recently and captured the Test S. (G1) last August by 7 3/4 lengths

on the lead. She

stretched out in her next one, the 1 1/8-mile Gazelle S. (G1), to run second,

then reverted to seven furlongs once again for her last two. Kent Desormeaux,

aboard for her past five starts, retains the mount on the chestnut miss.

Other contenders in the Santa Monica include SHARP LISA (Dixieland Band),

fourth in the La Brea off an eight-month hiatus, and MISS TERRIBLE (Arg)

(Numerous), who returns off a three-month break, most recently finishing a head

runner-up in the Thoroughbred Club of America S. (G3).

The complete field, with riders and weights, is Alphabet Kisses; Miss

Terrible, Garrett Gomez, 117; Leave Me Alone; NOSSA CANCAO (Brz) (Fast Gold),

Omar Berrio, 112; AWESOME LADY (Bianconi), Jon Court, 114; REFOREST (Forestry),

Jose Valdivia Jr., 114; ALLSWELLTHATNSWELL (Perfect Mandate), Isaias Enriquez,

112; BEHAVING BADLY (Pioneering), Victor Espinoza, 115; and Sharp Lisa, Corey

Nakatani, 116.