Turbulent Descent, Twirling Candy headline Santa Anita stakes

Three stakes are on tap at Santa Anita for Saturday's program, but

TURBULENT DESCENT (Congrats) and TWIRLING CANDY (Candy Ride [Arg]) are

the stars of the card. The pair will make their 2011 debuts in the

Las Virgenes S. (G1) and

Strub S. (G2), respectively, while the

Thunder Road H. (G3) will offer a chance of redemption for Breeders'

Cup Dirt Mile (G1) scorer DAKOTA PHONE (Zavata).

Turbulent Descent puts her undefeated mark on the line Saturday while

taking on six rivals in the one-mile Las Virgenes. The Mike Puype

trainee broke her maiden at the Oak Tree meet run at Hollywood Park,

then remained at that venue to add the Moccasin S. and Hollywood Starlet

S. (G1) to her resume. The bay lass is trying a conventional dirt track

for the first time in the Las Virgenes, and retains the services of

regular David Flores for her sophomore bow.

CALIFORNIA NECTAR (Stormy Atlantic) and MAY DAY ROSE (Rockport

Harbor) will attempt to utilize their winning experience at Santa Anita

to disrupt Turbulent Descent's perfect record. Trainer Doug O'Neill

saddles California Nectar in this one off a front-running victory in the

Santa Ynez S. (G2) going seven furlongs on January 15. The bay filly is

no stranger to longer distances, though, as she just missed by a nose

when second in last year's 1 1/16-mile California Cup Juvenile Filly S.

That came one start prior to her fourth in the grassy, eight-furlong

Miesque S. (G3) in late November. Patrick Valenzuela, aboard for two of

California Nectar's three lifetime wins, has the call.

While the Las Virgenes begins the stakes action on Saturday, the Strub will

conclude the excitement. Twirling Candy is part of the eight-horse field in the

1 1/8-mile test, and is exiting a track-record setting performance in the Malibu

S. (G1) on December 26.

The four-year-old suffered the first loss of his career prior to that

seven-furlong event, running fourth in the Goodwood S. (G1), and trainer John

Sadler opted to skip the Breeders' Cup with his charge. The move paid off big

time in the Malibu, where Twirling Candy got up late to score by a nose in a

blistering 1:19.70, and he was flattered when Malibu third Caracortado (Cat

Dreams) came back to win the Sunshine Millions Turf this past weekend. Twirling

Candy keeps Rosario in the saddle for his Strub engagement.

INDIAN FIREWATER (Indian Charlie) ran on the Malibu undercard, finishing

second in the Sir Beaufort S. (G3) to Twirling Candy's stablemate Sidney's Candy

(Candy Ride [Arg]). Baffert brought the dark bay back just 20 days later in the

San Fernando S. (G2), and Indian Firewater responded with a nose score over

TWEEBSTER (Tapit) in the San Fernando S. (G2). DO IT ALL (Distorted Humor)

finished third while making his stakes bow in the San Fernando, and all three

line back up in the Strub.

The Thunder Road is one race prior to the Strub and features Dakota Phone

looking for his first win since taking the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile. The

six-year-old gelding shocked at 37-1 in the Dirt Mile, just getting his head

down on the wire, but has failed to hit the board in his two subsequent starts

in the Native Diver H. (G3) and San Pasqual S. (G2). The Jerry Hollendorfer

runner is a consistent sort who has every chance of turning it around in this

mile turf test.

FLUKE (Brz) (Wild Event) is another who could rebound in the Thunder Road.

Hero of the 2009 Citation (G1), the six-year-old just missed when second by a

nose in the Frank E. Kilroe Mile H. (G1) and filled that same spot in the

Arcadia H. (G2) last spring. He wasn't seen again until showing up against

allowance rivals last out on November 27, where he once again ran second.

The Thunder Road will actually feature two Citation winners, as last year's

scorer of the downgraded Grade 2 event has also been entered. VICTOR'S CRY

(Street Cry [Ire]), who captured the Shoemaker Mile S. (G1) in addition to the

Citation last season, will take on the runner-up and third-placer from that

latter event, PROUDINSKY (Ger) (Silvano [Ger]) and METEORE (Pulpit),

respectively. Those two will be facing off for the third-straight time following

another runner-up finish for Proudinsky and a fifth-placing for Meteore in the

San Gabriel S. (G2) last out.