Photo:

Santa Anita / Benoit Photo

Look Forward, cutting back to seven furlongs for her second
stakes try, is the 2-1 morning-line favorite for Sunday’s listed $100,000
Santa Ynez Stakes, a point-paying prep for the Kentucky Oaks (G1).

After a debut win sprinting six furlongs at Del Mar in early
November, Look Forward was stretched to 1 1/16 miles for the Starlet (G2) on
Dec. 7 at Los Alamitos. The daughter of Bolt d’Oro dueled on the lead with
Grade 1 winner Tenma through moderate fractions before giving way inside the
the final furlong. Look Forward finished 1 3/4 lengths in back of Tenma, who is
trained by Bob Baffert.

Click here for Santa Anita entries and results.

Reddam Racing’s Look Forward has returned with two good
works, which included a bullet, four-furlong drill in 47.8 seconds last Sunday.
She will be ridden by Mario Gutiérrez, who was aboard for both the Starlet and
her debut win. Look Forward drew post 5 in the field of eight 3-year-old fillies.

Although Tenma was not entered back in the Santa Ynez, Look
Forward still will have three Baffert-trained fillies to face. The Hall of Fame
trainer will saddle Silent Law (9-2), Howin (8-1) and Mawu (12-1).

Silent Law, by Tiz the Law, won her first two starts in the
fall including the six-furlong Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita on Oct. 25. She
returned in the seven-furlong Desi Arnaz at Del Mar, where she was bet down to
the 1-2 favorite on Nov. 16 and finished second.

Silent Law broke in front in the Desi Arnaz but was challenged
quickly to her inside by Practical Dream, who also returns in the Santa Ynez
for trainer Tim Yakteen. Practical Dream and jockey Antonio Fresu got past
Silent Law at about the half-mile pole and it was over from there. Silent Law
chased Practical Dream the rest of the way before finishing 1 1/4 lengths behind.

“That was sort of a disappointing out by her,” Baffert said.
“She had beat that horse before. I don’t know what happened that day. She just
didn’t bring her A game, but we know she likes Santa Anita, and she’s come back
to work well. We’ll see what happens.

Howin, a debut winner going a mile at Santa Anita in
October, and Mawu, who was sixth in the Starlet, both cut back to one turn.
Baffert said he envisions both as being two-turn competitors.

“I need to get races into these fillies,” he said. “Mawu,
she wants to go two turns, but she was a little heavy when she ran at Los
Alamitos, and I want to get her another out.”

Mawu, a daughter of Blame, will be ridden in the Santa Ynez by
Mike Smith for the first time. She finished third in the Desi Arnaz in her
previous sprint effort, two lengths behind Practical Dream.

Howin is a daughter of Gun Runner who will have Kazushi
Kimura aboard for the first time. In her debut she dueled on the pace and
kicked clear to win by 3 3/4 lengths.

“She’ll be better going two turns, but she needs to run,”
Baffert said.

The top five finishers in the Santa Ynez will get 10-5-3-2-1 points toward qualifying for the Kentucky Oaks on May 2 at Churchill Downs.

Downgraded this year from a Grade 3, the Santa Ynez is the traditional first step on the road to the Santa Anita
Derby (G2) on April 5. It goes as the seventh of 10 races Sunday at about 5:36
p.m. EST. The first post is at 2:30 p.m. EST.

Post	Silks	Horse / Sire	Rating	Trainer / Jockey	Last start / Next start	Morn. line
1		Polythene Pam Violence	0.00	Librado Barocio Kyle Frey	1st, LRC MSW (12/14/24-R6)	20-1
Last race		1st, LRC MSW (12/14/24-R6)
2		Howin Gun Runner	0.00	Bob Baffert Kazushi Kimura	1st, SA MSW (10/12/24-R6)	8-1
Last race		1st, SA MSW (10/12/24-R6)
3		A. Z. Wildcat Munnings	0.00	John Sadler Flavien Prat	1st, LRC MSW (6/30/24-R8)	5-2
Last race		1st, LRC MSW (6/30/24-R8)
4		Practical Dream Practical Joke	6.39	Tim Yakteen Antonio Fresu	6th, 2024 Starlet G2	10-1
Last race		6th, 2024 Starlet G2
5		Look Forward Bolt d’Oro	6.34	Michael McCarthy Mario Gutierrez	2nd, 2024 Starlet G2	2-1
Last race		2nd, 2024 Starlet G2
6		Mawu Blame	6.27	Bob Baffert Mike Smith	4th, 2024 Starlet G2	12-1
Last race		4th, 2024 Starlet G2
7		Silent Law Tiz the Law	6.09	Bob Baffert Juan Hernandez	2nd, 2024 Desi Arnaz LS	9-2
Last race		2nd, 2024 Desi Arnaz LS
8		Artisma Munnings	0.00	Richard Baltas Abel Lezcano	1st, DMR MSW (11/24/2024-R6)	6-1
Last race		1st, DMR MSW (11/24/2024-R6)