By Jill Williams
If redemption was the name of the game in Saturday's GII Santa Margarita Stakes at Santa Anita, the first horse to come to mind likely would have been $2.5-million Fasig-Tipton November purchase Seismic Beauty (Uncle Mo) as the one with something to prove, but it was California-bred Om N Joy (f, 4, Om-Margie's Minute, by Hard Spun) who emerged as the star of the show and who got her own form of absolution.
Om N Joy, who races for her breeders Jerry and Connie Baker along with partners Michael Golovko and Terrence J. Scanlan, had raced just seven days earlier, going a mile on the turf in the statebred Fran's Valentine Stakes at Santa Anita. She didn't run a lick that day, finishing last, but galloped out strong. It turns out she was saving her best for the Santa Margarita, despite being dismissed at 8-1.
While the Santa Margarita fielded just four horses in the starting gate, the top contenders included Seismic Beauty, the defending Santa Margarita winner who looked like a world beater in the GI Clement L. Hirsch Stakes last summer at Del Mar. Following two open daylight wins, she got a spectacular 110 Beyer Speed Figure in the Hirsch, but threw in the towel as the favorite in the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff and was making her first start since under new ownership. The public sent her at 2-5 in the Santa Margarita, with Apr. 19 GIII Santa Maria Stakes winner Simply Joking (Practical Joke) at 9-5. Simply Joking had current form, trouncing the Santa Maria field by 6 3/4 lengths after leading gate to wire.
Longshot Lavender Love (Grazen), who was making her stakes debut in the Santa Margarita, stumbled at the start, but quickly recovered and didn't impact anyone else. As expected, Simply Joking went to the front with Seismic Beauty pressuring to her outside. The two joined battle up front through :22.44 and :45.37 fractions as Om N Joy served as the caboose, a good eight or nine lengths behind. The big-blazed chestnut angled out and spun off the turn with the top two in her sights. Despite rider Kent Desormeaux dropping his stick to rely on hands and heels, Om N Joy wore down Simply Joking, who had already put away Seismic Beauty, storming with gusto to the wire 3 3/4 lengths to the good, pricking her ears as she crossed the line. Simply Joking finished six lengths in front of Seismic Beauty, while Lavender Love was eased.
“She just stayed in drive the whole time,” said Desormeaux. “She was telling me, 'When do you want to go Kent? Just when do you want to go?' At the apex of the turn, in the middle, I got to encouraging her. By the time we got head and head, I went to grab my stick and away it went. My riding crop is at the sixteenth pole. She was already passing them. She was fantastic.”
Trained by Aggie Ordonez, Om N Joy has had an interesting career. It took her eight tries against primarily Cal-bred company to break her maiden, but then she won five straight, including three black-type events and the GIII Torrey Pines Stakes at Del Mar last summer. She shipped to Keeneland in October, finishing fourth in the GII Raven Run Stakes, and was then freshened for a few months. Kicking off her 2026 campaign with a third in the GI Beholder Mile Stakes at Santa Anita, she shipped again, this time to Oaklawn, and finished fifth in the GI Apple Blossom Handicap. Her next start was that poor effort in the Fran's Valentine. Om N Joy is Ordonez's first graded winner.
“I was very confident with this move,” said Ordonez. “I had a lot of confidence in 'Joy,' and if there is anything that we have learned from Joy, is Joy does things on her time. She chose today to show up. It was a beautiful day to do it.”
Jerry Baker added: “I'm so excited. I am just amazed, what a run she put in. You could see her back there start to move and she just went by. It was amazing, absolutely amazing. She just proved herself once again, she is really is something special, really special. What a joy.”
Pedigree Notes:
Om, a fan favorite in California whose 17 stakes wins or placings included two runner-up finishes in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, sends his fifth small crop of 2-year-olds to the races this year. The son of Munnings, who stands at Legacy Ranch in California, has three black-type winners. Om N Joy is his sole graded winner to date.
One of 66 stakes winners out of daughters of Darley's Hard Spun, Om N Joy is a half-sister to dual stakes winner and this year's GI Santa Anita Handicap second Vodka Vodka (Stay Thirsty). Their winning dam, Margie's Minute, has a yearling colt by Midnight Storm named Walk This Way. The mare hails from the same extended family as breed-shaping sire Mr. Prospector.
OM N JOY ($19.20) went last to first in the $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes (G2) at @santaanitapark with @DesormeauxKent aboard. Aggie Ordonez trains the 4-year-old daughter of Om. Baker Stables and Golovko owns. pic.twitter.com/WDEMr0AdX7
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) May 30, 2026
Saturday, Santa Anita
SANTA MARGARITA S.-GII, $184,500, Santa Anita, 5-30, 3yo/up, f/m, 1 1/8m, 1:50.03, ft.
1–OM N JOY, 124, f, 4, by Om
1st Dam: Margie's Minute, by Hard Spun
2nd Dam: Halo Miss America, by Jolie's Halo
3rd Dam: Heart of America, by Northern Jove
O-Baker Stables, LLC, Golovko, Michael and Scanlan, Terrence
J.; B-Jerry & Connie Baker (CA); T-Aggie Ordonez; J-Kent J.
Desormeaux. $120,000. Lifetime Record: GISP, 17-6-0-5,
$616,703. *1/2 to Vodka Vodka (Stay Thirsty), MSW & GISP,
$569,950. Werk Nick Rating: A++. Click for the eNicks report
& 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style
pedigree.
2–Simply Joking, 124, f, 4, Practical Joke–Imply, by E Dubai.
($65,000 Ylg '23 KEESEP). O-Berkels0813 LLC, CMNWLTH, LLC,
Grantley Acres and Conner, Ryan; B-Barlar, LLC (PA); T-Michael
McCarthy. $40,000.
3–Seismic Beauty, 124, m, 5, Uncle Mo–Knarsdale, by Medaglia
d'Oro. ($400,000 Wlg '21 FTKNOV; $550,000 Ylg '22 KEESEP;
$2,500,000 4yo '25 FTKNOV). O-Boyd Racing, LLC (Randy
Boyd); B-2500 Determined Stud (MD); T-Bob Baffert. $24,000.
Margins: 3 3/4, 6, NO. Odds: 8.60, 1.90, 0.40.
Also Ran: Lavender Love. Scratched: Lemon Muffin.
Click for the Equibase.com chart or the TJCIS.com PPs. VIDEO, sponsored by FanDuel TV.
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