Munnings Filly Picks Up the Pieces in L.A. Woman S.

Ben's Duchess, let go at double her 4-1 morning line quote, certainly would not have gone off at that price had the public known what tactics the riders aboard her competition would employ. Just five runners lined up in the gate, but four of them battled across the track from the bell, with odds-on Taris the widest of all as Ben's Duchess watched the scene unfold in front of her while well off the inside. Inching closer after impossible splits of :21.29 and :43.45, she circled the field and played out what already seemed like a formality to earn a first graded win as she pleased.

“I was smiling when I saw the race play out in front of me,” said winning jockey Joe Talamo, back from a Saturday trip to Belmont where he stole the GII Kelso H. aboard Appealing Tale (Tale of the Cat). “We really had a good trip. I kept her back and to the outside because the kick-back was a little heavy. I came into the turn and I had so much horse.” He continued, “She runs her race every time, she's hit the board every time she's run. Even when she doesn't win, she's such a hard-trying filly, so I had all the confidence in the world in her today.”

Third to eventual Grade I winner Callback (Street Sense) on debut at Los Alamitos Racecourse last December, she broke through later that month before hitting the bench. The chestnut returned to fill out the trifecta in local listed stakes in both April and May, and crushed optional claiming foes by 5 1/4 lengths June 14. Third trying the turf at Del Mar July 17, she bested Unforgettable U (Tale of the Cat) by a nose while earning a career-best 100 Beyer Speed Figure on the main track back “where the turf meets the surf” Aug. 9. Ben's Duchess was soundly beaten by Uzziel in the restricted CERF S. last out Sept. 6.

“She always tries, she always brings her 'A' game, and today, Joe didn't do what [the other jockeys] did,” said John Sadler's assistant trainer Larry Benavidez. “At the half-mile pole, I was kind of smiling when they went 43 and change. We kind of wanted to sit third. We thought [Unforgettable U and Taris] would go head and head. We didn't think there would be four across the track, but when that materialized, I was smiling.”

Sunday, Santa Anita
L.A. WOMAN S.-GIII, $100,000, SA, 10-4, 3yo/up, f/m, 6 1/2f, 1:15.79, ft.
1–#@BEN'S DUCHESS, 116, f, 3, by Munnings
1st Dam: Armathwaite, by Sky Classic
2nd Dam: Foolish Beauty, by Foolish Pleasure
3rd Dam: Secret Beauty, by Raise a Native
($45,000 Wlg '12 KEENOV; $57,000 Ylg '13
OBSAUG; $170,000 2yo '14 OBSMAR).
O-Doubledown Stables Inc.; B-Golden Pedigree LLC
(KY); T-John W. Sadler; J-Joseph Talamo. $60,000.
Lifetime Record: 9-4-1-4, $222,936. Werk Nick
Rating: D. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.

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2–Uzziel, 118, f, 4, Harlington–Pretti Woman, by Lord
At War (Arg). O-James W. & Tammy M. McKenney.
B-James W. & Tammy McKenney (CA); T-J. Keith
Desormeaux. $20,000.
3–Taris, 123, f, 4, Flatter–Comedy, by Theatrical (Ire).
'TDN Rising Star' ($90,000 Ylg '12 KEESEP;
$2,350,000 3yo '14 FTKNOV). O-Michael B. Tabor,
Derrick Smith & John Magnier; B-Claiborne Farm &
Adele B. Dilschneider (KY); T-Simon Callaghan.
$12,000.

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Margins: 3 1/4, HF, 3 1/4. Odds: 8.80, 5.20, 0.70.
Also Ran: Unforgettable U, Wasted At Midnight.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, the TJCIS.com PPs or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton.