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Flor De La Mar out to bloom in Santa Anita Oaks

Racenews

Unexposed three-year-old Flor De La Mar steps up markedly in class in the G1 Santa Anita Oaks over an extended mile on dirt at Santa Anita, USA, on Saturday, 6 April.

Both of the Tiznow filly’s previous starts have come at the Southern California course and she made an impressive debut for Bob Baffert when storming to a five-length victory in a maiden over six and a half furlongs in January. Flor De La Mar subsequently faded to fifth on a sloppy track in a seven-furlong allowance optional claimer on Saturday, 2 March.

Joel Rosario, on board for her maiden success, returns to partner Flor De La Mar, who breaks from stall one in a field of five that is headed by G1 winners Bellafina and Chasing Yesterday.

Godolphin USA President Jimmy Bell said: “Bob Baffert has held Flor De La Mar in high regard for a long time and her maiden win was justification of that opinion.

“Everything that could go wrong in a race did go wrong on her next start. It was a very sloppy track, she was drawn in stall one and got sucked into very quick early fractions.

“We feel that she is a classic two-turn type of filly and we are looking forward to seeing how she performs over this trip.

“Hopefully, we can see some progression this weekend and she can continue to race in this level of company.”