To view the A Gleam Handicap, click here.

by Steve Bailey

Evita Argentina ran last through a half-mile before swinging out five wide into the stretch and powering to a two-length victory in the $150,000 A Gleam Handicap (G2) on Saturday at Hollywood Park.

Trained by John Sadler for Halo Farms and Three Sisters Thoroughbreds, the chestnut Candy Ride (Arg) filly won her third graded stakes race—all in Southern California—and became one of just a handful of three-year-olds to capture the seven-furlong A Gleam.

“Run around two turns, that’s what she can’t do,” Sadler said. “Seven-eighths is her thing. She’s been very good at that.

“This is a good distance for her, so we’ll keep her right in there, maybe 6½ [furlongs] at Del Mar. We’ll see how that track plays down there. If it plays for closers, that will help.”

Coco Belle and Cry and Catch Me hustled quickly to the front, taking the field through a quarter-mile in :22.18 and a half-mile in :44.78. The speedy fractions set up perfectly for Evita Argentina, who began to move up on the outside entering the turn under jockey Joel Rosario and charged down the middle of the lane to take command with about a furlong to run.

“Today, when I asked her, she really responded,” Rosario said. “I knew they were going very fast so I wasn't worried about being so far back. That's how she likes to run. She was moving so fast I just wanted to make sure she was in the clear."

Silver Swallow made a late bid in the lane to finish second, a head in front of third-place finisher Lady Lumberjack. Pacesetters Cry and Catch Me and Coco Belle finished fifth and sixth, respectively.

Sadler, who said he may run the filly next in the Rancho Bernardo Handicap (G3) on September 4 at Del Mar, was impressed with Rosario’s patience.

“Terrific—he is the next big thing, I think,” said Sadler, who won his meet-leading seventh stakes race. “He is just getting better and better and getting more confidence. He’s a very strong young rider, so he has a big future at 23. They take big leaps when they are young, getting better like that.”

Evita Argentina has won five of ten starts and earned $431,400 in two seasons. She is one of three winners from as many starters out of the winning Forest Wildcat mare Jealous Wildcat.

For an Equibase chart, click here.

Steve Bailey is deputy news editor of THOROUGHBRED TIMES