At The Spa Finds Room On Rail To Get Up In CTBA

DEL MAR, CA – With equal parts courage and fine horsemanship, rider Tyler Baze and his filly At the Spa squeezed through the tightest of holes on the rail in the stretch, then went on to capture the 68th edition of the CTBA Stakes Thursday afternoon at Del Mar.

The homebred 2-year-old daughter of Outwork proved a neck the best at the end of the 5 1/2-furlong headliner for California-bred fillies and earned her connections $57,000 from a total purse of $101,500. Final time for the race was 1:06.11.

At the Spa, now undefeated in 3 starts, is owned by the trio of Terry Lovingier (her breeder), Tom Beckerle, or Saul Carillo. Her victory pushed her bankroll to $164,580.

“We’ve been training her in the morning to run like this; to come from behind, take a little dirt in her face,” Baze said. “I think she gets more aggressive when that happens. Today, I saw that hole (on the fence) and knew it was my only shot. My filly was up for it; there wasn’t much room there, but she got through. She ran like the horse I know she is. She doesn’t like to get beat.”

Finishing second was William R. Peeples’ Drizella, while third, just a head back, was Lovingier, Madiha, or Navarro’s Madiha.

At the Spa paid $8.20, $4.40, and $3.60 across the board. Drizella returned $7.20 and $5.40 and Madiha paid $9.60 to show.

For veteran Baze, the score was his 39th stakes win at Del Mar. For trainer Jorge Periban, it was his first.

“She showed me a lot today,” Periban said. “She showed that she can come from behind. Most of the time, she breaks in front. We had a few problems in the stretch, but we got lucky to get inside and get the money.”

The conditioner said he was looking ahead to a possible start for his filly in the Grade I, $300,000 Del Mar Debutante on Sunday, September 5.