ARCADIA, CA – Hostess was hustled late and then held on to win Saturday’s Providencia Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park. This was the first race in the United States for the three-year-old daughter Iffraaj who broke her maiden last time out and is now trained by Simon Callaghan.
Lakerball broke well on the inside but Killarney Lass was quickly moved into first as they approached the first turn. Colonial Creed and Ladymidtown moved up behind the leader and Lakerball sat just off of the pace on the rail. As they hit the backstretch, Killarney Lass extended her lead to more than three lengths over the rest of the field but she quickly eased and fell back in line with the rest of the field. As Colonial Creed drew even with Killarney Lass, she rerallied and held on for a bit before finally fading to the rear.
Into the second turn, Colonial Creed looked much the best as she slowly drew away from the rest of the field. Ladymidtown tried to keep up but she also faded and gave way to Colonial Creed who had Lakerball sitting close behind. Maxim Rate and Hostess, who had both been sitting mid-pack up to this point, picked things up into the second turn and were not far back by the top of the stretch. Hostest was the best of the bunch and quickly moved up into the lead with Maxim Rate close by. Seemingly out of nowhere, the post-time favorite Lady Prancealot exploded toward the front but ran out of space. Hostest held on to win over Maxim Rate in a photo for first and Lady Prancealot settled for third. Lakerball was fourth.
Hostess returned $53.00 to win, $22.00 to place, and $10.40 to show. Maxim Rate brought back $5.80 to place and $4.20 to show, while Lady Prancealot paid $3.20 to show.
