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Ridden with confidence by jockey Ramon Vazquez, favored Cast Member remained undefeated with a 1 ¼ length victory in the $100,000 Soviet Problem Stakes Sunday at Los Alamitos.
Trained by Tim Yakteen for owner-breeder George Krikorian, the 2-year-old daughter of Munnings and the Artie Schiller mare Be My Baby tracked the pace while kept in the clear over the wet fast track, took over from pacesetter Cocktail Princess with less than quarter of a mile to run and held 9-2 third choice Grazed My Heart safe in the final furlong.
Trying two turns for the first time after a pair of sprint wins – including the Golden State Juvenile Fillies Oct. 29 – Cast Member, the 7-10 favorite in a race restricted to fillies bred or sired in California – completed the mile in 1:38.26. She paid $3.40, $2.60 and $2.10 and the $60,000 payday pushed her bankroll to $213,000.
“We had a perfect trip,’’ said Vazquez, who rode Cast Member for the first time in the Golden State Juvenile Fillies.” We just followed the leaders on the outside. I just wanted to wait with her until the final quarter to make a move. She handled the track well. When I asked her she responded very well. I definitely think she’s better around two turns.’’
A winner over three different main tracks – with Los Alamitos following Del Mar and Santa Anita – Cast Member will now move to the turf for her next start, according to Yakteen.
The plan is to run the bay miss in the $200,000 Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks Jan. 7. The race is at one mile on the Santa Anita grass.
“We’re very happy with her race,’’ he said. “She ran dynamite. The big question was how was she going to handle the track and she seemed like she absolutely enjoyed it. The California bred program is a great one and we’re looking forward to see what she does on the turf now.’’
Grazed My Heart, who had defeated state bred maidens at the Soviet Problem distance on grass Oct. 23, finished five lengths clear of 6-1 shot Cocktail Princess and returned $4.40 and $3.20. The show price on Cocktail Princess was $3.
Big Celebration and Loyal to a Fault completed the order of finish.
Racing resumes Friday at Los Alamitos. Post time is 12:30 p.m.
