Santa Maria Stakes Grade II
For fillies and mares four-years-old and upwards
At a mile and a sixteenth
Santa Anita Park
February 18, 2012
Purse $200.000
Madame Butterfly snuck in just in time to win the Santa Maria Stakes GII. A well deserved win for her new owner since being claimed for a mere $50.000 now she is a Graded Stakes winner.
Madame Butterfly stalked the pace all the way until she was ready to make her move in deep stretch. In the early goings the leader was Ballroom Dancer who set some speedy fractions in the early goings. She was also pressured by Without Conditions and Roundheel on the rail running. Madame Butterfly sat right behind those just striding up and slowly inching her way closer to them with every stride.
This was the first time Madame Butterfly was trying the distance on dirt and she responded very well, she previously tried the journey on the turf as a three-year-old in the Florida Oaks at Tampa Bay Downs a year ago but she ended up finishing sixth four lengths behind the winner. The La Brea GI last December was a sprint race and she was never involved but today she was in the mix and it paid off greatly.
At the top of the stretch Madame Butterfly seemed as though she was not going to finish but Gomez rallied and swung about six wide in to the stretch and she started to gain momentum as she lengthened her strides. Going with her was Millionaire Heiress who was navigation through horse traffic. With a little less than a furlong to go Madame Butterfly collared Ballroom Dancer and kept on going to the wire, Millionaire Heiress tried hard but she was no match for Madame Butterfly today and she had to settle for second.
Owned by one of the top conditioners Dynark Stables. Madame Butterfly is a four-year-old bay filly by Swarley out of the Easy Big Fella mare Koko, she was bred by Boomtown and she is a registered
New Jersey bred.
Scraps ran on late to grab third from the fading Ballroom Dancer followed by Better Miss, Roundheel, Without condition and a disappointing Rhythm Line rounded out the field.
