ARCADIA, (March 14, 2013)—By Ghostzapper and out of the downhill turf sensation Cambiocorsa, Schiaparelli added blinkers and earmuffs and ran to her considerable potential Thursday, winning Santa Anita’s $60,000 San Mateo Purse by 3 ½ lengths under Joe Talamo while covering 6 ½ furlongs down the hillside turf course in 1:11.70.
“She ran like a big-time horse today,” said winning trainer Mike Puype. “She’ll stay on the turf and we’ll definitely stretch her out next time. The earmuffs and blinkers made a big difference today—she was much calmer in the post parade. With her turn of foot, she’ll stretch out and she could be deadly in graded stakes.”
Second behind 65-1 shot Dypsy all the way down the hill through fractions of 21.52, 43.92 and 1:05.95, it was apparent that Talamo had a ton of horse approaching the dirt crossing at the top of the lane.
“The blinkers and the earmuffs made a big difference,” said Talamo. “She was a lot more relaxed today. She’s got a great turn of foot and she ran huge.”
Well beaten in the $86,000 Wishing Well Stakes down the hill on Feb. 10, Schiaparelli, a 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare, was off at 4-1 in the nine-horse San Mateo , her sixth career start.
She paid $10.60, $4.40 and $3.00. Owned and bred by Ran Jan Racing, Inc., Schiaparelli improved her record to 6-3-0-2. With the winner’s share of $36,000, her earnings now stand at $120,864.
Best Present Ever, the second choice at 3-1 with Rafael Bejarano, got a good stalking trip and finished second, a half length in front of 3-2 favorite Esentepe. She paid $4.00 and $2.60.
Esentepe, a highly regarded Irish-bred filly making her U.S. debut under Corey Nakatani, broke from post position eight and sat behind Best Present Ever to the stretch and was third-best, finishing 1 ¾ lengths in front of longshot There Is No Limit and Kevin Krigger.
Esentepe paid $2.80 to show.
First post time for an eight-race program on Friday is at 1:00 p.m. For more racing information, visit www.santaanita.com.