Saturday’s Royal Heroine Stakes at Santa Anita Park, for older fillies and mares going a mile on the turf at Santa Anita, drew a balanced and competitive field of nine. Trainer Phil D’Amato, who has won this race four out of the last five years, has two entries with Innovative and Ripassare. Eight of the nine entrants are stakes winners, including multiple graded stakes winner May Day Ready who finished runner-up in the 2024 John Deere Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf.
Here’s a look at the field from the inside (rail) post position out:
Innovative drew the inside post and will be making her first start of her 4-year-old campaign coming off a nearly six-month layoff for Phil D’Amato with regular rider Ricardo Gonzalez back aboard. She has finished in the top three in four out of five races on Santa Anita’s turf, including a win in the John C. Harris Stakes on the downhill turf course in September. Tirupati will be making her second start following a nearly year-long layoff for trainer Jonathan Thomas with Kazushi Kimura in the saddle. A Thousand Miles, who dominated the Zia Park Oaks by 8 ½ lengths in November, is fresh off a bid in the Santa Ana Stakes in mid-March and will have Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith aboard after a two-race absence for trainer Vann Belvoir. Ripassare, the second D’Amato entrant, ran his last four starts at Turfway Park over the all-weather track and then shipped to Santa Anita in April to D’Amato’s stable. The daughter of Vino Rosso makes her return to the turf for the first time since winning a maiden race on Churchill Downs’ turf course in November 2024 and will have Armando Ayuso aboard for the first time. Two-time Grade 2 stakes winner May Day Ready will be making her first start for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella. After winning the Lake Placid Stakes at Saratoga back in August, the Tapit filly finished seventh in both the Winter Memories Stakes in September and Bank of America Valley View Stakes in October. She will be making her first start of her 4-year-old campaign off a six-month layoff with Antonio Fresu aboard for the first time. Rosie Jeeks finished second by just a neck in her most recent start in the Queen of the Green Stakes at Turf Paradise at the end of March for trainer Neil Drysdale. She will be making her second career start at Santa Anita and will have Florent Geroux in the irons. Last time out, Watchtower was eased up and walked off in the Buena Vista Stakes on Feb. 28 at Santa Anita and has been working sharply since for trainer Richard Baltas. Jockey Welfin Orantes will be aboard for his second career graded stakes mount. Take A Breath is fresh off a narrow victory in the Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita for trainer Mark Glatt with Emisael Jaramillo retaining the mount. The 4-year-old filly by Bated Breath shipped to North America in August 2025. Grand Slam Smile, the 5-2 morning-line favorite, rounds out the field for trainer Sean McCarthy with regular rider William Antongeorgi back aboard. The 5-year-old daughter of Smiling Tiger is 5-for-5 in the top three going one mile (on both turf and dirt) and was much the best in her most recent start in the Irish O’Brien Stakes on the downhill turf at Santa Anita in March. Notably, Grand Slam Smile has earned a triple-digit Equibase Speed Figure in her last six consecutive starts.
Analysis and Main Contenders:
Take A Breath started her career in England with three wins from six starts before crossing the pond to run in North America. She finished fourth by just 1 ¾ lengths in the Del Mar Oaks Presented by Keeneland Sales in her first start in North America back in August 2025. After that, she lost four races at Santa Anita heading into the Santa Ana Stakes on March 15 of this year. Sent off at odds of 6.80-1, Take A Breath rallied on the far outside on the final turn, took command late, and held on to post a hard-fought narrow victory, earning a career-best 103 Equibase Speed Figure despite covering the most amount of ground in the 1 ¼-mile race. She cuts back to a mile in the Royal Heroine, a distance in which she is 2-for-5 on the turf. Emisael Jaramillo will be aboard, which is a positive, considering he seemingly gets the best efforts out of her. Jaramillo has two starts aboard Take A Breath, posting a third by just a half-length and a win in the Santa Ana last time out. Mark Glatt and Jaramillo have been quite successful together since Jaramillo took his tack out west earlier this year. All-time, they have four wins from eight starts together, every one of them on the turf. Another meaningful positive is that Take A Breath ranks first in late pace with a 113.0 rating, 6.5 points higher than any other contender in the Royal Heroine. Historically, horses in graded stakes turf routes with the highest late pace rating in the race win at 23% over the past year from 169 starts. Take A Breath has a wonderful opportunity to add a second graded stakes win to her résumé and has the right connections and ability to score with a 4-1 morning-line price.
Tirupati looks to improve in her second start after a nearly 12-month layoff for trainer Johnathan Thomas, who wins at a solid 25% from 107 starts over the last three years with horses making their second start off a layoff. The 5-year-old daughter of Mitole started her career on the dirt before finding success over the turf and was claimed away from Jonathan Thomas and Augustin Stables for $25,000 in October 2024, but they immediately claimed her back for $50,000 in her next start. Her connections brought Tirupati to California in December 2024 and she has run well over the Santa Anita turf since, finishing in the top three four of six times, including a win in the Wilshire Stakes going one mile on turf in March 2025 that netted a 100 Equibase Speed Figure. Tirupati has been training incredibly sharply at Santa Anita, breezing four furlongs in 46.60 in her most recent work at Santa Anita, and she looks to return to winning form stretching out to her preferred distance. At 9-2 morning-line odds, Tirupati is a formidable contender.
While she has finished seventh in her two most recent starts, May Day Ready could show her class among this field. As noted above, the Tapit filly will be making her first start for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella coming off a six-month rest. She started her career with dominance, winning her first three consecutive races including a win in the Jessamine Stakes Presented by Keeneland Sales in October 2024. She then finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf and posted a 111 Equibase Speed Figure, and after a trip to Japan for a start, she returned to the states and was sidelined until June 2025. Upon her return, May Day Ready finishing third and last in an edition of the Wonder Again Stakes at Saratoga that was taken off the turf, but then her form improved with a fourth in the Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes and then a win in the Lake Placid Stakes, both back on grass at Saratoga. As noted above, May Day Ready closed out her 2025 campaign with a pair of seventh-place finishes, but the filly has been training forwardly at Santa Anita since February. May Day Ready definitely has the talent and the ability to win or hit the board in this spot, and at 9-2 morning line she offers solid value as a multiple graded stakes winner.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures in similar races, is Innovative (99), A Thousand Miles (101), Ripassare (92), Rosie Jeeks (103), Watchtower (103), and Grand Slam Smile (109).
Win Contenders in Preference Order:
Take A Breath
Tirupati
May Day Ready
