Cavalieri Remains Unbeaten With La Canada Triumph

Speedway Stables' Cavalieri made her first try against stakes company a successful one when she held off a late rally in the stretch from graded stakes winner Alpha Bella to take the $100,000 La Canada Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park Jan. 19 and remain unbeaten in three starts. The lightly-raced daughter of Nyquist entered the race off an authoritative victory in an allowance test at Santa Anita Oct. 12. That marked her second career start as she didn't begin her competitive career until last August at Del Mar when she broke her maiden at first asking in gate-to-wire fashion. Sent off as the even-money favorite in the 1 1/16-miles La Canada for trainer Bob Baffert, 4-year-old Cavalieri stalked pacesetter Chatalas through the opening quarter mile in :23.69 before sticking her head in front as they reached the half in :47.33. Nearing the quarter pole, Cavalieri began to edge clear under jockey Juan Hernandez, but had to dig deep to hold off veteran Alpha Bella in the stretch. Cavalieri ultimately kicked away from that challenge, hitting the wire 1 1/2 lengths in front in a final time of 1:44.15. “I had a nice break and after that I was in a really good position,” Hernandez said. “She was travelling really well. Turning for home, I think she was waiting for company. When the outside horse (Alpha Bella) came, she felt her and responded really well. She’s a nice filly.” Alpha Bella held for second with Big Hug finishing third and Chatalas giving way to finish fourth. Cavalieri paid $4.00 to win. Che Evasora (ARG) and Musical Mischief completed the order of finish. "Coming into the race, with the way she has been training, we knew we were going to have fun with her," Baffert said of the winner. "She is maturing, and she is a big, beautiful stout mare. If we can keep her healthy we will have a lot of fun with her this year. It was a big step-up for her running against some nice fillies and she handled it well, took a lot of pressure and kept going. I think she is going to improve off of this. We're very happy about it" Cavalieri improved her career bankroll to $138,000. She was bred in Kentucky by Alastar Thoroughbred and is out of the multiple graded stakes-placed mare Stiffed, making her a half sister t graded stakes winner Affirmative Lady. She was purchased for $900,000 by Speedway Stables from the Wavertree consignment at the 2023 Ocala Breeders' Sales Company's April 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale. "It's nice to have these big mares, and the clientele," Baffert said. "Peter Fluor, Speedway Racing, they've been great, sending me these good horses. We've got a great team."