The first two legs of the 2021 Triple Crown racing series are in the books after Rombauer outdueled Medina Spirit at Pimlico Race Course last Saturday to win the Preakness Stakes. The final event is the Belmont Stakes on June 5.

Moving to the West Coast for this Saturday’s top Thoroughbred races, the fillies and mares get a chance to shine in a pair of graded stakes races at Santa Anita Park.

Both the Honeymoon Stakes and the Santa Maria Stakes will feature a few prominent fillies and mares in the probable field as the highlight of this Saturday’s race card.

2021 Honeymoon Stakes Predictions

The Honeymoon Stakes is a Grade 3 race open to three-year old fillies. The total prize purse for this year’s race has been set at $100,000. Contested on the turf track at Santa Anita, this race will cover 1 1/8 miles in total distance.

The field is still coming together with seven fillies listed as probable at Horse Racing Nation. Leading the way with a HRN rating of 5.23 is trainer Simon Callaghan’s Madone. This three- year old Kentucky-bred filly is coming off a big win in the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes at Santa Anita on May 1. She covered the mile run on turf in 1:35.17.

Sired by Vancouver, Madone has raced five times in her career going back to July of last year with four victories. She faded to eighth place against the best turf fillies in the world in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland.

A solid pairing with Madone in an exacta bet for this race would be Going Global. Trained by Philip D’Amato, she also won her last time out. Racing at Santa Anita in early April, this Irish- bred filly won the Grade 3 Providencia Stakes by covering the 1 1/8 miles on turf in 1:48.50.

This was her third victory in three races as a sire of Mehmas. Given her strength at the longer distance of this race, boxing Madone and Going Global in an exacta would be the smartest play.

2021 Santa Maria Stakes Predictions

The featured event on Saturday’s card is a Grade 2 stakes race open to fillies and mares three- years and older. Covering 1 1/16 miles on dirt, the total prize purse for this year’s Santa Maria Stakes is set at $200,000.

It appears that this race will have a small field with a few talented contenders at the top of the list. Trainer Mike McCarthy appears to have the horse to beat in Ce Ce. This five-year old mare placed third in last year’s Santa Maria Stakes behind Fighting Mad and Hard Not To Love to snap a three-race winning streak.

More recently, she won a seven furlong Allowance Claimer at Santa Anita on April 17. This was her first race since finishing fifth in the 2020 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Keeneland.

Another strong contender in Saturday’s probable field is trainer Bob Baffert’s As Time Goes By. While Baffert has been in the news lately for all the wrong reasons, his prized four-year old filly is coming off an impressive victory in the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes at this track on April 24. She covered the 1 1/8 miles on dirt in 1:49.95.

Sired by Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, she has yet to finish out of the money in six career races. The best bet in this race is another boxed exacta with the top two contenders.

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