Teddy’s Promise in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Santa Monica Stakes

Owner Ted Nichols and trainer Ron Ellis faced a pivotal decision last month when Teddy’s Promise was ready for the jump from optional claimers to stakes.


Should they try the filly in the Grade 1, $300,000 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Dec. 31, or take a seemingly easier route in the $75,000 Kalookan Queen Handicap against older females a day later?
Ellis conceded the decision to Nichols, and Nichols aimed high. He chose the La Brea.
“He left it up to me,” Nichols recalled last weekend, citing Teddy’s Promise’s strong training as the deciding factor.
The payoff was a career-defining win for Teddy’s Promise in her stakes debut, which has led to a start in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Santa Monica Stakes against older females at Santa Anita. The La Brea win has launched discussions about long-term plans for a try at another big-time sprint for fillies and mares at Santa Anita this year – the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint in November.


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