WILSHIRE STAKES GRADE 3

Patience is a virtue. You’d get no argument from Tyler Baze on that account, as he bided his time and orchestrated a thrilling nose victory in Sunday’s Grade III, $100,000 Wilshire Stakes aboard the Eric Kruljac-conditioned Blingismything who prevailed in a four-horse photo while covering a flat mile on turf in 1:37.16.

Next to last with a quarter mile to run in a compact field of six fillies and mares 3-and-up, Baze split horses two off the rail a sixteenth out and eked out the win over a fast closing Smoove It, who was caught wide with Mario Gutierrez up.

“I won pretty easy, I thought,” said Baze. “She’s just a nice filly. I broke her maiden first time out a couple of years ago at Hollywood. This is my first opportunity to ride her back so I made the most of it. She’s a nice filly to ride with a big heart.”

Owned by Class Racing Stable, Blingismything was the second choice in the field at 5-2 and paid $7.40, $3.80 and $2.40. A 5-year-old Kentucky-bred mare by Arch, she was a close third in the Grade III Las Cienegas Stakes April 11, and the Wilshire triumph provided her with her first-ever stakes win. With the winner’s share of $60,000, she increased her earnings to $246,330 and ran her overall record to 10-4-2-3.

Trained by Doug O’Neill, Smoove It, who saved ground at the rail into and around the far turn, angled five-wide off the fence approaching the quarter pole and just missed at 6-1, finishing a head in front of her favored stablemate, Birdlover. Smoove paid $5.60 and $3.20.

“I thought I had it,” said Gutierrez. “She’s improving a lot and I was hoping to get that kind of race out of her.”

Ridden by Rafael Bejarano, Birdlover, who broke from the outside, was off at 9-5, made an easy lead and tired late to finish third, a nose in front of Indecise. Birdlover paid $2.40 to show.

“My filly broke beautifully,” said Bejarano. “We had an easy pace, 23 and change, 48 and change…it was perfect. The other horses were just flying late and we got beat a head. She ran great, no excuse.”

Fractions on the race, set by Birdlover, were 23.64, 48.79, 1:13.48 and 1:25.23.