LA CANADA STAKES

Owner and trainer Don Schnell warned Tyler Baze about Escape Clause before the $100,000 La Canada Stakes (G3) at Santa Anita Park. "She'll relax good, and when you ask her, be careful," Schnell said. "She'll take off like a bullet." The veteran rider, who was aboard the Manitoba-bred Going Commando mare for the first time Jan. 12 in the 1 1/16-mile test, had that advice in his back pocket, but when she made her eye-catching move in the second turn, it still caught him by surprise. "I didn't know her acceleration was that doggone fast," Baze said of the three-wide move Escape Clause made to burst to the front in the La Canada. "If I knew that, I actually would have waited a lot longer. I was kinda niggling on her on the backside, but, man, when I slapped her on the shoulder once—it was unbelievable." The rest of the race was a contest for the minors. Escape Clause opened a five-length lead in the stretch and finished 5 1/2 lengths in front at the wire. K P Wildcat came in second, 2 3/4 lengths ahead of Lemoona in third. But after Stradella Road set a contested pace of :23.02 and :46.25 through a half-mile and Escape Clause finished the distance in 1:41.89 on a wet-fast (sealed) track, what made Baze and Schnell most excited was that she wasn't really running all-out in the stretch. The rider said the 5-year-old mare idled in the stretch, and he got nowhere close to the bottom of her ability. "I don't know how much is left there because she was pulling up. She wasn't even running," Baze said. "She was kinda looking around, looking at the grandstand. What an unbelievable feeling, because I don't know what's under the hood, but it's way more than she showed today." Stradella Road held fourth and was followed by Bernina Star to complete the order of finish. Second choice True Royalty, who pressed the pace early, was eased and pulled up by jockey Joel Rosario in the stretch. True Royalty's trainer, John Sadler, said the filly "cooled out OK" and that "nothing obvious" was apparent after the race.



The La Canada was the first graded stakes win
for Escape Clause and her 66-year-old conditioner,
who began training in 1972. His best horse by far in
earnings ($423,500), Escape Clause has now won 19
of her 28 starts, and her victories have come at six
racetracks—Santa Anita, Del Mar, Century Downs,
Assiniboia Downs, Northlands Park, and Canterbury
Park.
"It's nice to have a horse that runs like she does,"
Schnell said of Escape Clause, who has made four
starts in California—a win on the Del Mar grass in
the Kathryn Crosby Stakes, a third in the Red Carpet
Handicap (G3T), and a fourth in the Robert J. Frankel
Stakes (G3T)—since a dominating streak of wins in
Canada in 2018. "The only concern was the track. I
know we've been on many different tracks—including
mud, turf, different surfaces—and she's handled all
of them. … I don't think this was her favorite track.
I think fast is probably better, but she did OK. She
never disappoints."
Bred by Cam Ziprick and Arnason Farms, out of the
Circulating mare Danger Pay, Escape Clause has won
her last nine starts on dirt.
"I said the other day something like, 'Can you
imagine this? A hick-town trainer taking a hicktown
horse and being a favorite in a stakes at Santa
Anita?' It hasn't sunk in yet," said Schnell, who will
drive with Escape Clause back to his winter Turf
Paradise base at 2 a.m. Jan. 13. "I'm always proud of
her, especially today."