Santa Anita Oaks

With only five entries for the April 6 Santa Anita Oaks (G1), the race was pushed up in the program to Race 3, but fans at the "Great Race Place" shouldn't be late. Two of the leading heavyweights for the May 3 Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) are in the lineup: two-time grade 1 winner Bellafina and Chasing Yesterday, a winner of four straight, including the March 24 Sunland Park Oaks in New Mexico.

Both fillies were entered for the Sunland Park Oaks, but only the Bob Baffert trainee made the trip. Trainer Simon Callaghan opted to remain in Southern California with Bellafina and train up to Saturday's $400,000 race at 1 1/16 miles.

Chasing Yesterday, bred and raced by Jane Lyon's Summer Wind Equine, is a striking daughter of Tapit  out of Littleprincessemma, by Yankee Gentleman, making her a half sister to 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah . Coming to hand late in her 2-year-old season, she ran off wins in the Anoakia Stakes at Santa Anita Park, the Desi Arnaz Stakes at Del Mar, and the Starlet Stakes (G1) at Los Alamitos Race Course. The trip to Sunland Park marked her 2019 bow.

Bellafina, a powerful filly by Quality Road , was bred in Kentucky by Joe Minor's JSM Equine and races for Kaleem Shah, who paid $800,000 for Bellafina from Wavertree Stables' consignment to The Gulfstream Sale in 2018. She's proved to be a shrewd purchase.

At 2, Bellafina rattled off wins in the Sorrento Stakes (G2), Del Mar Debutante Stakes (G1), and Chandelier Stakes (G1) before finishing fourth in the Tito's Handmade Vodka Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) at Churchill Downs.

She didn't miss a beat as the calendar turned to 2019, crushing her foes in the seven-furlong Santa Ynez Stakes (G2) by 8 1/2 lengths, then adding the one-mile Las Virgenes Stakes (G2) Feb. 9.

An eight-week gap between races has been filled with a steady stream of works. She is the 2-5 morning-line choice, and Chasing Yesterday is tabbed at 3-1.

The three other fillies in the field are lacking the past performances of the top pair. Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Stirred was sixth last year in the Sorrento but showed marked improvement in her 2019 debut in a March 2 optional-claiming allowance race. Slewgoodtobetrue, a two-time winner at Santa Anita, shipped to New Orleans for the Twinspires.com Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) but ran sixth behind Street Band. Baffert is also the trainer of Godolphin's maiden winner Flor de La Mar.