Maysam outduels Supa Speed in Santa Ysabel

Mar 02, 2025 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Two weeks after throwing in a clunker in the Sunland Park Oaks, Michael Lund Petersen’s Maysam rebounded in the $98,000 Santa Ysabel (G3) at Santa Anita on Sunday. The Bob Baffert trainee set the pace and withstood a ferocious challenge from Supa Speed to prevail by a nose.

Only four fillies ran in the Santa Ysabel following the withdrawals of Cipriani, another well-fancied Baffert runner, and Hey Jessie. That invoked the rule whereby the points for a Championship Series event with four or fewer starters will be cut in half. As a result, Maysam took home 25 points (instead of 50) toward the Kentucky Oaks (G1), and Supa Speed earned 12.5 points.

The lack of runners did not equate to a lack of drama, though. Maysam and Supa Speed turned the Santa Ysabel into a match race culminating in a thrilling stretch-long battle.

Maysam had shown high speed in her Jan. 24 debut here, forcing the pace in a sprint maiden before kicking six lengths clear. The $500,000 OBS March purchase was expected to deliver a similar performance in her Feb. 16 foray to Sunland Park, where she went off as the 1-10 favorite. But she was never happy at that venue. Agitated in the gate and off a beat slow, Maysam retreated to a remote sixth in the Sunland Park Oaks.

Back home at Santa Anita, however, Maysam reverted to her true self. The 3-2 second choice broke like a shot and immediately took the lead through splits of :23.45 and :47.74. The John Sadler-trained Supa Speed, the even-money favorite in her first try on dirt, chased in second. Howin and Just as Fancy were third and fourth, respectively, at every call, but they dropped ever farther behind.

Supa Speed drew nearer to Maysam at the six-furlong mark in 1:12.31 and loomed alongside rounding the far turn. The battle was on.

Interestingly, both duelists are out of mares by Baffert’s 2015 Triple Crown hero American Pharoah. Their sires are also past Baffert stars. Maysam is from the first crop of champion Game Winner, while Supa Speed is by 2018 Triple Crown sweeper Justify.

Whenever Supa Speed tried to get the upper hand, Maysam found more on the inside, and she kept her nose in front as they crossed the wire. Maysam completed the 1 1/16-mile slog in 1:45.62.

Another 6 1/2 lengths astern came Howin, also trained by Baffert. Her third-place effort was good for 7.5 points, and Howin now has 9.5 all told. Just as Fancy trailed far back in fourth, adding five points for a total of 11.

“It was really close,” Maysam’s rider, Juan Hernandez, noted. “We were fighting from the quarter pole to the wire, but my filly put her nose in front of the other filly. She was really happy today.

“Last time in the Sunland Park Oaks, I think she didn’t like the track at all. She was really upset. I thought we missed the break and that’s why she ran badly. But today she was a different filly. She was so happy today. She broke really sharp and was waiting for company. She was looking around just waiting for the competition.

“I was feeling the outside horse (Supa Speed), she was right next to me, and I knew she was closing and wouldn’t let me go.”

“We really enjoyed her performance today,” Baffert’s longtime assistant, Jimmy Barnes, said. “We had a little difficulty at the gate in Sunland Park, but that’s not her. We brought her back, made a few corrections and hopefully figured her out. She ran very well today.”

Bred by Seclusive Farm, Chester Prince, and Anne Prince in Kentucky, Maysam is the first foal from the unraced Sefani. She’s bankrolled $98,500 from her 2-for-3 record.