From Santa Anita Publicity
ARCADIA, Calif. (Oct. 29, 2022)—With heavily favored Chismosa scratched due to a paddock mishap, George Krikorian’s homebred Cast Member took on mantle of post time favorite and delivered the mail, as she kept to her task and emerged with a one length victory in Saturday’s $175,000 Golden State Juvenile Fillies Stakes at Santa Anita. Trained by Tim Yakteen and ridden by Ramon Vazquez, Cast Member got seven furlongs in 1:24.78.
The Golden State Juvenile is part of the lucrative CTBA-sponsored Golden State Series for eligible California-bred or sired 2-year-old fillies.
Attentive to the pace and about 1 ½ lengths behind Fun Money turning for home, Cast Member kept grinding through the lane and forged to the front well inside the sixteenth pole to remain unbeaten in two starts.
“My thought coming into the race was if we were going to be fit enough,” said Yakteen. “I didn’t get my prep race that I was hoping to get, so we went 60 days between races. Sometimes it’s a blessing, sometimes it’s a curse, anyways it turned out for the best.
“I think she should go two turns, she’s out of an Artie Schiller mare, her mother was all grass, so we’re looking forward down the road to see what she develops into.
“It pays to be Cal-bred. George has been a big supporter of the Cal-bred program. He stands Mr. Big and we have been very lucky with our Cal-breds. There’s so much added bonus to our pots with the Cal-bred division, it allows you to deviate from some of the heavy hitters sometimes and we have plenty of millionaires in the program, so it’s always fun to be a Cal-bred.”
A three-length maiden winner going six furlongs Sept. 3 at Del Mar, Cast Member was off at 8-5 in a field of five and returned $5.20, $3.20 and $2.20.
By Munnings and out of the Artie Schiller mare Be My Baby, Cast Member picked up $105,000 for the win, boosting her earnings for two starts to $153,000.
In a determined effort under Tyler Baze, the Ryan Hanson-trained Cholly kept to her talk at the rail and finished a head better than Fun Money. Off at 10-1, Cholly paid $7.20 and $3.60.
Ridden by Mario Gutierrez for Doug O’Neill, Fun Money, who broke alertly, sped to the front and finished third in a solid effort. Off at 7-1, she paid $3.20 to show while finishing 4 ½ lengths in front of Sell the Dream.
Fractions on the race were 22.98, 46.50 and 1:11.35.