Dream Tree Back in La Brea

[Wandering Eyes]

Phoenix Thoroughbred III’s undefeated Dream Tree (Uncle Mo) makes her return to the races in Wednesday’s GI La Brea S. at Santa Anita. The $750,000 Fasig-Tipton Gulfstream grad annexed last year’s GI Starlet S. and added the GII Las Virgenes S. in February, but was taken off the GI Kentucky Oaks trail due to a non-disclosed issue. The Bob Baffert pupil resurfaced to romp in Saratoga’s GII Prioress S. going six panels Sept. 2, but was scratched from both the GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint–and the Keeneland November Sale–after suffering an entrapped epiglottis during a breeze. Baffert boasts a record seven wins in the La Brea, but hasn’t taken it since 2012. The Hall of Famer will also saddle ‘TDN Rising Star‘ Emboldened (Elusive Quality). A debut romper here almost a year ago, the Godolphin homebred was third in a local optional claimer in February. She returned in May to annex the track-and-trip Angel Flight S. over MGISW Moonshine Memories (Malibu Moon), but hasn’t been seen since. Peter Miller has two chances at a second La Brea trophy. Mo See Cal (Uncle Mo), claimed for $25,000 over the summer, seeks her fourth consecutive victory. She most recently annexed an open Del Mar optional claimer going a two-turn mile Nov. 15. Kelly’s Humor (Midnight Lute), who took the Ellis Park Debutante S. at this distance and who was also third in the GI Test S. this summer while under the care of Brad Cox, settled for fifth from far back in a Nov. 16 optional claimer first off the trainer switch. Wesley Ward pupil Happy Like a Fool (Distorted Humor), a two-time graded winner, got a confidence builder in a Churchill optional claimer Nov. 25 after bringing $1.45 million at Fasig-Tipton November. Now owned only by the Coolmore partners, she was co-campaigned by Merriebelle when she finished sixth in the GI Breeders’ Cup F/M Sprint. Three-time Cal-bred stakes winner Spiced Perfection (Smiling Tiger) most recently took the Betty Grable S. at Del Mar Nov. 11.

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