Vodka With a Twist on Track for Seasonal Bow in Santa Anita Oaks

[Wandering Eyes]

GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies runner-up MGISP Vodka With a Twist (Thousand Words) is reportedly on track to make her 2025 debut in the GII Fasig-Tipton Santa Anita Oaks after a good drill Monday morning at Santa Anita.

Most recently clocked in a five furlong move in :59.80 (4/71), the multiple Grade I-placed filly has been on the sidelines since running third behind GISW Tenma (Nyquist) and SW & GSP Look Forward (Bolt d'Oro) in the GII Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos Dec. 7.

“I was very happy with the drill,” trainer Phil D'Amato said. “It looks like we're on target for the Santa Anita Oaks. She still has two more breezes, but if they go like today's, she'll be there.”

D'Amato added that he has been pleased with Vodka With a Twist's mental development, especially since she'd made seven starts as a 2-year-old, a campaign that began at Keeneland last April. She returned from her freshening Jan. 29 and has been working weekly since then.

“She's a filly that never really had a break. I think given her that little time off has allowed her to mature mentally,” D'Amato said. “That's the biggest thing she needed to improve on. She's kind of a nervous, high-strung filly, but she seems to be a little more relaxed and settled now.”

Trainer Michael McCarthy Says Look Forward 'Possible' For Santa Anita Oaks

Speaking of the aforementioned runner, her conditioner confirmed that the filly was a possibility as well for the Santa Anita Oaks following her seventh-place finish in the GIII Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park.

With a victory in the Listed Fasig-Tipton Santa Ynez Stakes under her belt, Look Forward already has Kentucky Oaks points to her credit this season, but currently sits outside the bubble with 15. She returned to the work tab Saturday, Mar. 15 and rolled through five panels in :59.60, the second fastest of 18 that morning.

“We'll see about the Oaks. I thought her work was very good,” McCarthy said. “She's just a naturally very fast horse.”

“She needs to be on or near the lead. When she missed the break at Oaklawn, she got shuffled back probably 10 or 11 lengths off the field. That made all the difference.”

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