Atlantic Ocean wins Santa Ysabel Stakes

Sunday January 05, 2003

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) Atlantic Ocean beat Sea Jewel by } of a length to win Sunday's $110,900 Santa Ysabel Stakes at Santa Anita.

Ridden by David Flores and trained by Bob Baffert, Atlantic Ocean covered 1 1-16 miles in 1:43.25 and paid $5, $3.40 and $2.20 in the field of six 3-year-old fillies.

Sea Jewel returned $4.40 and $2.20 in her first start since finishing fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 26, a race in which Atlantic Ocean was ninth.

Summer Wind Dancer was another length back in third and paid $2.10 to show.

The victory, worth $66,540, increased Atlantic Ocean's career earnings to $351,320, with four wins in eight starts for owner The Thoroughbred Corp.

Baffert said he is pointing Atlantic Ocean to the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks on March 8 at the same distance. Composure, also trained by Baffert, is scheduled to run in the Oaks, too.

In the co-featured $108,300 Sensational Star Handicap for older California-breds, trainer Jenine Sahadi and jockey Julie Krone became the first women to win a Santa Anita stakes when Spinelessjellyfish beat Macward by a neck.

Spinelessjellyfish covered 6{ furlongs in a stakes record 1:11.84 and paid $7.40, $4.40 and $2.80 for his first victory in 16 months. He was 0-for-11 last year.

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)