A potential surface change for Saturday’s Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita may not affect the participation of Lakota Spirit, who has run well on turf and dirt in recent starts. Other leading prospects, such as Oakhurst and Yerwanthere, could miss the $100,000 race for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles if excessive rain leads to a decision by track officials to switch the race from turf to dirt. Lakota Spirit finished second in an allowance race on dirt Sept. 30 at Santa Anita and won her next start in an allowance race on turf Nov. 26 at Del Mar when ridden by Juan Hernandez. “She’s a filly that she broke through the other day and won convincingly,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “Juan gets along with her really well. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports “I don’t mind running her on either surface. She’s proven equally effective on both.” Lakota Spirit, who joined D’Amato’s stable from Chad Brown earlier this year, closed from off the pace in both of those races and will race at 1 1/8 miles for the first time in the Frankel. “I don’t see distance being an issue with her,” D’Amato said. “She gallops out really well.” Yerwanthere has an excellent chance, if the race remains on turf. “At the moment, she seems more like she’s strictly grass,” trainer Paddy Gallagher said. Yerwanthere was second by three-quarters of a length in the restricted Kathryn Crosby Stakes at a mile on turf for fillies and mares on Nov. 11 at Del Mar in her American stakes debut. “She ran really well,” Gallagher said. “We were hoping for that.” In Britain in June, Yerwanthere finished a troubled fifth as the 5-1 favorite in a field of 19 in the Kensington Palace Fillies Handicap at a straight mile at Royal Ascot. Trained at the time by Joseph O’Brien, Yerwanthere raced in traffic before launching a rally under Australian jockey James McDonald. Yerwanthere was beaten 1 1/4 lengths. Yerwanthere won an allowance race at a mile on turf at Santa Anita in October with a late rally. D’Amato also has entered Oakhurst, who has finished fourth, fifth, and sixth in three consecutive starts in stakes since early September. Oakhurst was beaten four lengths when sixth in the Grade 3 Red Carpet Stakes at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar in her last start Nov. 23. “Maybe that race was a little too far for her,” D’Amato said. “A mile and an eighth is more of her sweet spot. I think she’ll appreciate this distance more.” D’Amato said Oakhurst is not a definite runner if the surface changes. The field for the Frankel Stakes includes Angel Nadeshiko, who was fifth in the minor Dark Mirage Stakes at Los Alamitos in September for Gallagher; Rebel Girl, a close fourth in an allowance race on turf Nov. 12 at Golden Gate Fields in her first start since July; and Luminiferous, who was third behind Lakota Spirit on Nov. 26. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.