ARCADIA, Calif. – The last race is one of best Saturday at Santa Anita, and rocket-ship filly Sassy Nature faces a simple question – can she carry her speed 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course? A deep field of statebred fillies and mares – six are stakes winners – entered the $100,000 California Distaff Handicap, which goes as race 9. It’s a longer race than usual for Sassy Nature, a pedal-to-the-metal stakes winner who routinely blazes away at distances up to 5 1/2 furlongs. “We’re worried a little bit about the extra furlong,” trainer Luis Mendez said. “I think she will take the lead and, hopefully if nobody puts pressure on her, I think she can do it.” Sassy Nature is less accomplished than many of her rivals, but none possess as much gas. If Sassy Nature gets loose and gets comfortable, it might be lights-out. If the distance on the hill is out of reach, anything goes in a deep California Distaff. :: Bet Santa Anita with confidence! Get DRF All Access Past Performances, Picks, Clocker Reports and more. The field includes horse-for-course stakes winners Stay and Scam, Big Summer, and 2023 California Distaff winner Rose Maddox. Graded winner Chismosa is the 125-pound topweight, but more effective on dirt. Grand Slam Smile has won four stakes, but the 3-year-old has never faced older. The stakes is the final race on an appealing card with three compelling allowance route races. The filly Cavalieri meets winners on dirt in race 3 following a sharp debut victory, albeit bias-aided. Race 5 attracted a strong field of second-level turf horses, including 96 Beyer Speed Figure mile winner Eye On Ry and recently gelded stakes winner Old Pal. The final allowance, race 7, offers one of the best gambles on the program. A first-level turf mile for fillies and mares includes European import Montjica, who adds blinkers for her second start in United States. Montjica could post a minor upset after finishing ninth in her comeback. While the distance of the California Distaff is a challenge for Sassy Nature, she is facing easier company after running against males in a pair of five-furlong Del Mar turf races. Sassy Nature, a 5-for-15 speedster owned by Chad Calvert, had been off six months when she entered an Aug. 2 allowance open to both genders. Dismissed as the 18.40-1 longest shot in the field, the only filly in the field ran the boys off their feet. Mendez said the win “was a surprise, because of [six months] without racing. I loved the way she was doing going into the race, but it was a surprise.” For her next start, Mendez and owner Calvert took another shot and entered Sassy Nature against males in the Grade 3 Green Flash Handicap, also at five furlongs on turf. “She didn’t run bad, but that was a really tough spot,” Mendez said. Sassy Nature set a blazing pace of 21.77 seconds for the quarter-mile and 44.38 to the half, led to near the eighth pole, and got swallowed in a race won by closer Motorious, a Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint contender. The competition is easier in the California Distaff, though the distance is tougher. Edwin Maldonado rides Sassy Nature, who just might wire the field. In race 3, Cavalieri steps up from a bias-aided, 85 Beyer debut win at one mile. Her subsequent team works with Grade 2 winner Imagination and highly regarded maiden Splendora suggest the Bob Baffert-trained Cavalieri can defeat streaking Jubilant Joanie, whose fourth straight win last out was an 87 Beyer runaway in a $20,000 claiming route. Race 5 is a second-level turf allowance at a1 1/8 miles in which Eye On Ry will try to replicate his 96-Beyer smasher racing a mile on turf at Del Mar. It was his second start in California, and second for trainer Ron Ellis. The longer distance is a concern. “I wish it was a mile,” Ellis said. Based strictly on last-start speed figures, Eye On Ry might be the one to beat. California-bred stakes winner Old Pal makes his first start since being gelded. “He’s always had trouble leaving the gate, maybe his testicles were bothering him a little bit,” trainer Mark Glatt said. “He’s never been a bad mover, but I think he is moving a little better behind [since being castrated].” A closer, Old Pal will have pace to run at. Calm Sea and Jimmy Blue both have speed. Race 7 entrant Montjica is Glatt’s second turf runner on Saturday, and he expects improvement following her tough-luck ninth-place U.S. debut. “It was a pretty miserable trip,” Glatt accurately noted. Montjica adds blinkers in an attempt to keep her more focused. “She seems to want to see things,” Glatt said. “She seems to be a lot more forward, and not looking around as much [wearing blinkers in the morning]. “I think she’ll definitely move forward.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.