Birdlover wins Mizdirection Stakes at Santa Anita

Published May. 22, 2015 11:04 p.m. ET

foxsports

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) Birdlover won the $75,000 Mizdirection Stakes for fillies and mares by a head Friday at Santa Anita.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Birdlover ran 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course in 1:13.56 and paid $6.40, $2.80 and $2.40 as the 2-1 second choice.

Home Journey returned $2.60 and $2.20 as the 6-5 favorite, while Alexis Tangier was another 5 1/2 lengths back in third and paid $2.80 to show.

The victory, worth $47,100, increased Birdlover's career earnings to $317,635, with six wins in 17 starts. She has three victories in five starts on the track's turf course.

''You never expect a charge down to the wire like that,'' trainer Doug O'Neill said. ''We know she's a nice mare and Mike has ridden her well in the past. She broke well, he put her in a great spot and it was a great horse race. You could do that 10 times and they each would probably win five of them.''