City to City was beaten as the heavy favorite in her previous two starts but rallied to win by a head Monday as a long shot amid a big field of fillies and mares at Santa Anita in the $150,000 Buena Vista Handicap.
Ridden by Corey Nakatani for the first time, the 5-year-old City to City was fifth at the halfway point in the Grade 2 turf mile, moved up to fourth at the top of the stretch and held off an even bigger rally from Up In Time, who went from ninth to second in the homestretch.
''We were hoping that there would be some legitimate pace in the race, and in a mile race, there always is,'' Nakatani said. '' I couldn't have been in a better spot, and the way the race developed was perfect.''
City to City won in 1 minute, 34.19 seconds and returned $19 for a $2 win bet. Wild Mia was another half-length behind Up In Time in third.
Less than three lengths separated the first seven finishers. The favorite, Vamo a Galupiar, 10th for much of the race, had to rally for sixth.
City to City, a daughter of City Zip trained and partly owned by Jerry Hollendorfer, earned $90,000 for the win, her seventh in 24 lifetime starts, for a career total of $509,491.
The mare's connections say she would be pointed to the March 15 Santa Ana Stakes and the April 21 Santa Barbara Stakes, both 1-1/8-mile races at Santa Anita.
