ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) My Sweet Addiction led all the way to score a one-length upset in the $300,000 Vanity Stakes for older mares Saturday at Santa Anita.
Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, My Sweet Addiction ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.73 and paid $11.20 and $17.20 at 9-2 odds.
Brazil-bred Gas Total rallied from last to return $22, while 1-9 favorite Warren's Veneda was another head back in third. There was no show wagering because of the four-horse field, which was reduced when two-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder didn't run because of a fever. A whopping $301,848 was bet to place on Warren's Veneda, generating the big place prices.
My Sweet Addiction won her first stakes race and earned $180,000, increasing her career total to $328,106, with four wins in 10 starts.
''We controlled the speed and it was just a matter of if she was going to bring her `A' game and she brought her `A-plus' game,'' Smith said.
In the $100,000 American Stakes, 3-2 favorite Bal a Bali took the lead with a furlong to go and went on to a one-length victory in the Grade 3 race.
Ridden by Flavien Prat, who finished second aboard Gas Total in the Vanity, Bal a Bali ran one mile on turf in 1:35.69 and paid $5, $3.80 and $3.
Talco returned $4.80 and $3.20, while Gabriel Charles was another 1 1/4 lengths back in third and paid $5.40 to show.
Bal a Bali was making his U.S. debut after being idle because of laminitis since winning a Group 1 race in Brazil 11 months ago.
''It really is fulfilling to get his first race in the U.S. under his belt, because he really had a serious problem coming out of quarantine when he had laminitis,'' Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella said. ''The podiatrist did an unbelievable job of getting him back like this.''
The victory, worth $60,000, increased Bal a Bali's career earnings to $570,078, with 12 wins in 13 races. He won four Group 1 races last year, including the Brazilian Triple Crown.
