Top-three sire Speightstown had a pair of stakes winners on Saturday, with Astute winning Santa Anita Park’s Angels Flight S. a few hours after Flagstaff took the Churchill Downs S. (G1) on Derby Day at the Louisville track.
Astute’s victory may not have come in as big of a race, but the outing was a stepping stone for bigger things to come for the 3-year-old filly, who won last year’s Desi Arnaz S. at Del Mar by 7 1/2-lengths.
In Saturday’s seven-furlong contest, Astute’s stablemate Missy P. took the lead out of the gate, but Astute quickly went to the front and had the lead in the first furlong. The running order didn’t change after that, with Missy P. trying to apply pressure, but Astute easily turned her away and won by 2 1/4-lengths in 1:22.94 on a fast track.
“(She showed) what a good filly she is,” said winning trainer Richard Mandella. “At Los Alamitos (in the G1 Startlet S. in December), she came out of the race with a sore foot, actually had a hard time cooling out it was so sore. So, we took time to grow her feet out and she’s paying us back. She’s going to be a good filly. I don’t have any doubts that she’ll go further.”
Astute is owned by LNJ Foxwoods, who purchased her for $425,000 at the 2019 Keeneland September Yearling sale. She has won three of four starts and earned $159,420.
Astute was bred by WinStar Farm and is out of Discerning, also the dam of multiple graded stakes winner Classic Point.
