Abel Flores and James Sills’ Shaken Goin On, the winner of the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Oaks on March 22, would have been the big favorite in Saturday’s running of the $22,500 La Pacifica Handicap for sophomore fillies at Los Alamitos if her connections had chosen that route.
After all, Shaken Goin On had already defeated several of the top La Pacifica contenders in the Oaks while also winning both of her starts at Los Alamitos. With that in mind, her camp opted for a different plan, one that had the homebred filly by Freighttrain B facing older mares for the first time in the running of the Grade 3, $50,000 Miss Princess Handicap on Sunday night. It was an ambitious plan and Shaken Goin On was up to the task.
Ridden by Justine Klaiber for trainer Eddie Willis, Shaken Goin On broke sharply from post number four, opened a ¾ length lead on her older rivals and then held off a late rally from Brazilian superstar Miss Isao Jqm to win the Miss Princess by a head. For the Oklahoma-bred, this was her third victory in as many starts at Los Alamitos, two of them coming in stakes races, while adding a feather in her cap after defeating some of the top mares in California. The key to it all was her quick start, as Shaken Goin On flew from the get go on the way to covering the 350 yards in :17.543.
“She broke amazing as usual,” Klaiber said. “You could feel the pressure at the end, and I think my filly could feel it too. I think she got faster as the pressure was coming on and we were able to hold on. I think she broke a little bit better in (the Oaks) but she still broke great.”
Shaken Goin On improved to seven wins in 12 starts and her Miss Princess earnings of $27,500 to her career bankroll to $312,208.
For Willis, the trainer swept the weekend stakes races, as his trainee Hott Temptation took advantage of Shaken Goin On’s absence to win the La Pacifica on Saturday.
Pedro Barbizan Santiago Leite’s Miss Isao Jqm was huge in the second half of this race. She was ninth at the start, fifth at the midway point before coming on strong to earn second place money of $11,250 in the Miss Princess. The Mr Jess Perry mare has now made 18 starts in her life and she’s finished first or second in every single one of her outings. She’s now gone over $200,000 in career earnings with the exact figure now at $202,747. Eduardo Nicasio piloted her for trainer James Glenn, Jr.
Rose Marie Garcia’s La Famosa Vaquera finished third with Rodrigo Aceves up for Elena Andrade. The Andrade-trained Budderhomesngarden, owned and bred by Double Bar S Ranch, was fourth and was followed by Market Analyst, One Sweet Duck, Ecstatik, West Texas Prize and Basking.
