Meaning Upsets Super Corredora, Explora in Las Virgenes

After finishing behind Super Corredora and Explora in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1), the lightly-raced Meaning turned the tables in the $100,000 Las Virgenes Stakes Feb. 8 at Santa Anita Park. The daughter of Gun Runner earned 20 points on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks (G1) for her 1 1/2-length victory. Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners' Meaning came into the 1-mile race off a three-month layoff, last seen finishing fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies after a troubled trip. Prior to that effort, the Michael McCarthy trainee broke her maiden on debut by 3 1/2 lengths at Los Alamitos Race Course. "She's a stronger filly, more mature," McCarthy said. "She's put on a lot of weight here in the last couple of months. It was a big ask going from a maiden at Los Alamitos to the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. I gave her some time after the Breeders' Cup to kind of get her feet underneath her and prepare for something like this." Ridden by Flavien Prat, the Gun Runner filly broke a step slower than her three rivals, content to let the front-running Explora and Super Corredora fight for the lead. Meaning tracked the leaders through opening fractions of :22.57 and :45.98. Not about to let the front runners have a breather, Meaning applied pressure at the half-mile pole, moving on the outside coming into the final turn, putting away Super Corredora. Coming into the stretch, the gutsy Explora clung to her the whole way under Juan Hernandez, dueling through the stretch before finally giving way. Meaning finished the race in fractions of 1:10.59 and 1:24.20 with a final time of 1:38.39. "The first quarter-mile was quite fast, and I couldn't keep up with them," Prat said. "When we got to the backside, she came underneath me nicely, and I had a chance to get out. I felt like the two fillies in front of me were going to take a little bit of a breather. Since I was doing it so easily, I wanted to keep her involved. She did the job from there. "I'm glad I came. Very thankful they offered me the ride." Meaning paid $7.80 to win. She was the third consecutive winner on the day for McCarthy. He won a maiden special weight with Thatsalrightmama and the Clocker's Corner Stakes with Yellow Card. "The way she did it was pretty impressive, to come back against a Breeders' Cup winner and perform like that," McCarthy said. "It will be interesting to see how they all progress here in the next couple of months. "I thought we could win a couple. It was nice to have Flavien come out. I'm always hoping for the best, but I thought a couple of these were well-meant and would run well." The Bob-Baffert-trained Explora finished 3 lengths ahead of maiden winner Bank Shot. Super Corredora was another 2 1/4 lengths behind in fourth. The Las Virgenes offered Kentucky Oaks qualifying points to the top-five finishers on a 20-10-6-4-2 scale. Meaning jumped to No. 5 on the leader board with 26 points. Explora and Super Corredora still top the standings with 45 and 34 points, respectively. Meaning was bred in Kentucky by Stonehaven Steadings, who sold the filly under their banner at the 2024 Keeneland September Yearling Sale to Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners/Bridlewood Farm for $440,000.