Window Shopping , who didn’t get the chance to prove what she could do in the 1 1/16-mile Santa Anita Oaks (G2) due to a troubled trip, vindicated herself in the $201,000 Summertime Oaks (G2) June 3 at Santa Anita Park over the same distance. It was the first win in a race once known as the Hollywood Oaks for Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, jockey Hector Berrios, and the filly’s sire, American Pharoah .
Window Shopping and jockey Hector Berrios after winning the Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita Park
“She had been very fresh all week,” Mandella said. “I told (Berrios) to just get her right in the race. He did that and did a real good job.”
Window Shopping raced between horses in fifth early as $650,000 Keeneland January Horses of All Ages purchase Ancient Peace and Kentucky Oaks (G1) third The Alys Look battled for the lead.
“My intention was to keep her close to the group,” Berrios said. “Thank God I got a good break and was able to get into a good position.”
Berrios guided a willing Window Shopping in around the second turn and then back out so that she could bid for the lead between horses in the stretch.
Check out the @JockeyCam that @HIBerrios was wearing as he splits horses to go on and win the $200,000 Summertime Oaks (GII) at Santa Anita.
Watch more on @FanDuelTV and wager at https://t.co/nBYFHiPrdh. pic.twitter.com/5ThNieuvsS
— TVG (@TVG) June 3, 2023
“As soon as we made the move around the far turn, she just switched on,” Berrios said.
As the seven-horse field bunched up around the second turn, The Alys Look began to fade and Ancient Peace took the lead, while Doinitthehardway started a run on the outside. Ancient Peace led into the stretch, but Window Shopping proved best late to defeat her by 1 3/4 lengths in 1:45.01. Lily Poo , last early, closed for third.
Window Shopping wins the Summertime Oaks at Santa Anita Park
Favored Anywho was fourth and second-choice The Alys Look was sixth.
With a much better trip, Window Shopping was finally able to showcase her true talent in the Summertime Oaks, only her fourth start. Prior to the Santa Anita Oaks, she had run sixth at a mile on the turf in her debut, and then in an off-the-turf one-mile maiden event, she scampered home by 16 1/2 lengths to register her first victory.
“She beat turf maidens very easily, but we didn’t know for sure if it was because they couldn’t run on the dirt or what it was,” Mandella said. “So when I ran her back in the (Santa Anita) Oaks, I told him to save her, don’t rush her, just to make sure she finished good. That’s why she was back so far.”
In the Santa Anita Oaks, Window Shopping took the brunt of a traffic incident that caused her to check hard and alter course. She bumped with another horse and came wide into the stretch, but still managed to finish third behind Faiza and And Tell Me Nolies .
And Tell Me Nolies, a two-time graded winner as a 2-year-old, and Window Shopping were the only two from the Santa Anita Oaks to race in the Summertime Oaks. And Tell Me Nolies, who wound up last of seven with a rough trip, had subsequently been 12th last month in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) at Churchill Downs.
Winner’s circle presentation for the connections of Window Shopping
Mandella trains Window Shopping for the mother-and-son team of Ramona Bass and Perry Bass II. International Equities Holding Inc. bred the filly in Kentucky from the Tapit mare Delightful Joy , winner of the 2015 Monmouth Oaks (G3). Window Shopping sold at the 2021 Keeneland September Yearling Sale as part of the Gainesway consignment. Agent Steve Young bought her for $700,000.
