Santa Anita Racing : Family Style Wins La Brea by 6 Lengths

Family Style, ridden by Gary Stevens, scored a six-length victory over Sari’s Heroine in Saturday’s $80,450 La Brea Stakes for 4-year-old fillies at Santa Anita.

An Eclipse Award winner as a 2-year-old, Family Style easily handled a field of six in the seven-furlong race. Wayne Lukas saddled the winner for his third victory in the 14 years the race has been run.

Sari’s Heroine set the early pace, with Florida invader Spirit Of Fighter in closest pursuit. Stevens let the eventual winner lag in fifth down the backstretch.

It was not until the horses rounded the final turn that Family Style moved up on the outside and easily drew away from her rivals, finishing in 1:22 3/5.

Family Style, coupled with Life At The Top as the favored entry, returned $5.40, $2.60 and $2.20. Sari’s Heroine, ridden by Pat Valenzuela, paid $3.40 and $2.60. Winter Treasure returned $2.40 to show.

The filly earned $46,700 for owner Eugene Klein of Rancho Santa Fe and increased her career earnings to $1,250,348.

Family Style won just twice last season. After taking the Black Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico in May, she did not win until last month’s Silver Belles Stakes at Hollywood Park.

The La Brea Stakes is the first of the La Canada Series, which concludes next month with the $150,000 La Canada Stakes.

Today, Strawberry Road, Nostalgia’s Star and Silveyville, each with earnings of more than $1 million, head an outstanding field of turf runners in the $100,000 San Gabriel Handicap at 1 1/8 miles. Other major contenders in the first grass course stakes of the meeting include Louis Le Grand, Nasib and Spellbound.