Juvenile turf form at Santa Anita came into sharp focus on Sunday when Vanta and Repo Man stayed unbeaten while taking the Surfer Girl Stakes and Zuma Beach Stakes, a pair of Grade 3 one-mile turf tests that serve as key Breeders' Cup launching pads at the autumn meet in Arcadia, California. Both winners were piloted by Umberto Rispoli, who swept the stakes in sweltering 99-degree heat and gave their connections serious reason to start mapping flights to Keeneland later this month.
Vanta extended her record to 3-for-3 by winning the $101,000 Surfer Girl Stakes for 2-year-old fillies, closing from sixth in a field of seven to run down pacesetter Blockade and prevail by three-quarters of a length in 1:35.17 on firm turf. Sent off at odds that produced a $2.40 win payoff, she was the shortest-priced winner in the first two weekends of Santa Anita's autumn meet, reflecting the confidence bettors have placed in her late-kicking style. According to pre-race analysis from track stable notes and national publications, Vanta came into the race off a visually impressive score in the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf, where she overcame a slow start and surged clear in the lane, giving trainer Jeff Mullins his second consecutive stakes win with the filly and owners Michele Arthur and Ruben Islas another reminder that they might be sitting on a serious Breeders' Cup player.
Previews in industry outlets had already flagged Vanta as a “budding star” for Mullins, who has kept her campaign focused on mile turf races that play to her ability to relax and then quicken sharply when Rispoli asks. The Surfer Girl has become a recognized launching pad for high-end turf mares, with recent heroine Thought Process parlaying her 2024 victory in this same race into a résumé that now includes wins in the Buena Vista Stakes, Gamely Stakes, and Rodeo Drive Stakes, underscoring how much upside a filly can have if she handles this course and trip at two. For handicappers, Vanta's pattern—unbeaten, proven over two different Southern California turf configurations, and already stakes-tested—ticks the classic boxes for a juvenile filly poised to handle the class hike into the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf at Keeneland.
Repo Man delivered the day's drama in the Zuma Beach Stakes for 2-year-olds, turning just his second career start into a hard-fought Grade 3 win that required surviving both an objection and a stewards' inquiry. The odds-on favorite for trainer Michael McCarthy and owner Amerman Racing had debuted with a sharp turf sprint win at Del Mar, then stretched from five furlongs to a mile on Sunday while facing only three rivals, including talented stablemate Maxify. Rispoli allowed Repo Man to drop out to last early before producing a sustained rally, and the colt edged Maxify by a head after the pair exchanged bumps in the final furlong; the stewards ultimately let the result stand, giving Repo Man a second straight victory and the $60,000 winner's share of the purse, with his win mutuel posted at $3.60.
Santa Anita's stable notes had highlighted that McCarthy would saddle the top two morning-line choices in the Zuma Beach, and the race unfolded exactly that way, with Repo Man and Maxify separating themselves from their rivals down the stretch. For handicappers, Repo Man's ability to stretch out from a sharp sprint win to a mile while negotiating traffic and physical contact is a key positive, suggesting he owns both the stamina and mental toughness needed for the more crowded and demanding Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf scenario. With Amerman Racing's long history of placing turf horses conservatively and McCarthy's reputation for patient development of grass runners, this kind of graded win at start number two fits the profile of a colt who could be peaking at just the right time for a fall championship run.
Rispoli's sweep of the graded juvenile turf stakes capped what local coverage described as a blazing afternoon for the rider, whose cool handling of short-priced favorites stood in contrast to the hot conditions. In the Surfer Girl, his decision to save ground along the rail and wait for room with Vanta minimized trips risks and maximized her late acceleration, a ride that looked textbook on replay and echoed the patient style that has been rewarded repeatedly on the Santa Anita turf over recent seasons. In the Zuma Beach, he showed a different dimension, committing to an off-the-pace strategy in a small field and trusting Repo Man's closing kick despite potential pace and traffic concerns, an approach that paid off even under the scrutiny of a lengthy inquiry.
Post-race reporting indicates that both Vanta and Repo Man are now being pointed squarely to Breeders' Cup turf races for 2-year-olds at Keeneland on October 30, with connections eyeing the Juvenile Fillies Turf and Juvenile Turf respectively. Mullins has voiced some concern that Vanta's relatively modest earnings—despite two stakes wins—could complicate her Breeders' Cup participation, but the Surfer Girl's $100,000 purse was expected to improve her position among the prospective entrants. For Repo Man, a graded stakes win at only his second start gives McCarthy and Amerman Racing valuable flexibility in mapping his path to Kentucky, and the Zuma Beach's recent track record as a springboard to higher-level juvenile turf events suggests this victory may prove more than just a local milestone.