The Pacific Coast Highway – Grade 2
Will pace make the race in the Grade 2 Pacific Coast Highway on Saturday at the California Track? The 10 entries includes lots of closers but only two confirmed front runners. The two Uncle Mo sired fillies, Dante Smart Mo and Money Mo Mo, are the front runners. Coming from behind will be horses like NightBirde and Elektra Rose. Those two horse have shown the strongest closing quick in previous races, but others have previously shown their closing chops. This field is evenly matched and should make for an exciting headliner at California on Saturday.
Here is a more detailed look at all the three year old fillies entered in the Pacific Coast Highway. Horses are shown in order of post position.
YOU CANNOT PASS
Owner: plano35
Odds: 8/1
You Cannot Pass, a filly from sire New Bolton, has had success in her first five career starts. She has been in the money in each of those starts with three wins, a second place finish, and a third place finish. Her sire, New Bolton, is the sire Grade 1 winner Northern Town though that was back in 2010.
Owner plano35 enters You Cannot Pass in this race after a stakes winning run in the Barbs Forbidden Dirt Filly Dash at 7.5 furlongs. The favorite in that race, You Cannot Pass had trouble catching up to the front runner until just before the finish line. Though this race was at 7.5 furlongs, You Cannot Pass has also won around two turns in maiden and allowance company. Actually, the only career sprint race for You Cannot Pass was the Barbs Forbidden.
You Cannot Pass has been running in short fields (5-6 horses) since the maiden win in her debut (ten horses in that race). She will need to navigate a larger field while also meeting graded stakes competitors for the first time.
FURBURGER
Owner: hansg
Odds: 9-1
Finely bred Furburger enters this race with a second place finish in the Grade 2 Given Stakes last time out. Owner/breeder hansg used Grade 2 winning sim-mare Fall Foal and sire Flightline in breeding Furburger. That sire has produced multiple Grade 1 winners and an End of Year award winning filly Keep Watching.
The second place finish in the Given Stakes was at 6.5 furlongs. Furburger also matched her fasted speed figure of 95 in that race. It was also her best finish in graded stakes competition. Furburger used her typical come from behind style to just get up for second.
Furburger has won in stakes company around two turns as a 2 year old. That win, in October 2024, was the most recent win. It also capped a nice four race winning streak.
STUBBORN CHANGE
Owner: asrstar26
Odds: 9-1
Stubborn Change, out of Grade 1 winning sim-mare Oh Well Whatever, enters this race as another late runner. She is a Grade 2 winner, in the Stoker Handicap, and will try graded company for the eighth time. In fact, the last three were in Grade 1 company so this race can be considered a drop in class.
Owner asrstar26 enters this race with the expectation that Grade 2 company is more to Stubborn Change’s liking. Recent races have been against large fields and with long odds. Stubborn Change performed in line with her odds finishing eighth, eighth, and tenth in her last three races. In her last race she ran a 91 speed figure which is her lowest value so far in 2025.
MONEY MO MO
Owner: texasace06
Odds: 6-1
This scratch breeding by texasace06 continues her exclusive run at the California track. Though relatively lightly raced, this is just the sixth start for Money Mo Mo, she is on a four race winning streak. Her latest win in the Santa Monica Pier stake race was at today’s distance. Money Mo Mo has consistently improved her speed figures and she had a career best 102 speed figure in the Santa Monica Pier.
In that race she led wire to wire. Her front running style is in contrast to many of the fillies in this field. Her speed will stand out and if she can set her own pace she has shown to have the staying power to hold off the late chargers. This is her first time against graded stakes competition so it is yet to be seen how she handles the higher class of competition.
NIGHTBIRDE
Owner: rdyplyr1
Odds: 9-2
Owner rdyplyr1 brings his homebred Nightbirde back to the California track for her eleventh straight start at this track. Actually, all her career starts have been at California. Her sim-mare, Barden Bella, was a Grade 1 winner and million dollar earner on the track. As a mom she has two graded stakes winners. Nightbirde’s sire is the impressive sim sire War Front.
With those parents Nightbirde should be right at home in stakes and graded stakes competition. She has two stakes tries to her credit, one stakes race and one graded stakes race. She finished out of the money in both those races. However, in the Grade 2 Los Angeles Oaks she was roaring down the stretch and finished fastest of the other horses in the race. Of note is that T.T.K Malay, also in today’s race, finished second in the Los Angeles Oaks.
The other stakes race for Nightbirde was the Pebble Beach at nine furlongs in March. The winner of that race was another of today’s competitors, Money Mo Mo. Nightbirde fell behind by 15 lengths before finishing fastest of the other horses in the field but only finished fourth. That race may be a similar setup as today’s race with Money Mo Mo trying to go wire to wire while other fillies like Nightbirde try to make the late charge in the stretch.
HEIR DRESSER
Owner: asrcurlin1999
Odds: 12-1
The cleverly named Heir Dresser is by sim he-mare Sunday Drunk. Sunday Drunk is a stakes placed sim horse but the top of the line breeding comes from sire Curlin. Curlin is a favorite sire in the sim and was the number one ranked sire in 2023. Heir Dresser’s bloodline certainly fits with graded stakes company.
On the track, owner asrcurlin1999 has run Heir Dresser in five previous races. Her first four races were in the allowance ranks and her last race was in a graded stakes race. That race, the Grade 3 Great Fiddle Sticks Handicap, was run at Vermont in late April. It was not a good performance by Heir Dresser. She broke last and never made up any ground. She finished last in the field of seven by over 15 lengths. This race was also the lowest speed figure that Heir Dresser recorded so far in the 2025 race campaign.
Heir Dresser is another horse in this field that likes to come from behind. In her last win, an allowance race at today’s distance of nine furlongs, she fell back about ten lengths before roaring to life in the last quarter mile, winning by over two lengths. The lowest career money earner in today’s race, she will need that same type of kick to match the other late runners.
RARE PURCHASE
Owner: wharfside
Odds: 7-1
Rare Purchase returns to filly-only races. Her last race was against open stakes competition in the BERC Dirt, finishing 3rd in the four horse field. Prior to that race, owner/breeder wharfside ran Rare Purchase against the boys at the Grade 1 level in the Sand Castle Derby. A win in that race would have assured Rare Purchase a spot in the Bluegrass Derby. But that wasn’t to be as Rare Purchase finished 10th in that race.
With those open races behind her, this filly out of sim-mare That’s a No Then and sire Chaldean, Rare Purchase looks to get back to winning ways. She had a three race winning streak against allowance competition and then has tried stakes company in her last three races. As expected, given her daddy, she started her career on turf. However, the switch to dirt has unlocked her potential. She had a noticeable jump in speed figures and started that three win streak when switching to dirt.
This is her second race in North America, and the first in the US. Her best speed figure was in a Grade 1 in Ontario in March. She looks to build on that performance while back in North America.
T.T.K. MALAY
Owner: tietheknot
Odds: 5-1
Tietheknot brings T.T.K Malay to a repeat performance at the California oval. Last time out she ran a 105 speed figure in the Grade 2 Los Angeles Oaks. That speed figure is the highest registered by any of this horses in this race. Though she finished second she had the lead in late stretch but was caught in the last few strides.
This is the ninth graded stakes race run by this horse, giving her a lot of experience with this type of company. She won two of those graded stakes. The Grade 2 Lean Machine Stakes at 6.5 furlongs and the Grade 3 Cadoka Stakes in Oregon running 7 furlongs.
This is the third time for T.T.K Malay around two turns as she looks to once again come from behind.
DANTE SMART MO
Owner: urcgold8
Odds: 8-1
The other Uncle Mo daughter in this race, Dante Smart Mo, is on a three race winning streak. This includes one allowance win and most recently two stakes wins. This ‘from scratch’ bred filly is entering her first grades stakes race today. Dante Smart Mo has shown she an easily handle today’s distance of 9 furlongs after her last two wins in stakes races at ten furlongs and 9.5 furlongs. In both wins Dante Smart Mo ran speed figures greater than 100.
Unlike most of the other horses in today’s field, Dante Smart Mo likes to be at or near the lead. Owner urcgold8 will probably go for the same racing style given all the closers in this race. And going a bit shorter distance this time might help Dante Smart Mo stay at the front. Like others in this race Dante Smart Mo has improved her speed figures with each race, marking a career high 104 last time out.
Dante Smart Mo is no stranger to the California track. More importantly she won both of her races at California. Those races were as a two-year old at maiden and allowance conditions.
ELEKTRA ROSE
Owner: beerkeg0
Odds: 9-2
Another daughter of sire Curlin, Elektra Rose comes into this race after a tough loss in the Grade 2 Black Middle Flower Stakes. In that race Elektra Rose was coming very strongly at the end but ran out of room to finish third in the nine furlong race. Before that race, owner beerkeg0 tried Electra Rose against the boys in the Corkscrew Stakes. This winner of this Grade 1 event would earn a spot in the Bluegrass Derby. Once again Elektra Rose fell far back and then roared in the stretch to finish fourth beaten by two lengths. She was moving best of all in the stretch but began her rally too late.
The first stakes win for Elektra Rose came in the Sovereign Monarch Dirt Filly Route. In this race she did not fall nearly as far back and went on to an easy 5 length victory. Her last three races, including the stakes victory, all had speed figures greater than 100. Elektra Rose, along with Nightbirde, seem to the strongest closers in today’s race.