Seven weeks after passing through the auction ring, Dixiana Farms’ multiple graded-stakes winner La Mehana is ready to compete for her new connections in Wednesday’s $125,000 Via Borghese at Gulfstream Park. The defending champion will anchor the 10th edition of the 1 3/8-mile turf feature for fillies and mares 3 and older, part of a nine-race Christmas Eve card starting at 12:20 p.m.
Purchased for $500,000 at Keeneland’s November breeding stock sale and transferred to trainer Brad Cox, La Mehana could become only the second horse to successfully defend a Via Borghese title, joining Always Shopping, the dual winner in 2020 and 2021.
Since arriving in North America last spring, the 6-year-old mare has collected four victories and earned $508,850 from 14 starts for LSU Stables, previously trained by the late Christophe Clement and his son, Miguel. A Group 1-placed import from France, La Mehana last ran in the 1 3/8-mile Waya (G3) at Aqueduct on October 5, finishing fifth. She was sold the following month and quickly joined Cox’s South Florida string at Payson Park.
“The race is there and it looks like a reasonable spot,” Cox said. “She’s been tuned up and ready to go as far as breezing and preparing for this start. We’re going to give her a run.”
La Mehana has completed four timed works over Payson’s main track since Thanksgiving, including a half-mile breeze in 50.40 seconds on December 17. She has yet to race on dirt, but boasts nine wins and six runner-up finishes from 25 turf outings, including graded victories in the 2024 Waya and the Glens Falls (G2) on July 27 over 1 ½ miles. Cox added, “We don’t know a great deal about her beyond her form. I’m actually surprised she works as well on dirt considering she’s a long-distance grass horse. We’re excited about it.”
Breaking from Post 6 with Irad Ortiz Jr. aboard for the first time, La Mehana is second choice on the morning line at 5-2. She shares the barn with millionaire 3-year-old filly Fionn, a Grade 1 winner also bred by Dixiana Farms. “It’s kind of neat to have a couple of horses in that division now,” Cox said. “There’s a solid series here for fillies and mares at these marathon distances.”
The 2-1 favorite for the Via Borghese is British-bred Alluring Angel, owned by Lawrence Goichman and trained by Hall of Famer Bill Mott. Most recently, she captured the 1 3/8-mile Long Island (G3) at Aqueduct on November 8 by 1 ½ lengths. She ran third by a length in the Waya at odds of 33-1 and will have Junior Alvarado in the saddle from Post 4.
Also exiting the Long Island is Newstead Stables’ No Show Sammy Jo (Post 5, 5-1), who finished second in the Via Borghese in consecutive years. The 5-year-old mare, winner of Laurel Park’s 1 1/8-mile All Along in 2024 and 2025, ran behind La Mehana in both the Glens Falls at Saratoga and a 1 3/8-mile optional claiming allowance on June 27 at Aqueduct.
Trainer Graham Motion said, “I’ve had a frustrating year with her and I think partly that might have been my fault for misplacing her a little bit. She came within a length or so of winning the Long Island two years in a row and was somewhat unlucky both times. I think the mile and three eighths is a really suitable trip for her.”
No Show Sammy Jo has been runner-up all three times she attempted the Via Borghese distance. Motion, a four-time winner of the race, added, “I think now I feel like this is what she wants to do where before, I wasn’t sure. The race is competitive. She’s got to face some of the same rivals, but I feel confident about running her. She’s done well since coming down to Florida.” Jorge Ruiz will ride from Post 5, having guided her through all three of her works on the turf at Palm Meadows, Gulfstream’s satellite training center in Palm Beach County.
Miller Racing’s Venencia (Post 8, 3-1) also hails from the same sale as La Mehana, purchased for $250,000 after winning the 1 ½-mile Dowager (G3) on October 19 over a yielding Keeneland course for former trainer Brendan Walsh. The 5-year-old mare, now with Saffie Joseph Jr., has placed in three other graded stakes and won the Forever Together last fall at Aqueduct.
Other entrants include Louise Procter (Post 1, 10-1), a last-out winner on October 19 for trainer Chad Brown; stakes-placed Madame Mischief (Post 2, 20-1); Gallant Greta (Post 7, 10-1); and Celestial Express (Post 3, 50-1).
The Via Borghese commemorates the Seattle Dancer filly who won half of her 22 starts for trainer Angel Penna Jr., including Gulfstream’s Suwannee River (G3) in 1994 and the Diana (G2) at Saratoga the same year.
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