Intrepido, Pavlovian, Usha Headline Busy Sunday Work Tab at Santa Anita

Santa Anita's Sunday morning work tab delivered a full slate of 3-year-old activity, with Jeff Mullins' Intrepido posting the sharpest of the headlining efforts and Bob Baffert's Grade 1 winner Usha continuing her buildup under the eye of one of the sport's most scrutinized training outfits.

Intrepido turned in five furlongs in 1:00.4 with jockey Hector Berrios aboard, a solid move for the Maximus Mischief colt who finished second in the Robert B. Lewis (G3) on Feb. 7. Mullins has him pointed at the Santa Anita Derby (G1) on April 4, making this drill a meaningful checkpoint on that path.

Doug O'Neill's Pavlovian worked five furlongs from the gate in 1:01.0, a gate work that carries extra significance given that the California-bred son of Pavel is entered in Saturday's Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds. The Reddam Racing homebred won the Sunland Park Derby on Feb. 15 and ships into New Orleans as a legitimate contender in a race that has long served as a Kentucky Derby prep.

Usha, Bob Baffert's daughter of Tiz the Law, went five furlongs in 1:01.4, ranking 28th of 53 works at that distance on the morning. Her previous drill had come seven days earlier over four furlongs at Santa Anita. The context for those measured works is considerable: in the seven-furlong La Brea for 3-year-old fillies on Dec. 28, Usha rallied from off the pace and drew off to win by 5 1/2 lengths, her first stakes victory and a performance that announced her as one of the division's more intriguing fillies heading into spring.

Rounding out the notable works, May Day Ready, a Tapit filly trained by Joe Lee, drilled three furlongs in 35.6 seconds, the second fastest of 22 works at that distance. The two-time Grade 2 winner, whose credits include the 2025 Lake Placid and the 2024 Jessamine, had worked three furlongs just six days prior at Santa Anita. Her last start was a seventh-place finish in the Valley View (G2) going a mile on the turf at Keeneland on Oct. 24, leaving her with ground to make up before returning to graded company.

With Pavlovian heading to Fair Grounds and Intrepido targeting the Santa Anita Derby in three weeks, the spring calendar is beginning to sharpen for this crop of 3-year-olds.