Marjoram storms from last to first in Senorita Stakes upset

Marjoram turned the Santa Anita hillside into a late-running showcase, sweeping from last to first to win the Grade 3 Senorita Stakes and deliver Juddmonte a stakes result that had been waiting more than two years to happen at the track. The Quality Road filly, making her stakes debut, caught favored Light Won Up in the final strides and paid $9.20 to win in the $100,000 race, a $60,000 payday for the winner.

The trip mattered. Santa Anita’s about 6 1/2-furlong hillside turf course is not a normal sprint, asking horses to handle a downhill run, a sharp turn, and a long drive home in one breath. Marjoram did it over firm ground in 1:13.78 while racing behind brisk splits of :22.22, :44.93 and 1:07.84. Juan Hernandez kept her patient early, then asked for the move at the right time as the race began to open up in the lane. The result was as visually striking as it was efficient: a debut stakes winner who never looked overwhelmed by the setup.

That is what makes the performance so interesting for the summer turf picture. Marjoram was only making her third career start and her second start of 2026 after a four-month layoff. She had won her debut at Churchill Downs, then faded to fifth in an April 4 allowance at Santa Anita in her first try on grass. The rebound in the Senorita showed a different filly, one with enough acceleration to erase a poor position and enough composure to do it against established stakes company rather than in a softer spot.

The win also sharpened the comparison to her family line. Marjoram is a full sibling to Spiced Up, another graded-stakes winner on grass, and this victory made her a Grade 3 winner on turf in the same mold. For Juddmonte, it was a useful reminder of the value of patience with a homebred. For Michael McCarthy, it was another sign that his barn was rolling, coming in the middle of a run that had produced four stakes victories in eight days across California and Kentucky.

“Hats off to Juan and this filly, Marjoram. They were game today,” McCarthy said. Game is the right word, but the bigger question now is ceiling. If the Senorita was part race shape and part perfect ride, Marjoram still flashed enough turn of foot to suggest she may belong with stronger summer turf fillies when the races get deeper and the pressure gets harder.