Super Corredora Ruled Out of Santa Anita Oaks After Fever Setback

The Eclipse Award winner who lit up Del Mar last October is now watching the Santa Anita Oaks from the sideline. Super Corredora, champion 2-year-old filly and Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, will miss the April 4 Grade 2 at Santa Anita after spiking a fever, trainer John Sadler confirmed Friday.

"She had a fever, and we have to wait for her to get over that," Sadler said. "The Oaks is out."

The fever compounds what has already been a troubled 3-year-old campaign for the daughter of Gun Runner, owned by Spartan Equine Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, Robert Gardiner, and Michael Olszewski. In her two starts this year, Super Corredora had not been a factor in either. On Feb. 8 in the one-mile Las Virgenes Stakes, she raced up on a lively pace before weakening in the stretch and finishing last in a four-horse field. Then on March 8 in the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, she lost all chance at the start when she threw her head and hopped, spotting the field multiple lengths before finishing seventh. The illness arrives, then, not as an interruption of momentum but as a further complication for connections already searching for answers.

For all the uncertainty of her spring, the filly's resume remains formidable. Super Corredora won the Oct. 31 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar, which clinched her Eclipse Award, and she carries a record of 2-1-0 across six career starts with earnings of more than $1.1 million.

The stakes beyond Santa Anita are significant. Super Corredora currently sits 11th on the Kentucky Oaks leaderboard with 34 qualifying points toward the May 1 Grade 1 at Churchill Downs. The Kentucky Oaks is limited to 14 starters, with preference given to the fillies with the most points. Other fillies are likely to surpass her total in upcoming prep races, and without another start before Churchill Downs, her path to the gate becomes increasingly narrow.

With Super Corredora out, Las Virgenes winner Meaning moves further to the forefront of the Santa Anita Oaks picture. Trainer Michael McCarthy said the daughter of Gun Runner, owned by Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, worked five furlongs Friday in 1:00.2 after skipping the Santa Ysabel entirely.

"Nice work. We're on track for the Oaks," McCarthy said.

Meaning won the Las Virgenes by 1 1/2 lengths over Explora, who subsequently captured the Grade 3 Honeymoon at Oaklawn. Before her Las Virgenes victory, Meaning had finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies in just her second career start and first around two turns.

For Super Corredora, no treatment timeline or next target has been announced. Sadler's words were simple and definitive: wait for the fever to pass, and reassess from there.