How to make money with Hear My Prayer in the Las Cienegas Stakes

A well-matched field will go about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in Sunday’s feature, the $100,000 Las Cienegas S. (G3). Multiple stakes heroine #2 Hear My Prayer (2-1) is the slight favorite in the cast for conditioner Vladimir Cerin.

The five-year-old daughter of The Big Beast arrived in this barn in the summer and gave a good account of herself from a pair of runs at Del Mar, with a smart allowance win and a closing third in the Senator Ken Maddy S. last time out to her credit.

Hear My Prayer missed the break from the rail in her most recent outing, but still nearly got it done late with a big finish, and she comes in fresh for Sunday’s affair. She can be effective from on or off the pace, and the Florida-bred seems ready to fire her best shot following two bullet works in succession at this venue. Juan Hernandez will guide the talented bay.

I believe that the John Sadler-trained #3 Constantia (5-1) will be the main danger to the favorite late at a fair number. By Munnings, the chestnut compiled a 5-3-1-1 mark on this course in 2021, led by a victory in the Mizdirection S., as well as a fine runner-up performance in the Monrovia S. (G2) here in June. The late-running five-year-old will be moving best of all late with Umberto Rispoli in the controls.

The lightly-raced #7 Zero Tolerance (5-2) flashed big potential as a three-year-old, and is coming up to this race in fine fashion. The gray Mizzen Mast filly is a nose shy from being unbeaten in a trio of turf sprints in her career, and the Kentucky-bred is training in swift fashion in advance of her return. Drawing well and having Flavien Prat in the silks are two major positives for endorsing the speedy gray.

Las Cienegas S. Wagers

• $20 exacta 2 with 3 ($20)
• $10 exacta 2 with 7 ($10)
• $5 trifecta key 2 with 3,7 ($10)