St Trinians to rest for 2011 campaign

DEL MAR, Calif. - St Trinians, who gave the undefeated champion Zenyatta a scare in the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park in June before losing by a half-length, will miss the $300,000 Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Aug. 7 because of soreness, trainer Mike Mitchell said on Saturday.

St Trinians will be turned out and pointed for a 2011 campaign, Mitchell said. The decision was reached on Saturday after consulting with owners Dan Capen and Laura Chavers.

"We're not going to run," Mitchell said. "I blew her out at Hollywood Park and I brought her down here and she's body sore and stiff. If I were to blame it on anything, I'd blame it on taking on Zenyatta."

The decision to take St Trinians out of training means she will not face Zenyatta in the Grade 1 Hirsch.

St Trinians had had two workouts since the Vanity, the most recent of which was a five-furlong breeze in 1:03 on July 10.

Mitchell said he discussed St Trinians's situation with the owners on Saturday. "I said, 'If she's not right, I don't want to run her if she's not 100 percent,'" Mitchell said. "We'll give her a break, no more than three months. She's earned it."

St Trinians, 5, has won 7 of 13 starts and $308,587, including two stakes at Santa Anita earlier this year - the Paseana Handicap and the Grade 1 Santa Maria Handicap, beating 2009 Breeders' Cup Ladies' winner Life Is Sweet in the latter race.

St Trinians was sixth as the 3-1 favorite against males in the Santa Anita Handicap on March 6, and did not start again until the Vanity, which was run over 1 1/8 miles. St Trinians closed from fifth in the Vanity to lead by a half-length at the eighth pole and was only caught by Zenyatta in the last sixteenth. Zenyatta carried top weight of 129 pounds in the Vanity, nine more than St Trinians.

The scare that St Trinians gave Zenyatta earned the respect of John Shirreffs, Zenyatta's trainer.

"I think Mike is taking the right approach," Shirreffs said of St Trinians. "She's too nice to fool around with."

Mitchell feared St Trinians would run poorly in the Clement Hirsch if pressed to make the race. "If there is ever going to be a time she'll bounce, it's this time," he said.

Mitchell has tentative plans to start St Trinians in the major stakes for older fillies and mares in California in 2011, when Zenyatta, owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, is scheduled to be retired and bred.

"I hope the Mosses stick to their guns and retire that mare," Mitchell said.