[Kasept]

Brad Free, Santa Anita:

BC Distaff: Final pieces of puzzle

Iotapa and Parranda will post final workouts Monday morning. For both, the works are kind of a big deal leading into the Breeders’ Cup Distaff.

Iotapa must work to be removed from the vet’s list after she bled finishing third in the Grade 1 Zenyatta Stakes. Trainer John Sadler is confident the incident will be resolved. Iotapa, a two-time Grade 1 winner, will work at 7:45. She will be visually evaluated to insure she did not bleed, and that she is sound. Stewards said the workout must be faster than 1:03, and a blood test must come back clean later in the week before she is allowed to start.

Parranda works on the main track at 6:30 a.m. If she works well, trainer Jerry Hollendorfer is expected to make it official the graded stakes-winning turf mare will run in the Distaff. Runner-up last out in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive on turf, Parranda was cross-entered in the Filly & Mare Turf. Parranda has never raced on “fast” dirt. She finished third in a Grade 1 on synthetic at Del Mar, and fourth in a “muddy” track allowance at Monmouth in summer 2013. Parranda has trained extremely well on the Santa Anita dirt course.

One uncertainty among the 12 Distaff pre-entrants is L’Amour de Ma Vie, an import from Europe that would be making her first start on dirt. She is cross-entered in the Filly & Mare Turf.

Entries for both Breeders’ Cup cards, including the Distaff, will be drawn Monday.

The expected Distaff field, with riders:

Untapable, Rosie Napravnik
Close Hatches, Joel Rosario
Don’t Tell Sophia, Joe Rocco
Iotapa, Joe Talamo
Tiz Midnight, Victor Espinoza
Ria Antonia, Paco Lopez
Belle Gallantey, Jose Ortiz
Valiant Emilia, Rafael Bejarano
Parranda, Elvis Trujillo
Stanwyck, Corey Nakatani
Unbridled Forever, John Velazquez
L’Amour de Ma Vie, TBA