Zero Tolerance wins Las Cienegas Stakes

Joe Naiman

Village News Reporter

San Luis Rey Thoroughbred Center filly Zero Tolerance won the Grade 3 Las Cienegas Stakes race Jan. 9 at Santa Anita Park.

Zero Tolerance won the 6 1/2-furlong turf race in 1:13.26 and crossed the finish line a head before second-place Tapwater.

"So happy," said trainer Ruben Alvarado.

The Las Cienegas Stakes for fillies and mares 4 years old and up was the first race for Zero Tolerance since she won an allowance race Nov. 20 at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, although she had four timed workouts at San Luis Rey between those races. "She was training great," Alvarado said.

Flavien Prat rode Zero Tolerance for the Las Cienegas Stakes. "It was a good ride," Alvarado said.

Prat and Zero Tolerance broke third among the seven entries. After a quarter of a mile they were in second, a length and a half behind Hear My Prayer. The margin between Hear My Prayer and Zero Tolerance was narrowed to one length by the completion of the race's first half-mile.

That allowed Prat to utilize Zero Tolerance's closing speed while not needing to make up too much ground. "You want to be a little bit close," Alvarado said.

Zero Tolerance overtook Hear My Prayer as the horses entered the stretch. Zero Tolerance needed 1:06.92 to reach the stretch, at which point she led Hear My Prayer by half a length and third-place Tapwater by 2 1/2 lengths.

"I knew she was going to hang in there," Alvarado said. "She was running real hard."

Tapwater and jockey Joe Bravo were unable to catch Prat and Zero Tolerance. "We got lucky with her that day," Alvarado said.

Zero Tolerance was foaled in Kentucky on Feb. 23, 2018. She was sired by Mizzen Mast out of Torreadora. She finished second in her first-ever race Aug. 1 at Del Mar but then won an Aug. 20 race at Del Mar. Her first stakes race was the Oct. 3 Unzip Me Stakes at Santa Anita, and she won that. She was fourth in the Grade 3 Autumn Miss Stakes competition Oct. 30 at Santa Anita but followed that with her Nov. 20 win at Del Mar.

The $60,000 first-place share of the $100,000 total Las Cienegas Stakes purse increased Zero Tolerance's career earnings to $215,000.

The next planned race for Zero Tolerance is to be determined. "We're just going to take our time and see what's next," Alvarado said.