Making his stakes debut for trainer Phil D’Amato, Innovative roared through the stretch and surged past stubborn pacesetter Lee’s Baby Girl to win Saturday’s Grade 3, $100,000 John C. Harris Stakes for 3-year-old fillies sprinting about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in Arcadia, Calif.

Innovative (12-1), with a resurgent Ricky Gonzalez aboard, prevailed by a neck over Lee’s Baby Girl (25-1) with another half length back to morning-line favorite Warming (9-2) in third. Casalu, the even money post-time favorite, ranged into contention in the final furlong but flattened out late.

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Lee’s Baby Girl, with Mirco Demuro up for trainer Carla Gaines, set fractions of :22.23, :44.37 and 1:06.77. With a host of rivals looking poised to sweep past her in the final furlong, Lee’s Baby Girl dug in gamely but could not hold off the late charge of Innovative who won in a time of 1:12.98.

Trained by Phil D’Amato, the daughter of Complexity previously won a first-level allowance going a mile at Del Mar on Aug. 9 in what was her sixth start. D’Amato said this race was designed as a prep for the G3 Autum Miss at a mile on turf on Oct. 26 at Santa Anita.

“I was really impressed with my filly in the last race at Del Mar. I think the light bulb went on for her there,” D’Amato said. “I looked at the race and thought this would be a good option for her at Santa Anita to set her up for the two-turn stake at the end of the meet. She came flying home on the outside and mowed them down. She’s a filly with a lot of promise.”

Innovative is owned by Little Red Feather Racing and Sterling Stables. Four races earlier on the card, Little Red Feather and Sterling Stables teamed with D’Amato to win the G2 John Henry Turf Championship with Gold Phoenix.

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“Credit to the whole D’Amato team. Gold Phoenix and Innovative, it has been a great job,” said Little Red Feather’s Billy Koch “To all the Little Red Feather partners watching it is just amazing.”

Innovative improved to 7: 3-2-1 with $178,300 in earnings. She paid $27.40, $11.80 and $5.60. Lee’s Baby Girl returned $18.20 and $6.00. Warming, ridden by Umberto Rispoli for trainer Graham Motion, paid $4.20.

Live racing resumes Sunday at Santa Anita with a 10-race card starting at 1 p.m. PT. The program features the G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship and G2 Zenyatta, both automatic qualifiers to the Breeders’ Cup.

This story was originally reported by Paulick Report on Sep 28, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.