Kaleem’s Shah’s Fantastic Style, off since last July, debuted in fine fashion in 2016 with a powerful four-length victory in Sunday’s Las Flores S. (G3) at Santa Anita.
Showing no rustiness from her time away, Fantastic Style stalked longshot Amaranth for a half mile, then took over the top spot with ease to come home a very comfortable winner in a swift 1:08.79 for the six furlongs.
“She just cruised,” Mike Marlow, assistant to trainer Bob Baffert, said of the winner. “[Rafael Bejarano] was loaded all the way. She was off for a while, but Bob had her ready. She was really impressive. It was a good comeback race.”
Four-year-old Fantastic Style won the Great Lady M (G2) before going to the sidelines last summer. She’s now 5-1-1 in seven starts and has collected $332,000.
Fantastic Style joins Gilded Gem (2011) and Behaving Badly (2006) as Baffert’s Las Flores winners.