The 2-year-old filly champion Halfbridled will not start in Sunday's Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita, trainer Richard Mandella said Monday morning. The Las Virgenes was expected to be her 3-year-old debut. Because of a recent setback when the daughter of Unbridled was coughing, Mandella has decided she would benefit from more time.

"She coughed a couple of weeks ago," Mandella said. "She's over it and she seemed fine when I worked her, but she looked a little light coming out of it. So I am not going to push her up against a wall. I'll wait and start her in the (March 13) Santa Anita Oaks." Still holding out the possibility that Halfbridled can prove worthy of a start in the Kentucky Derby, Mandella said he will likely use the April 3 Ashland, a race at Keeneland that is restricted to fillies, as his final prep for either the Derby or the Kentucky Oaks. He does not believe missing Sunday's race will have any effect on Halfbridled's possible appearance in the Derby.

"She was ready the first time she ever ran," he said. "She's always been very ahead of her group. I would have liked to start her in this race, but I've come to the point where I think if I ran her I might drive her backwards not forwards. I can't do that. There's nothing seriously wrong with her. She just isn't in full bloom right now. Her hair still isn't what it ought to be. She was coming with her weight until she got that little cough. That, and trying to keep up with her, knocked a little bit off. In a month, I think she'll have bloomed on out and be in great shape again."

Halfbridled is unbeaten in four career starts and her time in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies was a full second faster than the time turned in in the Juvenile. Since, Mandella has nominated her to the Triple Crown and has said he will seriously consider a start in the Derby. The Mandella stable suffered another minor setback when 2-year-old champion Action This Day finished fourth in Sunday's Sham Stakes at Santa Anita in his 2-year-old debut. Mandella did not seem discouraged by the performance and said the colt will likely start next in the March 13 San Felipe.

"Thinking he would win anyway, I told (jockey David Flores) to come wide with him and not take any chances of getting in trouble," he said. "I wanted him to finish good and have a nice, safe trip. As it turned out, I blew a race. I don't mean we were giving him one. I truly believed he could do all that and still win. He probably would have anyway, but he hung a little bit in the last sixteenth. He looked like he needed the race."