SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Juan Hernandez / 43
Flavien Prat / 42
Umberto Rispoli / 33
Hector Berrios / 28
Tiago Pereira / 26
Trainers / Wins
Mark Glatt / 27
Bob Baffert / 23
Jeff Mullins / 19
Michael McCarthy / 19
Doug O’Neill / 18
UPCOMING STAKES
SANTA ANITA
Saturday
• $100,000, Grade III San Carlos Stakes, 4-year-olds and up, 7 furlongs
• $100,000, Grade III Wilshire Stakes, fillies and mares, 4 and up, 1 mile on turf
Sunday
• $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes, California-breds, 4 and up, about 6 ½ furlongs on turf
DOWN THE STRETCH
• The morning-line favorites in both of Santa Anita’s feature races Saturday are 4-year-olds primed to record their first wins at the stakes level. Tirupati (Umberto Rispoli riding), 7-5 on the line for the Wilshire Stakes, can continue improving for trainer Jonathan Thomas against 6-year-old Uncorked (Antonio Fresu), 5-year-old Alpha Bella (Juan Hernandez) and four other fillies and mares. Pilot Commander (Hernandez), 3-5 in the San Carlos Stakes for Bob Baffert after chasing Muth and Raging Torrent, must deal with the rail post as well as 6-year-old For All Mankind (Fresu), 5-year-old Fort Bragg (Kazushi Kimura) and 7-year-old Spirit of Makena, the 2023 San Carlos winner, in a field of five sprinters.
• Two Baffert-trained 3-year-olds can qualify for the Kentucky Derby when they run in Grade I races at Oaklawn Park and Gulfstream Park on Saturday. In the Arkansas Derby, Cornucopian (John Velazquez), a $1.1 million son of Into Mischief with only an impressive maiden win behind him, is the 7-5 morning-line favorite against Sandman (Jose Ortiz), Coal Battle (Juan Vargas), Publisher (Flavien Prat) and five others. Cornucopian needs 100 points for winning or 50 for finishing second to guarantee a spot in the May 3 Derby. In the Florida Derby, Madaket Road (Mike Smith) is 7-2 behind 8-5 Sovereignty (Manny Franco) in a field of 10. Madaket Road has 31 points from stakes placings at Santa Anita and Oaklawn and should be among the 20 qualifiers with a fourth place or better.
• The lineup for the April 5 Santa Anita Derby will be set Monday, with Journalism and Citizen Bull the likely stars of the Grade I race that awards 100, 50, 25, 15 and 10 points to the top finishers. Both Baffert’s Citizen Bull (60) and Michael McCarthy’s Journalism (47.5) already have the 40-plus points typically needed to get into the Kentucky Derby. The points standings are led by Tiztastic (119) and Final Gambit (100), winners of the Louisiana Derby and the Jeff Ruby on Saturday.
• Kazushi Kimura made a strong return from a leg fracture sustained in a Jan. 16 starting-gate accident, riding winners at Santa Anita last Friday (Bruiser, $4.20), Saturday (Comininalittlehot, $5.20) and Sunday (Big Pop, $6.60).
• Los Alamitos stewards took action this week after horses trained by top trainer Monty Arrossa tested positive for the banned drug carmoterol, ordering redistributions of American Dreamin’s $439,656 winner’s purse in the Oct. 27 Golden State Million Futurity and Ab Seis Corazones’ $129,710 for second in the Nov. 10 Los Alamitos Super Derby. The redistributions were first reported by the Daily Racing Form’s Steve Andersen. Arrossa, one of several leading quarter-horse trainers nationally to have horses fail tests for the banned bronchodilator, has been barred from Los Al by management of the Orange County track.
• A $22.20 upset by Show N Tell Cartel – with jockey Cesar Franco, for trainer Elena Andrade — in Los Al’s $235,600, Grade I Primero del Ano Derby for 3-year-old quarter horses Saturday was only his second victory in a 13-race career. Show N Tell Cartel was claimed for $16,000 in August for owner Mario Montiel by trainer Angie Aquino and then transferred to Andrade, who is Aquino’s sister.
• The previous night’s $430,000, Grade I Los Alamitos Oaks was a runaway for lukewarm favorite Shaken Goin On ($9) and jockey Justine Klaiber for leading Los Al quarter-horse trainer Eddie Willis and owners James Sills and Abel Flores.
• The Breeders’ Cup will continue to be shown on NBC, Peacock and the USA Network through 2030 under an extension announced Wednesday. The races, next Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 at Del Mar, will have 10 hours of coverage, down from 12 in 2024. An NBC spokesman said TV schedules are still being worked out.
• The latest state to worry about the future of racing is Washington. The Seattle Times reported Emerald Downs, in Auburn, could close in 2026 if the legislature doesn’t help the track cover an increase from $712,000 to $1.347 million in the fees it pays to the national Horseracing Integrity and Safety Authority. The fee structure changes next year, reducing the cost for large tracks and increasing it for small tracks like Emerald.
— Kevin Modesti
