Tag: California Horse Racing

Express Train is the 8/5 favorite to win his first Grade 1 in Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Handicap Awaits its Next History-Making Winner

Win the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap and you immediately enter the discussion of the country’s best older horses. Win the 1 ¼-mile “Big ‘Cap” and you join a club featuring the likes of Seabiscuit, Hill Rise, Ack Ack, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, John Henry (twice), Alysheba, Best Pal, Tiznow, Game […]

Forbidden Kingdom has led at the quarter-mile mark in every race. He's the 8/5 favorite in Saturday's Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

San Felipe Relishes its Status as Kentucky Derby Kingmaker

The San Felipe Stakes is known as one of the top Grade 2 Kentucky Derby preps in the country, the alma mater of Triple Crown race winners Authentic, California Chrome, Point Given, Fusaichi Pegasus and Affirmed. Aside from the 13 Derby champions and recently disqualified Medina Spirit, its alums found […]

Messier may not be eligible for Kentucky Derby points, but he's the one to beat in Sunday's Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

The Robert B. Lewis Points the Way to Kentucky Derby Prospects

What you saw at last year’s Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park was one of the best Kentucky Derby preps of 2021, starting with a coming-out announcement for one colt and further validation of his talent from another. The coming-out announcement in the Grade 3 1 1/16-mile route […]

Superstar sprinter Flightline will race next Feb. 5 in the Grade 2 San Carlos Stakes at Santa Anita. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Next race for Super Sprinter Flightline: The February 5 San Carlos Stakes

The question on when standout sprinter Flightline would run again got answered on Sunday when trainer John Sadler said he’d run in the Feb. 5 Grade 2 San Carlos at Santa Anita. The seven-furlong San Carlos fits Sadler’s early-season itinerary. It also allows the son of Tapit to stay home, […]

Despite only one race under his hooves, Doppelganger is the 8/5 morning-line favorite for Saturday's Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita Park. He's one of three Bob Baffert colts in the field. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Go Figure: Baffert Sends Out Three of Five San Vicente Contenders

The Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita Park sends five 3-year-olds seven furlongs Saturday. Because this race involves sophomores and because it’s at Santa Anita, this naturally translates into another glimpse into the endless barn of Bob Baffert. Back on the West Coast after his week-long hearing with […]

Brickyard Ride defended his title in the Cal Cup Sprint on Cal Cup Day at Santa Anita Park. The track enjoyed its best handle: $17.2 million, since 2007. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Cal Cup Day Puts Several Older Horses, One Sophomore, On Bettors’ Radar

Standout performances by the likes of Brickyard Ride, Legg Galore, and Aligato carried Santa Anita Park to its best Cal Cup Day handle since 2007: an all-sources pari-mutuel handle of more than $17.2 million. “We were very pleased with field size and the tremendous response from our fans nationwide,” Santa […]

Mackinnon has been a turf force in his six races. Now, he tries dirt for the first time in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

When it Comes to the Derby, Nothing Phony About These Sham Stakes

Unlike many of its early Kentucky Derby prep predecessors, Saturday’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park brings the recent Derby chops with it. How recent? How about the last two Derby champions? The one-mile Sham, which offers 10-4-2-1 Derby qualifying points to the top four finishers, gave you […]

Flightline was in his own zip code when he finished Sunday's Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita. Flightline's 11 1/2-length victory came with a 118 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest Beyer by a North American horse this year. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Flightline Unwraps 2021’s Best Beyer With Malibu Stakes Victory

As trainer John Sadler put it after watching his star runner Flightline on Sunday, “Christmas came a day late.” For Sadler and the connections of the 3-year-old son of Tapit, Flightline’s performance in Sunday’s Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park was the gift that keeps on giving. And […]

Private Mission and Flavien Prat seek a return to trips like this victorious one in the Grade 2 Zenyatta two starts ago. The pair are the 8/5 morning-line favorite in Sunday's Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Private Mission’s La Brea Stakes Mission: Avoid A Pace Meltdown

The last time we saw Private Mission, she was engaged in an incendiary pace meltdown with Letruska and others in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. Now, we see if she’s learned a lesson from that rude awakening in Sunday’s Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita Park. […]

Beyond Brilliant, seen here winning the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar, is one of the favorites in Sunday's Grade 2 Mathis Mile at Santa Anita Park's Opening Day. The Southern California track offers various wagering options to play that race and others. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Park’s Wagering Menu: Heavy on Options, Low on Takeout

Santa Anita Park unveiled its wagering menu for its Winter/Spring Meet, which opens Sunday with three Grade 1s among its six stakes. It also opens with a special Opening Day Mid-Pick 4 that encompasses Races 5, 6, 7 and 8 on the traditional Dec. 26 opening-day card. And there are […]

Canoodling has dominated ungraded stakes, such as this victory in the Zia Park Distaff last month. Now, she ventures into the deep waters of the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita Sunday. (Image: Coady Photography)

Canoodling Cozying Up to the Big Time at Santa Anita’s La Brea Stakes

Canoodling’s name translates into “engaging in amorous embracing, caressing, and kissing.” And on Sunday, the 3-year-old filly will be canoodling in deeper, rougher racing waters than she ever has. Canoodling finds herself back at Santa Anita Park, where she hasn’t raced since finishing fifth in the Listed Surfer Girl Stakes […]

Golden Gate Fields shares two bets with Santa Anita Park during its Winter/Spring Meet. The meet runs from Sunday through June 14, 2022. (Image: Golden Gate Fields)

Golden Gate Fields Opens, Shares Wagers With Bigger Cousin Santa Anita

Overshadowed by its southern cousin and its six stakes races – including three Grade 1s – Golden Gate Fields also opens its Winter/Spring Meet on Sunday. But instead of three Grade 1s – the marquee events on Santa Anita Park’s opening day — the Northern California track turns out two […]

Flightline won this Del Mar allowance by 12 3/4 lengths in early September. The flashy 3-year-old makes his stakes debut in Sunday's Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Fleet Flightline Sets Himself Up for a Malibu Stakes Cruise

It speaks volumes about Flightline’s frightening speed and fearsome reputation that Dr. Schivel, his erstwhile rival in Sunday’s Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park, won’t be the morning-line favorite. The runner-up in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint and the favorite in four of his eight career starts will be […]

California Senator Dianne Feinstein (D) called for the California Horse Racing Board to exhibit transparency in its investigation of Kentucky Derby champion Medina Spirit's sudden death. (Image: Jay Calderon/Desert Sun)

California Senator Feinstein Calls Out CHRB on Medina Spirit Investigation

California Democrat Senator Dianne Feinstein, one of the Senate co-sponsors of the Horse Racing Integrity and Safety Act of 2020 and a frequent critic of horse racing, wrote a letter to the California Horse Racing Board seeking transparency in the sudden death of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit. In the […]

Messier and Flavien Prat controlled the Grade 3 Bob Hope Stakes last month at Del Mar. Oddsmakers make the pair a 1/2 morning-line choice to give Bob Baffert his eighth consecutive Los Alamitos Futurity title. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Los Alamitos Futurity: The Race Bob Baffert Made His Own

The Bob Baffert Invitational, otherwise known as the Los Alamitos Futurity, goes off on Saturday as the penultimate day of Los Alamitos’ short Thoroughbred Winter Meet. And as you would expect, the 1 1/16-mile test for 2-year-olds has that usual Baffert flavor to it. There’s Messier, the prohibitive 1/2 favorite. […]