Tag: Malibu Stakes

Irish-bred Ocean Road won the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes in May. The Gamely is one of 10 Grade 1 stakes on Santa Anita Park's 2022-23 Winter/Spring Meet stakes schedule. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Santa Anita Park Announces Robust 2022-23 Stakes Schedule

- 3 min read

Santa Anita Park’s 2022-23 Winter/Spring Meet offers 93 stakes races — 58 graded and 10 of those Grade 1s — during what is one of the longest racing meets of the year. Santa Anita’s Winter/Spring Meet runs Dec. 26-June 19. “We feel there is something for everyone in this stakes […]

Flightline clocked yet another bullet workout last Sunday at Santa Anita Park. He returns as the 3/5 morning line favorite for Saturday's Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park. (Image: Zoe Metz Photography)

Flightline Plus Speaker’s Corner Equals a Memorable Met Mile

- 4 min read

When Flavien Prat hopped off Flightline last December, after he had just dismantled the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes by 11 1/2 lengths, the veteran jockey had what could be described as a religious experience. As any jockey can tell you when they’ve ridden a superhorse, the words sometimes don’t come […]

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

- 3 min read

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 […]

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

- 2 min read

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 […]

In his brief, five-race career, Charlatan was one of the most imposing colts to enter a starting gate. He retired Thursday after winning four of his five career races. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Charlatan Retired to Stud After Meteoric and Stellar Career

- 3 min read

Standout colt Charlatan, who won every race but his last one, retired from racing Thursday, heading for stud duty at Hill ‘n’ Dale Farm in Paris, KY. That comes a little over a month after the 4-year-old went on the shelf after a Churchill Downs workout. That last workout came […]

Charlatan illustrated his breakaway speed in last December's Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita Park. He came out of a bullet workout with a setback that shelves the 4-year-old colt indefinitely. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Charlatan Goes Back on the Shelf With Undisclosed Setback

- 2 min read

Charlatan, the dynamic Bob Baffert trainee and multiple Grade 1 winner, suffered an undisclosed setback during a recent workout and will be sidelined indefinitely. The Daily Racing Form reported the news Thursday. They quoted a text from Sol Kumin, one of Charlatan’s owners in the multi-group consortium that owns the […]

Charlatan's stretch romp in the Malibu Stakes last month produced one of the most impressive wins of the year. He likely will run next in Saudi Arabia in the world's richest race -- the $20 million Saudi Cup. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Baffert’s Charlatan Will Follow the Money to the Saudi Cup

- 2 min read

In a clear case of following the money, Charlatan will pass on the Pegasus and likely set down at the Saudi Cup. That’s what trainer Bob Baffert told Santa Anita’s Ed Golden on Sunday. Following the money, in this case, takes the 4-year-old son of Speightstown to Saudi Arabia on […]

Smooth Like Strait was the only favorite to win the five graded stakes races on Santa Anita Park's opening-day card. He nipped Storm the Court in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile. (Image: Benoit Photography)

No Crowds? No Problem as Santa Anita Park Enjoys Record Handle

- 3 min read

With Charlatan winning Bob Baffert’s 17th Grade 1 race of 2020 headlining an 11-race, six-stakes card, Santa Anita Park set an all-time opening day handle record of $23,003,159 Saturday. That surpassed the previous record: 2018’s 11-race opening-day handle, by more than $2.51 million. And it did so without the traditional […]

Every race thus far has been a breeze like this for Nashville. The 6/5 favorite for Saturday's Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita is 3-for-3 since September, winning his races by an average of 8 1/2 lenths. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

The Malibu Stakes Puts a Rich, Plot-Filled Bow on 2020’s Grade 1 Races

- 4 min read

The Malibu Stakes is the bow on the 2020 racing season. It gives horseplayers and racing fans a deserving end to this year’s wild, unpredictable runaway roller coaster that was Horseracing 2020. There’s Nashville, he of the freakish speed. There’s Charlatan, he of the one-time Kentucky Derby favorite status. There’s […]

Charlatan returns to action for the first time in seven months on a stakes-packed opening day at Santa Anita Park. (Image: Horsephotos)

Unwrap Plenty of Stars in Santa Anita Park’s Boxing Day Opener

- 3 min read

Santa Anita Park’s opening day marks the return of this year’s Pegasus World Cup champion for the first time in 10 months. And poor Mucho Gusto; he’s not remotely the headline attraction. For that, he can thank Nashville, Charlatan, and Independence Hall, who all smashed and grabbed Mucho Gusto’s spotlight […]

The 2020 Santa Anita Derby produced two of the top four Kentucky Derby finishers in Honor A.P. (right) and eventual Kentucky Derby winner Authentic. The 2021 Santa Anita Derby is one of 10 Grade 1 races on the Southern California track's 2020-21 winter/spring meet schedule. (Image: Benoit Photo/Associated Press

Santa Anita Park Raises Purses, Announces Robust Stakes Schedule

- 3 min read

Officials at Santa Anita Park announced a 10% bump in daily purse totals for its 2020-21 Winter/Spring Meet, lifting the daily average purse money available to more than $533,000 at the Southern California track. This is significant for the iconic track. Unlike many other tracks, Santa Anita doesn’t have a […]

Knicks Go broke the track record in the Breeders' Cup Dirt mile earlier this month. He could run the Cigar Mile at Aqueduct Dec. 5. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

Don’t Take a Holiday on These Late-Season Races

- 3 min read

The Breeders’ Cup is in the rear-view mirror, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any prime late-season races on the horizon. The end of the year may seem like a racing lull before the calendar flips, but don’t let the last two months of the horse racing season go by […]

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