Santa Anita Stakes Winners Look Ahead

Winners from Saturday’s super line-up of graded stakes at Santa Anita exited their races in fine shape and connections were looking forward Sunday morning. Trainer Richard Mandella reported GI Zenyatta S. winner Beholder (Henny Hughes) was “great” Sunday and looks to continue on to a possible tilt at the GI Breeders’ Cup Classic. Songbird (Medaglia d’Oro), dominant winner of the GI Chandelier S., “came back perfect,” according to trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. Trainer Doug O’Neill said that unbeaten Nyquist (Uncle Mo) came out of his hard-earned, three-quarter length victory in Saturday’s GI FrontRunner S. “in great shape,” as did Land Over Sea (Bellamy Road), runner-up in the Chandelier.

Contrary to some reports, last year’s Classic winner Bayern (Offlee Wild), third as the favorite in Saturday’s GI Awesome Again S., has not yet been officially retired. “It is being evaluated right now,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “We’ll know in a few days.”