Santa Anita Park

After a delayed start last December, Santa Anita's 2025-26 meet concluded on Monday, June 15, the first time the meet has ended on a Monday in its 91-year history. The on-track crowd totaled over 540,000 fans for the season and averaged more than 7,000 per day over the 77-day season, which included both the Classic and Hollywood meets. All sources handle totaled $708,112,231, with an average daily handle of $9,196,263. It marked the sixth consecutive year daily handle has exceeded $9 million for the Winter-Spring season. "Santa Anita is one...

After power issues that forced the cancellation of four races on the Thursday card at Santa Anita, the closing day of the winter-spring season will be extended one additional day to Monday, June 15 as a make-up afternoon, the track announced via release. Thursday's power issues began after the fifth race, necessitating the cancellation of the remaining four races, including the Listed Affirmed Stakes set for race 8 that afternoon. Those contests were redrawn Friday morning, and additional races will be added to the program. First post time on Monday...

PICKITUPTHATSGOOD (Girvin--Heart of Midway, by Stevie Wonderboy) was unveiled as the 4-5 choice here and settled midpack up the backstretch. With good energy around the far turn, the favorite began turn up the heat to the outside as the field entered the lane. The filly fired on all cylinders, seized the lead inside the final furlong and won by four lengths over the 'Insighted' Janie Not Jeanie (Mandaloun). The winner's dam is responsible for 3-year-old filly in-training On Ramp (Beau Liam) and a yearling filly by Complexity. A half-sister to...

5th-CD, $120K, Msw, 2yo, 5f, 2:45 p.m. ET. As TDN's Bill Finley reported earlier this week, Horse of the Year Flightline (by Tapit) has his first foal ready to hit the track at Churchill Downs on Friday. GREENWELL was a $500,000 buy for Greg Tramontin during the 2025 Keeneland September Sale. Sent to trainer Mark Casse, the Flightline colt is out of MGSW Cambodia (War Front), who is a half-sister to the dam of GSW Danse Macabre (Army Mule). Also set for a start is another Keeneland grad in Grand...

Pete Aiello, the regular announcer at Gulfstream, will take over the Santa Anita booth in place of Frank Mirahmadi while the latter is in New York to call the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at Saratoga. Aiello also served as the replacement during last year's festival in New York. Jason Beem, the regular Tampa Bay Downs announcer, will replace him at Gulfstream for this weekend. "I feel honored that Frank and the Santa Anita team invited me back out this weekend," Aiello said. "The Great Race Place is aptly named and...

Shadow Nation (Ire) (Sioux Nation) was certainly on the betting public's radar heading into his career opener at Santa Anita on Sunday, and he did not disappoint when he came screaming from off the pace to score by 6 1/2 lengths in a 'TDN Rising Star, presented by Hagyard'-earning performance. Shadow Nation was allowed to linger in fourth in the early going of the five-furlong turf test, several lengths behind the speedy Repo (Nyquist) who cut out an initial quarter in :22.11. When asked the question by Joel Rosario, it...

With June around the corner, the graded stakes calendar heats back up as Churchill Downs hosts its Stephen Foster Preview on Saturday. The local prep for the June 28 running of the GI Stephen Foster Stakes, the GIII Blame Stakes is one of six higher-level races on the card and could be deemed as wide-open. Wathnan Racing's Hit Show (Candy Ride {Arg}) has the class edge though. The 2025 winner of the G1 Dubai World Cup returned to Meydan back in late March, but was unable to duplicate the feat....

Saturday's Mizdirection Stakes victress Queen Maxima (Bucchero) will head to Kingfisher Farms in California for a layoff after collecting her sixth stakes win this past weekend, trainer Jeff Mullins announced Sunday. Earning a 95 Beyer for her Mizdirection performance, Queen Maxima broke a two-race losing streak that started back in April when running fourth in the May 1 GII Unbridled Sidney Stakes at Churchill Downs and third in the GIII Monrovia at Santa Anita. Before that, she'd strung together successive victories in last October in the Senator Ken Maddy Stakes...

After finishing a respectable ninth last weekend in the GI Kentucky Derby, So Happy (Runhappy) has returned to his homebase in California as his connections decide what races are in his future after definitively ruling out the GI Preakness Stakes. The GI Santa Anita Derby hero was out on track Friday morning for a light jog. Trainer Mark Glatt reported that the Preakness had been ruled out for his first Kentucky Derby starter, but did not go as far as to rule out a start in the GI Belmont Stakes...

1st-SA, $65K, Msw, 3-5yo, 6f, 4:00 p.m. ET. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has an uncoupled entry with 3-year-old Sir Davis (Justify) and 4-year-old Pecos River (McKinzie). The former was a $450,000 Keeneland September grad, while the latter went for $750,000 at the 2024 OBS March sale. Out of MSW Lovely Syn (Freud), Sir Davis is a half-brother to MSW Love in the Air, who was purchased by Japan's Dr. Masatake Iida for $425,000 during the 2023 Keeneland November sale while in foal to Life Is Good. As for...

Dream Quest (Drain the Clock--Dream Collector, by Collected) made her initial start a winning one at Santa Anita Park on Thursday and her freshman sire collected his first win. The 2-year-old Cal-bred, in the inaugural juvenile race of the season at the track, sped to the lead after a competitive break and held sway through the top of the lane. The Steve Knapp trainee fended off a couple of challengers and got to the wire in time. Thirsty Caitlin (Stay Thirsty) was the runner-up. Drain the Clock--winner of the GI...

The GII Baird Doubledogdare Stakes and GIII Santa Maria Stakes were the highlights of last week among the distaff set, at least from a Beyer Speed Figure perspective.   6. OVERSUBSCRIBED (GB), AQU, 4/17, Plenty of Grace Stakes, 1 mile (turf) (VIDEO) Beyer Speed Figure - 91 (2nd) (m, 5, by Too Darn Hot (GB)-Zurigha (Ire), by Cape Cross (Ire)) O-Klaravich Stables. B-Rabbah Bloodstock Limited (GB). T-Chad Brown. J-Manny Franco. She probably isn't one of the premier Brown turf females, but she has been spotted judiciously enough to be twice...