Santa Anita

A total of 43 graded events, 18 at Grade I level including the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships Nov. 1 and 2, comprise the stakes schedule for the Santa Anita fall meet Sept. 27 through Nov. 3. For the first time, a pair of Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' qualifiers join the traditional opening-day feature, the $200,000 GII Eddie D. S. The $300,000 GI American Pharoah S. for 2-year-old males and its female counterpart, the $300,000 GI Chandelier S., have been moved up to anchor the opening-day program. "We're...

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency 5th-ELP, $50k, Msw, 2yo, f, 5 1/2f, 5:42 p.m. ET Trainer Mark Casse sends out a pair of regally bred fillies in Friday's fifth event at Ellis. CRYSTAL GLACIER (Curlin), a daughter of the same stallion that lit up the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sales ring during Monday's session with three seven-figure colts, was acquired by Live Oak for the sum of $500,000 as a yearling at that sale a year ago. The dark bay hails from the family of Grade I winner and sire Majestic Warrior...

It was back in 1988 that John Sadler began his stake race winning spree at Del Mar, when the mild-mannered speedball Olympic Prospect took the then-$75,000 Bing Crosby H., prompting jockey Alex Solis afterwards to breathlessly exclaim, "I never rode a horse that fast in my life." When given this little factoid at his Del Mar barn one recent morning--a full 31 years after the event--Sadler assumed the look of someone who'd just been told that water wasn't wet. "I wouldn't think so--it's got to be before that," he said...

The Week in Review, by T.D. Thornton Four-time Grade I-winning 4-year-old McKinzie (Street Sense) has always been saddled with high expectations, while 3-year-old Mr. Money (Goldencents) has now achieved millionaire status by grinding out four consecutive Grade III victories. Convincing wins on Saturday gave each horse a divisional foothold, with McKinzie establishing himself as the top two-turn older dirt horse who might finally be getting comfortable with kingpin status, and Mr. Money carving out a niche as the late-blooming sophomore who appears primed to punch above his weight thanks to...

3rd-Ellis, $50,036, Msw, 8-4, 2yo, 5 1/2f, 1:05.12, ft. JUGGERNAUT (c, 2, Goldencents--Hashtag Stormy, by Stormy Atlantic) had been working at Santa Anita through mid-July, but prepped for this with a :49 flat move at Churchill July 27. Ignored at 25-1 for a typically patient barn, he was looking to become the second Keith Desormeaux-trained and James Graham-ridden 2-year-old graduate on the card after second timer Automate (New Year's Day) pulled off his own 20-1 upset in the opener. Scrubbed on from a wide draw to make the lead, the...

Saturday's GI Whitney S. lost some of its appeal when two-time G1 Dubai World Cup hero Thunder Snow (Ire) (Helmet {Aus}) was scratched sick, depriving fans of a battle with 'TDN Rising Star' McKinzie (Street Sense) in the 'Win and You're In' qualifier for the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita the first weekend in November. Though that clash is on hold for the next eight weeks, McKinzie upheld his end of the bargain, getting a thinking-man's ride from Hall of Famer Mike Smith before holding off a late...

Having secured a court order that paved the way for his return to the training ranks, Jerry Hollendorfer saddles a single horse on Saturday's Del Mar program. That runner just happens to be Vasilika (Skipshot), the queen of the hill among California's turf distaffers, who will jump a warm favorite in the GII Yellow Ribbon H. Claimed for $40,000 a year and a half ago, the chestnut has made 14 appearances for the barn and has had her picture taken a dozen times, her lone finish outside of the top...

Trainer Simon Callaghan will be at Saratoga Saturday to saddle Bellafina (Quality Road) in the GI Longines Test S., and a short time later, the conditioner will be glued to the nearest television set to watch 'TDN Rising Star' Amalfi Sunrise (Constitution) give the barn consecutive victories in the GII Sorrento S. at Del Mar. A $40,000 Keeneland September yearling turned $185,000 OBS April purchase, the racy-looking dark bay was pounded into 11-10 favoritism for her June 23 debut at Santa Anita, and although she was beaten for speed by...

Rick Hammerle, among horse racing's most respected and innovative officials; popular New England sportscaster and former NBC racing analyst Bob Neumeier, and jockey Aaron Gryder are joining the team at Kentucky Downs. Hammerle will serve as Kentucky Downs' director of horsemen's relations and racing operations, working closely with racing secretary Tyler Picklesimer and senior vice president and general manager Ted Nicholson. Hammerle spent the past 16 years directing Santa Anita's racing program as racing secretary. "I'm a utility man; I'll do whatever they need," said Hammerle, who recently was also...

"Inside the Winner's Circle, Presented by Keeneland" is a series showcasing graduates of the Keeneland September sale who have gone on to achieve success on racing's biggest stages. Trainer John Sadler does a lot of things well. But give him a chance to get a feel for a horse, what it needs and let it develop at its own pace and there may be no one better. It's probably no coincidence that the two best horses he's ever trained, Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky) and Stellar Wind (Curlin) both had their...

Marcus Stables' Stillwater Cove (Quality Road) has made her bones as a sprinter thus far in her young career, but the Wesley Ward trainee ships across the country and stretches out as a lukewarm morning-line favorite in a wide-open renewal of Saturday's GII San Clemente S. at Del Mar. A first-out victress last spring at Keeneland, the bay faded to 13th in Royal Ascot's G3 Albany S., then returned to the States to post a 10-1 upset of the Bolton Landing S. last August at Saratoga. Tenth against males in...

Hronis Racing's Catalina Cruiser (Union Rags), undefeated in two starts to that point, had his coming out party with a 6 3/4-length romp in the GII San Diego H. on opening weekend last summer at Del Mar. He will attempt to repeat that feat as a heavy favorite in Saturday's renewal of the seaside oval's annual prep for the GI Pacific Classic. Debuting in October of 2017 with a sharp off-the-pace success, the chestnut proved both his talent and versatility when annexing a Santa Anita optional claimer in front-running fashion...