Santa Anita
GI Pegasus World Cup S. victor Mucho Gusto (Mucho Macho Man) returns to action in Saturday's GII San Antonio S. after 10 months on the sidelines. A three-time graded winner as a sophomore last term, the $625,000 EASMAY buy hit the board in both the GI Haskell Invitational S. and GI Runhappy Travers S. last summer. Closing out 2019 with a fourth as the favorite in the GIII Oklahoma Derby last September, the 'TDN Rising Star' was privately purchased from Michael Lund Petersen by HRH Prince Faisal Bin Khaled with...
Cannon Thoroughbreds' Smooth Like Strait (Midnight Lute) is the 8-5 morning-line favorite for the GII Mathis Brothers Mile at Santa Anita Saturday. The Mike McCarthy trainee, first or second in five of six starts so far this year, won the Oct. 18 GII Twilight Derby and missed by just a head when second in the Nov. 28 GI Hollywood Derby last time out. Three Diamond Farms' Field Pass (Lemon Drop Kid), winner of the July 12 GIII Transylvania S. at Keeneland, was third in the Twilight Derby and returns to...
Santa Anita has announced a group of five finalists for the 2021 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, with the winner to be announced in February. One of the most prestigious awards for American jockeys, the Woolf Award, which is determined by a vote of jockeys nationwide, can only be won once. Jockeys Alex Birzer, Jorge Martin Bourdieu, Kendrick Carmouche, Aaron Gryder and Deshawn Parker, veteran riders who have stood the test of time and have earned the respect of their peers and horsemen in various geographic regions, comprise 2021's select...
Lasix will now be barred through at least 2021 in the vast majority of stakes races at California's three major commercial tracks--Santa Anita Park, Del Mar Thoroughbred Club, and Golden Gate Fields. The Lasix ban was part of a revised race-day medication agreement between the Thoroughbred Owners of California (TOC) and the managements of those three tracks. The California Horse Racing Board voted unanimously Dec. 17 to approve the terms of that medication agreement for the upcoming Santa Anita and Golden Gate meets. The Del Mar-specific commission approval will presumably...
Speightstown (Gone West)'s highly promising 3-year-old colts Nashville and Charlatan are set to square off in the Gl Malibu S. over seven furlongs on opening day at Santa Anita Dec. 26, and the race already has the feel of an anticipated prize fight to it, all the way down to their respective heavyweight connections, who were once together on the same team that celebrated Justify (Scat Daddy)'s Triple Crown. But an important focus of this race belongs to their top-class sire, himself a champion sprinter, because it's quite a feat...
The long and complicated case over whether to disqualify 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify for his GI Santa Anita Derby scopolamine positive sparked back to life Dec. 17, eight days after the Santa Anita Park board of stewards dismissed complaints against two Bob Baffert-trained horses that had been filed by the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB) as part of a legal settlement. At the outset of Thursday's regularly scheduled CHRB meeting, the board's executive director, Scott Chaney, explained how because of a newly filed appeal, the 2 1/2-year regulatory odyssey...
The Stronach Group's Aidan Butler discusses possible changes at Gulfstream Park in this week's TDN Writers' Room.
The GI Runhappy Malibu S. on Santa Anita's opening day program could potentially feature a clash between two of the more exciting sophomores in training. The immensely talented duo of Charlatan and Nashville, both 'TDN Rising Stars' and by leading sire Speightstown, are currently being aimed at the prestigious Dec. 26 seven-furlong contest. The Bob Baffert-trained Charlatan most recently crossed the wire a dominating six-length, wire-to-wire winner in the split-division GI Arkansas Derby May 2, but was subsequently stripped of the victory and demoted to ninth after testing positive for...
Officials at Santa Anita have announced that Nate Newby has been promoted to the position of general manager, while Chris Merz will add racing secretary to his current role of director of racing. Newby has most recently served Santa Anita as its senior vice president and general manager and comes as Aidan Butler transitions to his new position as chief operating officer of 1/ST Racing and president of 1/ST Content in Florida. Butler previously headed California operations for Santa Anita's parent company The Stronach Group. Newby, who has been at...
Two-year-old sensation and 'TDN Rising Star' Life Is Good (Into Mischief) will likely make his next start in the GIII Sham S. on Jan. 2 at Santa Anita, reports trainer Bob Baffert. The one-mile event carries a purse of $100,000. "If all is going well, it looks like the Sham will be his next race," Baffert said. "It will give me a chance to stretch him out. Then I will decide on what's next and look at races like the Rebel at Oaklawn." Owned by WinStar Farm and the China...
News last week that more than 200 people living or working on-site at Golden Gate Fields had tested positive for COVID-19, and that the facility would have to close its doors to live racing through November, arrived against a state-wide backdrop of rising cases, hospitalizations and COVID-related deaths. As with Golden Gate, these trends have landed with subsidiary impacts. Over the weekend, L.A. County public health officials suspended outdoor restaurant dining. Before that, the county announced other restrictions, including curfews and capacity limitations at certain stores and other public places....
Starting with three prestigious Grade I stakes on opening day, Saturday, Dec. 26, Santa Anita's 2020-21 Winter/Spring stakes schedule will offer fans and horsemen a total of 95 stakes through closing day, June 20. This will include 10 Grade I events and 60 graded stakes. Santa Anita's traditional Winter/Spring opener will be highlighted by the seven furlong GI Runhappy Malibu S. for 3-year-olds, the seven furlong GI La Brea S. for 3-year-old fillies, and the GI American Oaks, for 3-year-old fillies at a mile and one quarter on turf, all...