SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Flavien Prat / 41
Juan Hernandez / 41
Umberto Rispoli / 31
Antonio Fresu / 20
Tiago Pereira / 20
Trainers / Wins
Mark Glatt / 24
Bob Baffert / 21
Jeff Mullins / 17
Michael McCarthy / 17
Doug O’Neill / 16
UPCOMING STAKES
SANTA ANITA
Saturday
• $100,000, Grade III Santa Ana Stakes, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, 1¼ miles on turf
Sunday
• $100,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes, California-bred fillies and mares, 4 and up, about 6½ furlongs on turf
LOS ALAMITOS
Sunday
• $35,000 Moonist Stakes, quarter horses, 3 and up, 400 yards
DOWN THE STRETCH
• Mrs. Astor (Umberto Rispoli riding) puts her winning streak on the line against Kathynmarissa (Frankie Dettori) and six others in Saturday’s Santa Ana Stakes at Santa Anita. Jonathan Thomas-trained Mrs. Astor won the Red Carpet and the Robert F. Frankel at this Grade III level. Richard Dutrow-trained Kathynmarissa ran second to She Feels Pretty in the Grade I American Oaks on Dec. 26.
• Dettori announced Thursday he is forced to file for bankruptcy after being unable to settle a dispute over unpaid taxes with United Kingdom authorities. The Italian-born Dettori, 54, a globetrotting superstar among thoroughbred jockeys, put off an announced retirement and rode regularly at Santa Anita in 2024 and this winter. His statement said he’s “saddened and embarrassed” by his financial situation, which he blamed on former advisors.
• Santa Anita races Friday through Monday this week, adding a 1 p.m. St. Patrick’s Day card to its original calendar.
• Getaway Car (Irad Ortiz Jr.) is the 9-5 favorite ahead of 3-1 John Hancock (Mike Smith) and 5-1 Rapture (Flavien Prat) in a field of 10 for the $500,000 Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs on Saturday, the first time the race will be run on dirt and offer Kentucky Derby qualifying points. Getaway Car was a stakes winner for trainer Bob Baffert at Del Mar last summer, and ended a four-race losing streak with a front-running victory at 6-5 in the Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico.
• Journalism, the San Felipe Stakes winner March 1 at Santa Anita, is a solid 3-1 morning-line favorite for the next round of official Kentucky Derby future wagering Friday to Sunday. Fountain of Youth winner Sovereign is 5-1, and the Baffert duo of 6-1 Barnes and 8-1 Citizen Bull are the others under 20-1 among 39 individuals offered for betting on the May 3 Derby.
• Thorpedo Anna’s 3½-length win with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. at 1-10 odds in the Grade II Azeri Stakes for fillies and mares at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas on Saturday lifted the 2024 Horse of the Year back to No. 1 in the National Thoroughbred Racing Association’s weekly rankings. White Abarrio slipped to No. 2 and Santa Anita Handicap winner Locked remained No. 3. The Azeri was Thorpedo Anna’s first start since her Breeders’ Cup Distaff win Nov. 2 at Del Mar. Trainer Ken McPeek plans to run the 4-year-old next in the Grade I Apple Blossom at Oaklawn on April 12.
• Los Alamitos has brought back 870-yard races, open to quarter horses and thoroughbreds. Sergio Morfin-trained thoroughbred To Speight Her and jockey Efrain Hernandez led all the way Saturday night in the Orange County track’s first race at the distance since January 2021. To mark the occasion, the Los Al website listed 10 memorable 870 runners, starting with Griswold, the track record-holder (43.99 seconds), a 14-time stakes winner and a neck loser to Valiant Pete in the half-mile quarter-horse vs. thoroughbred match race at Santa Anita in April 1991.
• The death of the unraced 3-year-old filly Paprika Princess from a training injury Wednesday at Santa Anita is the third in racing or training since Jan. 1 at Santa Anita and the sixth at Santa Anita or Los Alamitos, according to California Horse Racing Board data. Both figures are lower than for the same period in 2023 and 2024.
• A similar trend is reported nationwide. The Jockey Club released 2024 statistics from its Equine Injury Database showing horses died at a rate of 1.11 per 1,000 starts at tracks. The organization said that marks a 15.9% decrease from 2023 and the lowest rate since the EID was founded in 2009.
— Kevin Modesti
