SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Juan Hernandez / 6
Umberto Rispoli / 5
Hector Berrios / 3
Armando Ayuso / 3
Abel Lezcano / 2
Trainers / Wins
Phil D’Amato / 5
Bob Baffert / 4
Tim Yakteen / 2
John Sadler / 2
Richard Baltas / 2
Jeff Mullins / 2
UPCOMING STAKES
SANTA ANITA
Saturday
• $300,000, Grade I American Pharoah Stakes, 2-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles
• $200,000, Grade II Oak Leaf Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 1 1/16 miles
• $200,000 Grade II Rodeo Drive Stakes, fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up, 1¼ miles on turf
• $100,000, Grade III Chillingworth Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and up, 6½ furlongs
• $100,000 Speakeasy Stakes, 2-year-olds, 5 furlongs on turf
Sunday
• $100,000, Grade III Zuma Beach Stakes, 2-year-olds, 1 mile on turf
• $100,000, Grade III Surfer Girl Stakes, 2-year-old fillies, 1 mile on turf
DOWN THE STRETCH
• Two-year-olds are in the spotlight on the final weekend of major prep races for the Breeders’ Cup on Oct. 31-Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Bob Baffert, who dominated last weekend at Santa Anita, saddles top contenders Desert Gate (Juan Hernandez riding) and Kristofferson (Mike Smith) in Saturday’s American Pharoah Stakes, a steppingstone to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, and Explora (Hernandez) in the Oak Leaf, a setup for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Baffert said he plans to train Brant up to the Juvenile, meaning nearly two months between races for the Del Mar Futurity winner by a length over Desert Gate.
• Other Breeders’ Cup Juvenile candidates run at Kentucky and New York on Saturday. Unbeaten Hopeful Stakes winner Ted Noffey (John Velazquez) is 4-5 in the Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, a field that includes Bob Baffert-trained Litmus Test (Flavien Prat). Runaway Saratoga maiden winner It’s Our Time (Luis Saez) is in the Champagne Stakes at Aqueduct.
• Prat will replace injured Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard Thorpedo Anna when the 2024 Horse of the Year faces 3-year-old Nitrogen (Jose Ortiz) and three other fillies and mares in the Spinster Stakes at Keeneland on Sunday.
• Forever Young ended a nearly six-month layoff and tuned up for the Breeders’ Cup Classic by winning the Nippon TV Hai with jockey Ryusei Sakai on Wednesday in Funabashi, Japan. The 4-year-old Japanese-bred was third by a head to Mystik Dan in the Kentucky Derby and third by 2¾ lengths to Sierra Leone in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2024.
• Locked joined the top 10 in the Longines-sponsored ranking of Breeders’ Cup Classic contenders after winning with Velazquez in the Woodward Stakes at Aqueduct on Saturday, the 4-year-old’s first win since the Santa Anita Handicap in March. Nos. 1-10 this week, voted before Forever Young’s race, are Sovereignty, Fierceness, Sierra Leone, Mindframe, Journalism, Forever Young, Baeza, Antiquarian, Locked and Highland Falls.
• Rebel’s Romance, winner of the 2022 and 2024 Breeders’ Cup Turf, got ready for that $5 million race at Del Mar by winning with Frankie Dettori in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Aqueduct on Saturday. The globetrotting 6-year-old’s first win in the United States in 2025 lifted him into the NTRA’s rankings of all North American thoroughbreds at No. 8 this week.
• Los Alamitos quarter-horse racing this weekend features trials Saturday night for the Golden State Million Futurity. Ed Burke Million Futurity winner Jess Im Worth It, Kindergarten winner Beuteeful and Governor’s Cup winner Mayor Humdinger are leading candidates for the Oct. 26 Golden State Million, a 400-yard race for 2-year-olds.
— Kevin Modesti