ARCADIA — The last and longest big race of the long Santa Anita racing season turned out to be one of the finest.
The $100,000, Grade III San Juan Capistrano Stakes’ nearly 1 3/4-mile test on Sunday brought out the best in defending champion Planetario and leading challenger Rockemperor.
In midstretch, Rockemperor and jockey Antonio Fresu seemed to have it won, but Planetario and Hector Berrios finished fastest on the outside to get the lead in the final strides and win by a clear neck. It only got more thrilling in the next few moments when the closing-day crowd of 16,331 saw Planetario’s final time: 2:46.95. That’s a Santa Anita record for the marathon distance that’s run once a year, shattering Planetario’s own mark of 2:48.08 set in 2023.
Planetario, a 6-year-old bred in Brazil and imported in 2022, became the fifth horse to win the San Juan Capistrano for a second time, the first of those being George Royal in the 1966 race famous as jockey Johnny Longden’s final ride and world-record 6,032nd victory.
“He had it all along,” trainer Richard Mandella said of Planetario before smiling to assure you he’s kidding. “He had to dig in and really run there.”
Planetario paid $3.40 for a $2 win bet. Rockemperor finished 2 1/2 lengths ahead of third-place Rimprotector, followed by Bee Catcher, Offlee Naughty and Order and Law.
Earlier, Final Boss ($4) and Juan Hernandez led all the way for trainer John Sadler in the $100,000 Cinema Stakes, helping Hernandez to win the jockeys title.
The jockeys’ contest came down to the wire on the 29th and last day of Santa Anita’s “Hollywood Meet,” which combined with the track’s 43-day “Classic Meet” to make it a nearly six-month stand.
That contest, scored by total winners, wasn’t decided until the 12th of Sunday’s 12 races when Fresu’s second-place finish aboard Anmer Hall left him one short of Hernandez. Hernandez had 36 wins to Fresu’s 35. Kyle Fresu (35), Berrios (26) and Edwin Maldonado (24) completed the top five.
Hernandez, who had also led the Classic Meet standings by a 53-46 margin over Fresu, shrugged off his fifth consecutive title at a Santa Anita meet, saying he aims to emphasize quality over quantity.
“I only want to win all the big races and get all the money,” Hernandez, who has seven graded stakes wins in 2024, said with a laugh.
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Phil D’Amato finished atop the Hollywood Meet trainer standings for the second year in a row with 22 wins, ahead of Doug O’Neill (17), Mark Glatt (15), Sadler (13) and Steve Knapp (13). O’Neill had won the Classic Meet title with 31 wins, ahead of Glatt (29) and D’Amato (28).
D’Amato credited horses stabled at Los Alamitos as well as his first string housed at Santa Anita.
“(We) just had a really good meet,” said D’Amato, whose 17 stakes wins at Santa Anita since Dec. 26 included the Santa Anita Derby with Stronghold. “Really proud of my Los Al string. They came on strong here in the second half of Santa Anita. Hopefully it’ll continue at Del Mar.”
Los Alamitos’ June 22-July 7 meet is next on the Southern California thoroughbred calendar.
Then comes Del Mar July 20-Sept. 8.