Thursday, April 05 2012

TALAMO DOESN’T STAY LONG AT 1,000 MILESTONE

ARCADIA, Calif. (April 5, 2012) – Three races after Joe Talamo recorded his 1,000th career victory aboard heavily-favored Splendid Fortune in a maiden race for trainer Bob Baffert at Santa Anita, the 22-year-old jockey captured Thursday’s $61,138 feature event, appropriately named the Cloud Nine Purse.

Talamo guided 5-1 shot Let’s Go Cheyenne to victory by one length over favored Caelis in the mile-and-one-eighth turf event for fillies and mares while timed in 1:46.08.

SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES (Thursday April 5, 2012)

CREATIVE CAUSE TOPS STRONG LINEUP FOR GRADE I SANTA ANITA DERBY

The countdown is on in earnest for what one trainer calls the best and most competitive steppingstone to the May 5 Kentucky Derby—Saturday’s Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby.

“It’s a very good field,” said trainer Jim Cassidy, who runs 20-1 morning line chance Brother Francis from the outside post in a lineup of 10 entered for the mile and an eighth Santa Anita Derby. “It’s the best field so far this year, I think, as far as preps for the Kentucky Derby go, definitely.”

CREATIVE CAUSE 6-5 FAVORITE IN FIELD OF TEN FOR SATURDAY’S 75TH SANTA ANITA DERBY

ARCADIA, Calif. (April 4, 2012) – Consummately consistent Creative Cause is the 6-5 morning line favorite to lead the way to Kentucky among 10 entrants in Saturday’s 75th running of the mile-and-one-eighth, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, a Grade I event that has produced 15 Kentucky Derby champions.

Never more than one length behind at the wire in any of his seven starts, Creative Cause’s four wins include a hard-fought, three-quarter-length victory over the highly regarded and slightly favored Bodemeister in Santa Anita’s Grade II San Felipe Stakes on March 10.

Monday, April 02 2012

CALIMONCO, AT 5-2, FOOLS FEW WITH $79,950 SIDD FINCH STAKES WIN

ARCADIA, Calif. (April 1, 2012) – Calimonco, the 5-2 second choice, didn’t fool too many fans Sunday when he repelled the closing rally of 6-1 Make Music for Me to take the 1st running of Santa Anita’s $79,950 Sidd Finch Stakes at one mile on turf.

After overtaking pacesetter and 9-5 favorite Dewey’s Special, Calimonco had enough in reserve to prevail by one-half length as Dewey’s Special faded to third, three-quarters-of-a-length behind Make Music for Me. The final time was 1:34.16.

SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES (Sunday April 1, 2012)

GUTIERREZ HOPES TO MAKE MOST OF SANTA ANITA DERBY OPPORTUNITY

Six years ago, a teenage Mario Gutierrez was in the Great White North, trying to eke out a living and keep warm in frigid outposts like Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, quite an adjustment for a native of sunny Mexico.

Fast forward to Feb. 4, 2012. Gutierrez rides I’ll Have Another to a smashing 2 ¾-length victory at 43-1 in the Grade II Robert B. Lewis Stakes at historic Santa Anita Park and thrusts himself firmly into the Triple Crown picture.

Sunday, April 01 2012

WILLA B AWESOME, AT 13-1, ENDS UP WITH THE SPOILS

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 31, 2012) – Reneesgotzip gained revenge on 1-2 favorite Eden’s Moon in Saturday’s Grade I, $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks, but she failed to resist late-running 13-1 shot, Willa B Awesome, in Santa Anita’s premier event for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles.

With Martin Pedroza perfectly timing his chestnut filly’s closing bid, Willa B Awesome was victorious by a nose just after it had seemed that Garrett Gomez and 17-10 second-choice Reneesgotzip had won the battle by getting the jump on trainer Bob Baffert’s Eden’s Moon and never conceding.

SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES (Saturday March 31, 2012)

SMITH LEARNS THE ROPES ON MIDNIGHT TRANSFER FOR SANTA ANITA DERBY

Mike Smith was three shy of career win No. 5,000 at the start of Saturday’s races. The major milestone would hold even more significance should it come aboard Midnight Transfer in the Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby next Saturday.

Smith picked up the mount on the San Pedro Stakes winner through the misfortune of fellow rider Victor Espinoza, who had ridden Midnight Transfer to a third-place finish in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes on March 10 and had been given the call for the Santa Anita Derby by trainer Carla Gaines.

Saturday, March 31 2012

SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES (Friday March 30, 2012)

GOMEZ EYES SEVENTH STAKES WIN OF MEET IN SANTA ANITA OAKS

With six stakes wins the first two weeks of the Santa Anita meet that began last Dec. 26, Garrett Gomez was off to a flying start. Fate stepped in on Jan. 8 when Gomez suffered a broken left heel in a freak paddock accident, forcing him to miss 11 weeks of action.

Still among the leaders this meet with six stakes wins, the 40-year-old Gomez hopes to make it No. 7 when he rides Reneesgotzip in Saturday’s Grade I, $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks at 1 1/16 miles.

BURST BY MOBILIZED LEADS TO 7-1 UPSET IN $75,418 CHARLESTON PURSE

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 30, 2012) – Winless since November of 2010, 7-1 shot Mobilized burst between horses in deep stretch Friday to capture Santa Anita’s $75,418 Charleston Purse by one-half length over Supreme Summit in the 6 ½-furlong competition over the track’s downhill turf course.

Blocked behind rivals in midstretch, Garrett Gomez, riding the 6-year-old California-bred for the first time, observed pace-setter Victory Pete move inward and pushed the proverbial button. “When I saw the No. 4 go to his left,” said Gomez, “my horse put his head down and got the job done. I never even hit him.” Mobilized crossed the wire in 1:12.55.

Friday, March 30 2012

HOLLADAY ROAD CAPTURES $71,850 PURPLE AND GOLD PURSE TO RAISE EARNINGS TO $242,940

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 29, 2012) – After finishing fourth in the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap earlier this month, Thursday’s $71,850 Purple and Gold Purse might have paled in comparison for victorious 4-5 favorite Holladay Road.

But the 7-year-old gelding, aggressively ridden by Garrett Gomez, was all out to overtake Fire With Fire and Irish-bred longshot Barney Rebel in a three-horse blanket finish to conclude the mile-and-one-eighth Santa Anita turf feature raced in 1:46.86.

HAIMISH HY FINDS COMPATIBLE SPOT IN SUNDAY’S SIDD FINCH STAKES

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 29, 2012) – After chasing 2011’s champion turf horse Acclamation in his last two starts, Haimish Hy almost certainly will find the company more compatible when returning to action Sunday among six starters in Santa Anita’s inaugural running of the $70,000 Sidd Finch Stakes at one mile on turf.

Named in honor of George Plimpton’s fictional baseball player and subject of a notorious article and April Fools’ Day hoax “The Curious Case of Sidd Finch,” which was first published in Sports Illustrated on April 1, 1985, Sunday’s Finch figures to be a compelling read for handicappers.

SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES (Thursday March 29, 2012)

PEDROZA GETS BETTER WITH AGE, SET FOR SATURDAY’S SANTA ANITA OAKS

Fresh and fit at the age of 46, Martin Pedroza is looking forward to Saturday’s Grade I Santa Anita Oaks after a recent trip to his native Panama to visit his mother,

Pedroza rides Willa B Awesome for trainer Walther Solis in the 1 1/16-mile race that offers a $300,000 purse. Pedroza has ridden the California-bred daughter of Awesome Gambler in her last six races, winning the Grade III Santa Ysabel Stakes at 1 1/16 miles in an 11-1 upset on Jan. 28.