Go Back
Santa Anita Stable Notes Friday, March 22, 2024
3/22/2024
STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN FRIDAY, MARCH 22, 2024
- GIII SAN LUIS REY: FAVORITE MISSED THE CUT ‘HASN’T MISSED A BEAT’ - WORK TAB: MUTH, WYNSTOCK DRILL FOR BAFFERT - SATURDAY’S $1 COAST-TO-COAST PICK BEGINS AT 2 P.M. PT - SENSATIONAL STAR ON HILLSIDE TURF COURSE SUNDAY FEATURE
GIII SAN LUIS REY: FAVORITE MISSED THE CUT ‘HASN’T MISSED A BEAT’ Following a successful winter at Santa Anita for Missed the Cut, trainer John Sadler is hoping for more of the same when the 5-year-old full horse kicks off his spring campaign Saturday.
Missed the Cut seeks his second-consecutive graded stakes win in the marathon GIII San Luis Rey Stakes, which is contested at 1 ½ miles on turf. He is installed as the 6-5 favorite on Jon White’s morning line.
Missed the Cut, an import from Europe last spring, made four of his first five domestic starts last year on dirt. Those efforts included a win going 1 ½ miles in the GIII Tokyo City here last October. Next, the Kentucky-bred by Quality Road took a swing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic here Nov. 4 and finished last. That would be all for Missed the Cut racing on dirt.
In two subsequent turf starts at the Classic Meet, Missed the Cut was a good second to the well-regarded Easter in the 1 1/8-mile GII San Gabriel opening day Dec. 26. He then came right back to score in the GIII San Marcos at 1 ¼ miles Feb. 10.
“He’s been as steady as they come,” Sadler said Thursday.
Missed the Cut has worked three times since the San Marcos including a stiff six-furlong drill in 1:14.20 on Sunday.
“He hasn’t missed a beat this winter,” Sadler continued. “Somehow, his races and works have fallen when the weather wasn’t bad. He got beat by a really good horse in the San Gabriel. I thought his last race he ran great.”
Missed the Cut will have his third different rider in as many races Saturday. In the San Gabriel, reigning Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. was in the irons. In the San Marcos win, it was Joel Rosario—the 2021 Eclipse Award-winning jockey and first-time finalist for the Racing Hall of Fame—was in the saddle. With Rosario off to ride the GII Louisiana Derby card at Fair Grounds Saturday, Antonio Fresu will be aboard Missed the Cut for the first time.
“He knows how to ride a good turf race,” Sadler said of Fresu. “With a lot of guys out of town, he seemed like a good rider for him.
Fresu enters this week’s action ranked third in the Classic Meet jockey’s standings with 38 wins from 207 mounts (18 percent).
Sadler hopes Missed the Cut can make a return trip to the Breeders’ Cup, which will be hosted by Del Mar in the fall. This time he would go in the 1 ½ mile Breeders’ Cup Turf.
“Yeah, I think so,” Sadler said of the Breeders’ Cup being a long-term goal.
Missed the Cut has a record of 6-2-0 in 14 starts with $385,777 in earnings. He is owned by Bee Zee LLC, Lane’s End Racing, St. Elias Stables, Edward P. Babington, Edward J. Hudson Jr. and Lynne Hudson.
The San Luis Rey goes as the seventh race on a nine-race card. Post time is set for 4:04 p.m. PT. The field in post position order: Resultant, Santiago Gonzalez (20-1); Offlee Naughty, Juan Hernandez (4-1); Balladeer, Victor Espinoza (3-1); Missed the Cut, Antonio Fresu (6-5); Planetario, Hector Berrios (2-1).
WORK TAB: MUTH, WYNTSTOCK DRILL FOR BAFFERT A pair of potential starters for the April 6 GI Santa Anita Derby, Muth and Wynstock, worked six furlongs in company for trainer Bob Baffert Friday.
Muth, off since winning the seven-furlong GII San Vicente here Jan. 6, worked in 1:12.40. Wynstock was timed in 1:12.80.
This was the third consecutive six-furlong drill for Muth, a son of Good Magic. As for Wynstock, this was his fifth work since finishing last in the GIII Southwest Feb. 3 at Oaklawn Park. Wynstock, a Solomini colt, won the GII Los Alamitos Futurity in December prior to the Southwest.
Nominations for the 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby close next Thursday.
Trainer Richard Mandella also worked a trio of multiple graded-stakes winners. Forbidden Kingdom, winner of the GII Joe Hernandez on turf most recently Dec. 30, drilled four furlongs in 47.60 seconds.
Linda’s Gift, who won her third-consecutive turf stakes in the GIII Santa Ana here Feb. 24, worked five furlongs in 1:01.20. Ruby Nell, winner of the GII Buena Vista on turf here March 3, worked a half mile in 47.20 seconds. Earlier this month, Mandella said Ruby Nell was being pointed to the GI Jenny Wiley going 1 1/16 miles on turf April 13 at Keeneland.
SATURDAY’S $1 COAST-TO-COAST PICK 5 BEGINS AT 2 P.M. PT The $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 Saturday kicks off at 2 p.m. PT with the third race from Santa Anita, a six-furlong turf sprint for non-winners of two with a $25,000 claiming tag.
The Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 combines races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park and features a player-friendly 15 percent takeout rate.
Santa Anita’s third race Saturday has a field of seven entered led by 5-2 morning line favorite I’m a Lucky Man for trainer Mark Glatt. Also part of the sequence are the fifth and eighth races from Santa Anita.
The fifth race is a first level statebred allowance for older horses on the hillside turf course. A field of eight is entered topped by 9-5 program favorite Leyas Candy, also for Glatt. Santa Anita’s eighth race, which closes out the sequence at approximately 4:30 p.m., is an allowance/optional claimer at 1 1/16 miles on dirt. A field of nine is entered led by 5-2 morning line favorite Yellow Brick for trainer Richard Mandella.
Gulfstream joins the action with its ninth and 11th races. The ninth is an allowance/optional claimer at 7 ½ furlongs on turf. A field of eight is entered led by 9-5 morning line favorite for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
Gulfstream’s 11th is a second-level allowance/optional claimer for older fillies and mares at one mile on turf. It has an overflow field of 14 entered, only 12 will go, led by lukewarm 4-1 favorite Loon Cry for trainer Christophe Clement.
This past Sunday, the $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 returned $1,629 for 94 winning tickets. The Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 is offered every Saturday and Sunday through the remainder of the Classic Meet April 7.
FINISH LINES: An eight-race card is set for Sunday featuring the $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes for older California-breds on the hillside turf course. First post is 1 p.m. PT…Jockeys Flavien Prat and Joel Rosario will be in New Orleans Saturday riding the GII Louisiana Derby card at Fair Grounds. Prat will be back Sunday to ride at Santa Anita…Jockeys Frankie Dettori and Umberto Rispoli ride Saturday at Turfway Park, which has a stakes-filled card led by the GIII Jeff Ruby Steaks, a prep for the Kentucky Derby… A memorial service for late turf writer Art Wilson will be held next Wednesday at Oakdale Memorial Park in Glendora at 11 a.m. A reception will follow at Glendora Continental Restaurant at 316 W. Route 66…Brian Beach, agent for jockeys Kazushi Kimura and Victor Espinoza, will be host Tom Quigley’s handicapping guest Saturday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 11:50 a.m.