STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2024

- D’AMATO: ‘FURTHER THE BETTER’ FOR DERBY WINNER STRONGHOLD - MANDATORY PAYOUTS IN ALL POOLS SUNDAY - GLATT WINS 3 RACES SATURDAY, TIGHTENS TRAINER’S RACE - DETTORI DOMINATES WITH 6 WINS ON SANTA ANITA DERBY DAY - LIVE RACING RESUMES APRIL 19 WITH START OF HOLLYWOOD MEET

D’AMATO: ‘FURTHER THE BETTER’ FOR DERBY WINNER STRONGHOLD All was well with Santa Anita GI Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold the morning after his thrilling victory in the 87th running of Santa Anita’s most prestigious race for 3-year-olds.

“He came out of the race in great shape,” trainer Phil D’Amato reported.

In the Santa Anita Derby going 1 1/8 miles, Stronghold and Antonio Fresu edged favorite Imagination by a neck after a near stretch-long battle. It was the first Santa Anita Derby win for both D’Amato, a native of Los Angeles, and Fresu.

“It’s very special,” D’Amato said. “Especially to win with a horse I think is one of the top contenders (for the Kentucky Derby).”

For Fresu, a 32-year-old native of Sardinia, Italy, the Santa Anita Derby was his first Grade I win in the U.S. He and D’Amato will next head to Churchill Downs with Stronghold for their first-ever try at the Kentucky Derby on May 4.

Stronghold races as a homebred for Rick and Sharon Waller. He is by Ghostzapper out of graded stakes winner Spectator, by Jimmy Creed. The Santa Anita Derby was his second consecutive graded stakes win after previously scoring in the GIII Sunland Park Derby in New Mexico Feb. 18.

It is also noteworthy that as a 2-year-old last October, Stronghold broke his maiden over the Churchill Downs strip when making his second start going a one-turn mile. He is now 3-3-0 in six starts overall with $827,200 in earnings.

This time around at Churchill Downs, Stronghold will be tested at the Kentucky Derby’s classic distance of 1 ¼ miles. D’Amato sees the added distance as a positive.

“Stronghold is a horse that just continues to improve, and I think it’s the further the better with him,” D’Amato said.  “He does just enough. He’s shown the will to win, but those are usually the kinds of horses that stretch out well because they don’t use themselves too much early and drain the gas tank. They have something left. I’m happy where we’re at with him right now.”

For the first time this year, all horses competing in the Kentucky Derby must be on the grounds at Churchill Downs a week prior to the race, which is Saturday, April 27. D’Amato said it remains to be determined when Stronghold will ship to Kentucky.

“I’ll devise a plan to get him to Churchill, but we’ll keep him here for at least the next two weeks,” D’Amato added. “Then we’ll look at the long-term weather forecast and decide whether we’ll be there a week out or two weeks out. I think it’s more about not having any interruptions to his training, that’s the most important thing for the Derby.”

MANDATORY PAYOUTS IN ALL POOLS SUNDAY, FINAL DAY OF CLASSIC MEET With Sunday being the final day of the Classic Meet, all Santa Anita pools with carryover provisions will have mandatory payouts.

Those pools include the $1 Pick 6, early and late Pick 5, three separate Pick 4’s, the $3 All Turf Pick 3 and $1 Super High 5. Additionally, the $1 Golden Hour Pick 4 and $5 Golden Hour Double, which includes races from Golden Gate, will be paid in full even if there are no perfect tickets.

The Pick 6 begins with the sixth race at 3:30 p.m. PT. The sequence averages 9.5 starters per race before scratches.

The early Pick 4 starts with the first race which goes at 1 p.m. The middle Pick 4 begins with the fifth race at 3 p.m. The late Pick 4 starts with the eighth race at 4:30 p.m. Santa Anita Pick 4’s are a 50-cent minimum wager.

The early Pick 5 starts with the opener and late Pick 5 beings with the seventh race at 4 p.m. Pick 5’s are a 50-cent minimum wager.

Super High 5 wagers will be offered on eight of the 11 races Sunday. If there are no winning tickets in a particular Super High 5, the pool will carry over into the next Super High Five that is offered. In the final Super High 5, which comes in the 11th race, the pool will be paid in its entirety.

The All Turf Pick 3 starts with the seventh race at 4 p.m. Also in the sequence is the ninth race and 11th.

The Golden Hour Pick 4 starts with the 10th race from Santa Anita at 5:30 p.m. The Golden Hour Double starts with the 11th from Santa Anita at 6 p.m.

There will be no live racing next week at Santa Anita. Racing resumes with a 29-day meet on April 19 with the start of the Hollywood Meet.

DETTORI DOMINATES WITH 6 WINS ON SANTA ANITA DERBY CARD International star jockey Frankie Dettori put on a show to remember Saturday with six consecutive victories and one near-miss that would have tied the record for most wins in a day at Santa Anita.

Dettori’s six-pack of wins started in the second race with Ball Don’t Lie ($6.60) for trainer Mark Glatt and ended with seventh race aboard Royal Charter ($10.80) for trainer Leonard Powell. He also won the GII Santa Anita Oaks with Nothing Like You ($16.40) for Bob Baffert.

The record for wins on a single Santa Anita card is seven set by Laffit Pincay Jr. on March 14, 1987. Dettori nearly equaled the feat in the GI Santa Anita Derby when coming up a neck short aboard favorite Imagination.

Dettori’s performance was the 16th time a jockey has won six races on a card at Santa Anita. The most recent was Flavien Prat on January 1, 2022.

Dettori is not riding at Santa Anita Sunday. He has mounts booked at Keeneland for its next three days of racing.

At the Classic Meet, which ends Sunday, Dettori won 34 races to rank fourth in the jockey’s standings. He won six stakes, including the GI Santa Anita Handicap aboard Newgate for trainer Bob Baffert.

GLATT WINS 3 RACES SATURDAY, TIGHTENS TRAINER’S RACE Mark Glatt won three races Saturday to carve into Doug O’Neill’s lead in the trainer’s standings. Entering the final day of the Classic Meet, O’Neill with 30 victories holds a two-win advantage over Glatt with still 11 races remaining.

Glatt on Saturday scored with Ball Don’t Lie ($6.60) in the second race, Left Hand Man ($6.60) in the eighth and Aligato ($13.20) in the 11th. He has three starters lined up for Sunday. Glatt will saddle Syntactic (5-1) in the opener, Grazen in the Sun (15-1) in the third and Practically Broke (5-1) in the fifth, the John Shear Stakes.

Glatt won his first Santa Anita trainer’s title at last year’s Autumn Meet. Based on O’Neill’s firepower Sunday, it’s unlikely Glatt will add a second title to the resume. O’Neill has 10 horses entered across nine races Sunday. That group includes just one favorite, Belle Epoque (9-5) in the sixth, and one second choice, Bossy Bruin Gal (5-2) in the second. Four of O’Neill’s remaining eight starters are double-digit odds on the morning line.

O’Neill is seeking his first Santa Anita trainer’s title since the 2021 Autumn Meet.

FINISH LINES: Sunday’s $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5, which starts with Santa Anita’s third race at 2 p.m., will be seeded with $100,000 in additional money by 1/ST Racing…Saturday’s $1 Pick 6, which started with a $48,180 carryover, returned $4,024.20 for 74 winning tickets...Saturday’s announced attendance was 32,069…Bob Baffert picked up his meet-high ninth stakes win with Nothing Like You in the GII Santa Anita Oaks. He has one more stakes win at the stand then Hall of Famer Richard Mandella and Phil D’Amato…Santa Anita’s 29-day Hollywood Meet opens April 19 and runs through June 16. Entries for opening day will be taken on Tuesday, April 16.