SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES THURSDAY, JUNE 21, 2018

By Ed Golden —-

JUSTIFY & JIMMY BARNES
Zoe Metz Photography

• JUSTIFY TAKES A BOW AT SANTA ANITA SATURDAY
• 12 NOON POST SATURDAY, SMITH TO SIGN POSTERS
• NTRA IS SEEKING FANS’ PHOTOGRAPHS OF JUSTIFY
• JUSTIFY RETURN TO SANTA ANITA BIG NEWS ON XBTV
• SADLER TESTS GRADED WATERS IN THE SAN CARLOS
• QUICK PACE WOULD AID BEAU RECALL IN WILSHIRE

BAFFERT, BARNES AND NOBLE JUSTIFY ON HAND SATURDAY

Appropriately, Bob Baffert was center stage during Justify’s Triple Crown sweep this spring, but on call in the wings, there was Jim Barnes, appropriately playing Jimmy Olsen to Baffert’s Clark Kent.
Justify handled the role of Superman just fine, thank you, giving Team Baffert its second Triple Crown triumph in four years, on the fleet heels of American Pharoah in 2015, with one difference: perfection.

Justify was only the second horse to do it while unbeaten, joining Seattle Slew in 1977.

As fans at Santa Anita await the opportunity to see Justify in person Saturday when the big red colt will be on display between the fourth and fifth races, Baffert and his top sidekick will otherwise be keeping him at the ready for his next gig, wherever and whenever it may be
Meantime, Baffert and Barnes are taking a welcome pause from the media mayhem to savor in earnest Justify’s momentous achievement while still taking care of business at their home base of Santa Anita

“These two Triple Crown sweeps were pretty special,” said the 58-year-old Barnes, who has been with Baffert going on two decades now. “It’s an amazing feat to accomplish. Not many people thought it was going to happen again, and then we come up and win it within a three-year span.”

Barnes was not about to lobby on behalf of American Pharoah or Justify as to which is the better horse, opting for a more propitious moment, perhaps when Justify joins American Pharoah in retirement at stud.

“But as far as what makes them a good horse,” Barnes said, “three things are required: a good mind, a good set of lungs and a huge stride. The way those two horses covered the ground was amazing.
“You could spot them at any moment on the race track just by the way they were galloping. You’d know, ‘There they are.’ When they worked, you’d just go ‘whoa!’ and then look at your watch.”

Baffert is on record as saying Barnes loves what he does, won’t take time off even when mandated, and “lived with American Pharoah” during his Triple Crown pursuit.

Baffert recently said that if there was a Hall of Fame for assistants, Jim Barnes would be the first one in it.

“That was very kind of him,” Barnes said. “I really appreciate that. I’ve accomplished a lot and we’ve won a lot of big races in the 19 years I’ve worked with Bob.

“We do everything so well, but still, Triple Crowns are hard to win. Yet each and every year Bob seems to come up with stock that’s very competitive, and it’s a pleasure to train horses like that.

“They give you confidence. We went into the Triple Crown races with a bounce in our step. I was really confident with Justify before the Kentucky Derby, even though he’d only been running in five and six-horse fields.

“Here he is in a 20-horse field with more rain than they’ve ever had, and you’re going to pull this off and win it in only your fourth start?

“And then you’re going to go to Baltimore where it rains even harder and win the Preakness, with a fog so thick you can’t even see the race?

“I’m watching fractions and saying, ‘He’s moving right along, I know he’s up front.’ I was in the infield, and then here come his white silks through the fog. There were horses closing but he just did what he needed to do to win it

“Finally, we get to go to New York and people are asking me, ‘What if it doesn’t rain?’ I said, ‘Wait till you see this horse on a dry track.’”

And that’s exactly what Justify’s fans will see on Saturday.

SANTA ANITA TO GIVE AWAY JUSTIFY TRIPLE CROWN POSTERS SATURDAY

Beautiful Triple Crown posters of Justify will be given away free with paid admission to the first 4,000 attendees at Santa Anita this Saturday. In addition, Justify’s regular rider, Hall of Fame member Mike Smith, will be available from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 am. to sign the posters adjacent to the Kingsbury Fountain, in the WestPaddockGardens area.

Justify, who will parade through Santa Anita’s PaddockGardens and onto the main track and Winner’s Circle between races four and five Saturday, will be accompanied in the Winner’s Circle by both Baffert and Smith, who will be available to credentialed media. The collector’s item poster depicts the magnificent chestnut son of Scat Daddy winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Approximate post time for Saturday’s fourth race is 1:40 p.m. Pacific Time.

In order to accommodate Justify’s appearance Saturday, there will be an early first post time of 12 noon. Admission gates will open at 10 a.m. for a 12-race program.

PUBLIC ASKED TO SUBMIT PICTURES WITH JUSTIFY

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association is asking fans and horsemen to submit their personal photos with Triple Crown winner Justifyfor inclusion in a video montage to be shown during the 48th Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony next January.

Submissions can be made on Twitter by using the hashtag #JustifyandI or by tagging @NTRA or posting an image to the wall of the official NTRA page (Facebook.com/1NTRA).

The Eclipse Awards will be held Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

JUSTIFY’S RETURN SUNDAY WAS BIG NEWS ON XBTV

XBTV’s coverage of Justify’s return home to Santa Anita last Sunday afternoon, which was streamed live on Facebook, accumulated more than 50,000 views and reached more than 127,000 people.

Justify’s return completed eight weeks of XBTV’s Triple Crown Xpress coverage during which it received more than 10 million impressions from 2,000-plus videos produced.

XBTV’s Triple Crown coverage provided it with a top ranking as one of the most engaged social media platforms in the industry.

SADLER HOPES TO ‘CLAIM’ GRADED STATUS IN SAN CARLOS

Fresh off the claim, John Sadler sends out Horse Greedy and St. Joe Bay in Saturday’s Grade II, $250,000 San Carlos Stakes for three-year-olds and up at seven furlongs.

Horse Greedy, a five-year-old son of Horse Greeley, was haltered for $40,000 on May 19, while St.JoeBay was taken for $62,500 on May 28, each for Sadler’s principal clients, Kosta and Peter Hronis.

“They’re two pretty nice horses,” Sadler said. “St. Joe Bay was a stakes winner here in the past (taking the Grade II Palos Verdes in 2017 and the Grade III Midnight Lute in 2016), and Horse Greedy came out of a very fast race (a third to Catalina Cruiser May 19, in which the winner covered six furlongs in 1:08.60).

“I think we have two shots on Saturday.”

The field for the San Carlos, race 11 of 12: Top of the Game, Israel Ocampo, 15-1; St. Joe Bay, Tyler Baze, 12-1; El Huerfano, Geovanni Franco, 15-1; American Anthem, Mike Smith, 9-5; Horse Greedy, Stewart Elliott, 15-1; Touching Rainbows, Flavien Prat, 5-2; Stone Hands, Mario Gutierrez, 4-1; and Dabster, Martin Garcia, 4-1.

BEAU RECALL RETURNS TO MILE IN WILSHIRE STAKES

Beau Recall shortens up to one mile in Sunday’s Grade III Wilshire Stakes on turf after closing well to be fourth by two lengths in the Grade I Gamely at 1 1/8 miles on turf May 26.

“She came out of the Gamely in good order and we’re really happy with her,” trainer Simon Callaghan said of the four-year-old Irish-bred daughter of Sir Prancealot. “We definitely would like some pace to run at, and it looks like we’ll get it.”

Beau Recall has two wins and two seconds at a mile on grass, rallying from ninth and last to capture the Grade II Royal Heroine at that distance on April 7. In 13 starts, she has three wins and four seconds, with earnings of $374,877.

FINISH LINES: With four racing days left, Flavien Prat and Doug O’Neill appear to have safe leads for the jockey and trainer titles, Prat ahead of Geovanni Franco, 35-26, and O’Neill in front of Phil D’Amato, 29-25.

SANTA ANITA STATISTICS

(Current Through Sunday, June 17)
Jockey Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% In $ pct. Money Won

Flavien Prat 122 35 22 17 29% 61% $1,897,941
Geovanni Franco 164 26 21 19 16% 40% $1,193,516
Joseph Talamo 150 25 25 18 17% 45% $1,432,362
Mario Gutierrez 109 23 16 19 21% 53% $1,094,043
Asa Espinoza 149 19 19 26 13% 43% $604,045
Tiago Pereira 141 19 13 20 13% 37% $697,310
Drayden Van Dyke 112 18 19 16 16% 47% $1,106,495
Stewart Elliott 142 16 19 15 11% 35% $748,194
Tyler Baze 130 15 26 12 12% 41% $800,715
Martin Pedroza 106 15 16 13 14% 42% $499,870
Franklin Ceballos 118 14 11 9 12% 29% $427,643
Kent Desormeaux 93 14 9 22 15% 48% $965,800
Tyler Conner 112 9 19 22 8% 45% $498,245
Heriberto Figueroa 62 9 13 7 15% 47% $248,395
Rafael Bejarano 75 9 12 8 12% 39% $595,959
Gary Stevens 46 9 6 7 20% 48% $534,850
Kyle Frey 61 9 5 5 15% 31% $278,313
Edwin Maldonado 85 8 18 11 9% 44% $375,645
Martin Garcia 59 7 3 9 12% 32% $330,525
Victor Espinoza 48 7 2 9 15% 38% $771,412
Ruben Fuentes 52 6 4 11 12% 40% $227,791

Trainer Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% In $ pct. Money Won

Doug O’Neill 123 29 26 18 24% 59% $1,423,578
Philip D’Amato 100 25 18 22 25% 65% $1,556,163
Peter Miller 108 23 15 17 21% 51% $1,096,714
Richard Baltas 90 14 16 12 16% 47% $775,854
Vladimir Cerin 46 11 6 7 24% 52% $375,843
John Sadler 87 10 22 14 11% 53% $852,936
Jerry Hollendorfer 73 10 9 8 14% 37% $685,597
Bob Baffert 42 10 8 6 24% 57% $758,850
Peter Eurton 51 10 4 8 20% 43% $399,420
Steven Miyadi 53 9 11 7 17% 51% $282,570
Mark Glatt 59 9 8 3 15% 34% $366,510
David Jacobson 46 9 5 6 20% 43% $226,055
Mike Puype 39 9 2 3 23% 36% $280,626
Brian Koriner 33 7 8 5 21% 61% $444,387
Neil Drysdale 31 7 3 2 23% 39% $294,290
Genaro Vallejo 22 7 3 1 32% 50% $162,888
Simon Callaghan 30 6 3 1 20% 33% $278,470
Richard Mandella 37 6 2 8 16% 43% $338,275
Jeff Mullins 39 5 6 7 13% 46% $341,415
Matthew Chew 19 5 4 2 26% 58% $146,935

About Us
Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.