SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES

By ED GOLDEN & MIKE WILLMAN —-

FANS LINE UP FOR JUSTIFY POSTER
Benoit Photo

• POSTER SIGNING BRINGS OUT LONGEST LINE
• FIRST-TIME FANS ENJOY JUSTIFY EXPERIENCE
• LEADING RIDER PRAT PLANS TO STAY ON TOP
• BELLA LUMA IS ‘DOING GREAT’ FOR WILSHIRE
• PICK SIX CARRYOVER COULD EXCEED $750,000

‘LONGEST LINE’ FOR JUSTIFY TRIPLE CROWN POSTER

Five minutes after Santa Anita’s admission gates opened at 10 a.m. Saturday, a line estimated at more than 3,000 people had formed as racing devotees flocked to get a quick word with Justify’s Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith as he signed Triple Crown posters adjacent to the Kingsbury Fountain in the WestPaddockGardens.

“We’ve never seen anything close to this kind of response for an autographed item,”
said Santa Anita Vice President, Marketing Nate Newby. “We easily had 3,000 people to start and even though we’ve encouraged about 500 of the folks at the rear to take a poster and try to get it autographed later, we’ve still got thousands of people waiting to see Mike. We printed 4,000 posters (free, with paid admission) and we’re going to run out before the first race.

“The poster is first class and so is everything about this Triple Crown story. For this horse to start out here on Feb. 18 and win the Belmont 111 days later is an achievement that’ll likely stand for all-time.

“We’re looking forward to something really special this afternoon when Justify comes out after the fourth race, and if this poster signing is any indication, we’re going to have a massive turnout for Justify himself.”

MEMORABLE SANTA ANITA EXPERIENCE FOR FIRST-TIME FANS

The buzz was louder than usual at Santa Anita’s popular gathering spot, Clockers’ Corner, Saturday morning, in anticipation of Justify going center stage in a few hours.

After all, it’s not often fans can see an undefeated Triple Crown winner up close and personal at his home track.

Two new faces among the crowd were a husband and wife from La Palma, which borders Orange County and Los Angeles County, some 32 miles and 36 minutes from Arcadia.

It was their first visit to a race track, and they came to see Justify. The man, who happened to be an amputee, was in a wheelchair, while the woman sat at a table nearby, both like children on Christmas morning, absorbing Santa Anita’s singular atmosphere in wide-eyed wonderment.

When Justify’s trainer, the readily recognizable Bob Baffert, happened to appear, the man asked if he would join them for a photo. Baffert complied. The couple was overjoyed.

Thanks to Baffert’s act of kindness, the two first-time race trackers are likely to return again and again, and at a time when racing needs all the good will and live bodies it can get, it was a gesture that serves the game well.

PRAT FARES WELL IN DEEP JOCKEY COLONY

With only two racing days left in Santa Anita’s Spring Meet and Flavien Prat holding a
35-28 over Geovanni Franco, the 25-year-old Frenchman appears well on his way to winning the riding title, although agent Derek Lawson won’t bask in the glory until the result is official.

“Everything went well this meet,” Lawson said. “The opportunity to ride again in both the
Santa Anita Derby and the Kentucky Derby was outstanding. We’re just going to continue what we’ve been doing for the last couple of years, and that’s trying to find the best horses and riding for trainers who want us.

“We’ll try and stay on top if we possibly can, but it’s always a struggle, because this riding colony, even though people say it’s not that deep, it’s very deep.”

In the trainers’ race, Doug O’Neill holds a 31-26 lead over Phil D’Amato in quest of his fourth Santa Anita crown, winning at a creditable 23 percent clip even though he has started more horses, 132, than any other trainer. Peter Miller is second with 114 starters.

Favorites have been winning 36.57 percent of the time (132 out of 361), with an even greater propensity on dirt, 40.67 percent (85 of 209). The number falls noticeably on turf, to 30.92 percent (47 of 152).

BAY AREA INVADER ‘DOING GREAT’ FOR WILSHIRE

Bella Luma arrived at Santa Anita in good order from the Bay Area for Sunday’s $100,000 Wilshire Stakes, in which the four-year-old California-bred filly takes on open company in quest of her fourth straight victory.

Ed Moger Jr. hopes she’s up to the task.

“She’s doing great,” said the 62-year-old the trainer, a mainstay in California for years. “It’s a tough race but she’s as good as she can be right now, so if she’s going to do it, it’s now.”

A chestnut daughter of Ministers Wild Cat, Bella Luma won the Golden Poppy at 1 1/16 miles on grass at Golden Gate May 12. She finished fifth in two previous turf races at Santa Anita early in 2017

The Grade III Wilshire, race nine of 11: Beau Recall, Joe Talamo, 7-2; Sassy Little Lila, Mike Smith, 6-1; Shehastheritestuff, Edwin Maldonado, 30-1; Miss Julia Star, Drayden Van Dyke, 8-1; Sophie P, Kent Desormeaux, 3-1; Cordiality, Tyler Baze, 6-1; Storm the Hill, Rafael Bejarano, 8-1; Bella Luma, Gary Stevens, 15-1; and Ancient Secret, Flavien Prat, 7-2.

FINISH LINES: There is a two-day Pick Six carryover today of $160,472, with the mutuel pool expected to exceed $750,000 . . . With exercise rider Freddie Rodriguez aboard early Saturday morning, female Eclipse Award sprint champion of 2017 Unique Bella worked five furlongs in 1:00.80, breezing, for Jerry Hollendorfer . . . Santa Anita Handicap and Gold Cup winner Accelerate went four furlongs for trainer John Sadler in 48.60, while multiple Grade I winner City of Light went the same distance in 48.40 for Michael McCarthy . . . With agent Patty Sterling calling the shots, Tiago Pereira has enjoyed a successful Santa Anita campaign, currently in fifth place with 21 victories. The 41-year-old native of Brazil miraculously escaped injury in a spill during the stretch run of the Snow Chief Stakes on June 2. “We’re very thankful for the meet we’ve had, and for escaping injury in the spill,” said Pereira, looking forward to ongoing success at Los Alamitos and then Del Mar. “We already have a place to stay in Del Mar, right off the beach, so I’m excited about that. Everything is working out fine so far.” . . . Speedy recovery from reconstructive surgery to repair a broken left ankle to veteran turf writer Art Wilson ofthe Southern California News Group . . . Santa Anita’s jockeys will participate in a moment of silence following today’s sixth race to mark the passing of Kentucky-based Corey Laneri’s wife Shantel, 42, who died unexpectedly yesterday in Louisville. Lanerie, winner of the 2014 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, is a 15-time leading rider at Churchill Downs. He and Shantel have a 10-year-old daughter, Brittlyn.

SANTA ANITA STATISTICS

(Current Through Friday, June 22)
Jockey Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won

Flavien Prat 132 35 23 21 27% 60% $1,936,784
Geovanni Franco 169 28 23 19 17% 41% $1,271,841
Joseph Talamo 153 26 25 18 17% 45% $1,466,484
Mario Gutierrez 117 24 18 20 21% 53% $1,153,047
Tiago Pereira 147 21 13 21 14% 37% $761,760
Drayden Van Dyke 116 20 20 16 17% 48% $1,160,040
Asa Espinoza 157 19 19 27 12% 41% $612,533
Tyler Baze 139 16 29 13 12% 42% $873,605
Stewart Elliott 146 16 20 15 11% 35% $761,679
Martin Pedroza 111 16 16 14 14% 41% $545,215
Kent Desormeaux 99 15 10 24 15% 49% $1,038,060
Franklin Ceballos 118 14 11 9 12% 29% $427,643

Trainer Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won

Doug O’Neill 132 31 28 20 23% 60% $1,535,087
Philip D’Amato 104 26 20 23 25% 66% $1,624,003
Peter Miller 114 24 15 18 21% 50% $1,119,589
Richard Baltas 96 15 16 12 16% 45% $791,574
John Sadler 90 11 23 14 12% 53% $908,196
Vladimir Cerin 48 11 6 7 23% 50% $377,941
Jerry Hollendorfer 75 10 9 9 13% 37% $689,751
Bob Baffert 44 10 8 7 23% 57% $772,476
Mark Glatt 60 10 8 3 17% 35% $394,710
Peter Eurton 53 10 4 9 19% 43% $409,593

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.