SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES – THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2019

By Ed Golden —-

• LEADING TRAINER O’NEILL SET FOR SANTA MONICA
• AUTOMATIC PREAKNESS BERTH AT GOLDEN GATE
• ROSARIO CLOSES GAP ON PRAT IN JOCKEYS’ RACE
• THIS MONDAY IS PRESIDENTS’ DAY AND DOLLAR DAY

ALL SYSTEMS GO FOR MOPOTISM IN SANTA MONICA

Mopotism returns to a sprint after eight straight route races, two on turf, in Saturday’s Grade II Santa Monica Stakes for older fillies and mares at seven furlongs.

On paper, the five-year-old Uncle Mo mare conditioned by leading trainer Doug O’Neill for principal client J. Paul Reddam would appear to have only a longshot’s chance, but O’Neill, a three-time Santa Anita training king, isn’t leading the pack in quest of number four for nothing.

“The most important thing is she’s doing really, really well right now,” O’Neill said of the Kentucky-bred bay, who often grabs a piece of the purse. She has a 3-5-4 record from 22 starts, with earnings of $750,090.

Mopotism has not raced since Dec. 2, when she weakened to finish 13th in the Grade I Matriarch on Del Mar’s turf course, only her second start on grass, over which she has shown no affinity. She was seventh in the Grade I Gamely on turf at Santa Anita last May.

But that’s old news.

“Her weight is better, her energy is good and her works are good,” O’Neill said.

“That’s what you’re looking for against this kind of competition. Granted, seven furlongs probably isn’t her perfect distance, but I do think it’s her preferred surface and she’s doing well.”

Ditto for O’Neill’s entire operation at Santa Anita. Through 29 racing days, the 50-year-old Michigan native leads all trainers with 19 victories. He also has been a racing secretary’s dream with 110 starters, 37 more than runner-up Peter Miller.

“I’m very happy and grateful to the owners and our staff,” O’Neill said. “We’re enjoying our success and hope we can keep it going.”

In her last sprint and her lone start at seven furlongs, Mopotism was a creditable third to champion Unique Bella in the Grade I La Brea Stakes in December of 2017.

Seems as though a victory in the Santa Monica would be appropriate for O’Neill as well, since he resides in the Los Angeles-area community for which the race is named.

“I came here from Detroit and hope to stay here forever,” O’Neill said. “I love it.”

The field for the Santa Monica, race nine of 10 with a 12 noon first post time: Paradise Woods, Joel Rosario, 7-2; Selcourt, Joe Talamo, 3-1; Marley’s Freedom, Drayden Van Dyke, 2-1; Dream Tree, Mike Smith, 4-1; Mopotism, Mario Gutierrez, 12-1; Escape Clause, Tyler Baze, 6-1; and Amuse, Rafael Bejarano, 12-1.

AUTOMATIC PREAKNESS BERTH FOR EL CAMINO REAL DERBY WINNER

For the first time ever, the El Camino Real Derby, Golden Gate Fields’ premier race for three-year-olds, which will be run this Saturday, will provide the winner with an automatic, all expenses paid berth in the middle jewel of racing’s Triple Crown, the Grade I, $1.5 million Preakness Stakes on May 18 at Pimlico Race Course near Baltimore, MD. (In order to qualify for this paid berth, the El Camino Real Derby winner must be Triple Crown-nominated).

Run annually at Golden Gate Fields since 2005, the 37th El Camino Real Derby (originally run at Bay Meadows) will again be contested at a mile and one eighth on synthetic Tapeta and in addition to a fees-paid entry to the Preakness, will also provide the winner with 10 Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

“We are ecstatic to offer this intriguing incentive to run in the El Camino Real Derby to our horsemen, owners, breeders and their horses,” said David Duggan, Vice President and General Manager of Golden Gate Fields. “We have seen horses in the past go on and do big things in Triple Crown races after running in the El Camino Real Derby and are hoping to see that trend re-emerge with this new bonus in 2019.

“We’ve had 27 horses run in the Kentucky Derby after competing in the El Camino Real Derby. Charismatic used the El Camino Real Derby as prep for the Kentucky Derby in 1999 and won the Preakness, too. Tabasco Cat won the El Camino Real Derby in 1994 and ended up winning both the Preakness and the Belmont, so we know it can be done.”

The El Camino Real Derby is one of a dozen stakes races on the calendar for the upcoming 2018-19 Golden Gate Fields Winter/Spring Meet, which gets underway the day after Christmas, on Wednesday, Dec. 26 and runs through Sunday, June 9.

Golden Gate Fields and Pimlico Racecourse are both owned by The Stronach Group, North America’s largest owner of racetracks which also include Gulfstream Park, Santa Anita and Laurel Park.

LATEST CONTENT FROM XBTV:

Below workers include two horses possible for the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 16 and three Triple Crown nominated horses:

Game Winner (Outside) & Dr.Dorr working 5 furlongs (Baffert)-2/13/2019

Flor de la Mar in company with Qahira working 5 furlongs (Baffert)-2/13/2019
Chasing Yesterday works 6 furlongs (Baffert)-2/13/2019

Brill works 5 furlongs (Hollendorfer)-2/13/2019
Eoin Harty talks Royal Insider in Saturday’s El Camino Real at GGF

Doug O’Neill Discusses His Runners in Saturday’s El Camino Real at GGF

Bob Baffert Talks Kingly in Saturday’s El Camino Real at GGF

Jeff Bonde Talks King of Speed in Saturday’s El Camino Real at GGF

Royal Insider (Outside) & Union Station (Possible El Camino Real Derby)-Harty-2/10/2019
Kingly (Outside) & Green Fleet (Both Triple Crown Nominated)-Baffert-2/10/2019

Roadster works 5 furlongs(Triple Crown Nominated)-Baffert-2/10/2019

FINISH LINES: Flavien Prat’s agent, Derek Lawson, reports that Prat will ride Jerry Hollendorfer’s two-time stakes winner Galilean in Monday’s Cal Cup Derby. “Steve Haskin said this horse can win the Kentucky Derby this morning on Steve Byk’s show (At the Races on Sirius XM Satellite Radio),” said Lawson . . . While Doug O’Neill has opened a 19-14 gap over runner-up Peter Miller in the trainers’ race, Joel Rosario has closed the margin to 29-28 on leader Prat, who rides in Maryland on Saturday . . . Four Santa Anita-based jockeys have engagements in the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields Saturday: Heriberto Figueroa on King of Speed for Jeff Bonde; Brice Blanc on The Creep, for O’Neill; Alonso Quinonez on Weekly Call, also for O’Neill; and Evin Roman aboard Kingly for Bob Baffert . . . Trainer Mark Glatt recognizes that Hot On the Trail would be a longshot in Monday’s $200,000 California Oaks scheduled for a mile on turf, but would run anyway, only if the race remains on grass. The Oaks is one of two stakes offered this Monday, Presidents’ Day, the other being the $200,000 California Derby at 1 1/16 miles on the main track. Monday will be Dollar Day, with beer and soda available for a buck apiece and hot dogs for $2 . . . This weekend, Santa Anita celebrates Lunar New Year, hosting a Santa Anita first, a Chinese cultural event featuring food and drink, on-site vendors, live lion dancers and musical acts, plus, one fan will win $500 on Santa Anita’s Money Tree. General admission is just $5 . . . Gary Stevens will make his Fox Sports debut here on Monday, as he and Greg Wolf will anchor their “At the Races” show . . . XBTV’s Millie Ball will be a part of Golden Gate Fields’ simulcast presentation Friday and Saturday . . . Champion Blind Luck, who was trained by Hollendorfer, is among five Thoroughbred finalists on this year’s Hall of Fame ballot. The others are Gio Ponti, Havre de Grace, Rags to Riches and Royal Delta. Results will be announced on April 22 . . . He’s No. One: Twirling Tiger, 6-1 morning line chance in today’s third race, had drawn the rail seven times in his last 12 races, the last three in a row, but is in the two hole today.

SANTA ANITA STATISTICS
(Current Through Sunday, Feb. 10)
Jockey Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won
Flavien Prat 132 29 28 19 22% 58% $2,034,041
Joel Rosario 142 28 25 27 20% 56% $1,665,498
Heriberto Figueroa 130 20 11 21 15% 40% $747,545
Mike Smith 53 17 10 8 32% 66% $1,132,294
Rafael Bejarano 103 16 17 17 16% 49% $871,428
Geovanni Franco 126 16 16 18 13% 40% $803,288
Tiago Pereira 95 16 13 9 17% 40% $624,982
Tyler Baze 142 14 25 20 10% 42% $997,203
Drayden Van Dyke 92 13 15 11 14% 42% $751,699
Assael Espinoza 78 11 4 10 14% 32% $359,424
Joseph Talamo 92 9 15 14 10% 41% $726,680
Kent Desormeaux 64 9 7 11 14% 42% $689,074

Trainer Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won
Doug O’Neill 110 19 20 15 17% 49% $935,620
Peter Miller 73 14 12 9 19% 48% $834,396
Richard Baltas 76 12 17 13 16% 55% $833,819
John Sadler 53 12 12 9 23% 62% $782,350
Jerry Hollendorfer 66 11 10 9 17% 45% $797,087
J. Keith Desormeaux 41 10 7 5 24% 54% $447,393
Bob Baffert 52 9 9 8 17% 50% $876,435
Philip D’Amato 63 8 9 10 13% 43% $588,400
William E. Morey 43 8 9 9 19% 60% $402,519
Jeff Mullins 36 7 8 6 19% 58% $495,164
Mark Glatt 43 7 8 5 16% 47% $301,132
Richard Mandella 29 7 2 2 24% 38% $251,358
Vladimir Cerin 32 6 4 4 19% 44% $238,544
Simon Callaghan 24 6 3 5 25% 58% $423,245
Steve Knapp 32 6 1 5 19% 38% $134,578

ABOUT SANTA ANITA PARK
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.