Santa Anita Stable Notes Friday, March 15, 2024

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN
FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2024

EURTON LOOKS TO’STAY HOT’ IN SATURDAY’S PASADENA STAKES
Morning-line favorite Stay Hot will try and provide trainer Peter Eurton with his second 3-year-old turf stakes win in as many weekends in Saturday’s Pasadena Stakes at a mile on turf.
This past Sunday, Eurton scored in the China Doll Stakes with 3-year-old filly Medoro. The daughter of Honor Code is now 3-for-3 in her young career. In the Pasadena, Stay Hot (8-5) takes aim at his third-straight stakes win and second of the year.
“We’re excited about this horse,” Eurton said Friday morning as Stay Hot was being ponied off the track.
In four starts on turf, Stay Hot’s only loss came in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf here Nov. 3. In that effort, the Summer Front ridgling faded to 10th after being close to a faster-than-average pace.
Following the Breeders’ Cup, Stay Hot immediately returned to his winning ways. He first scored in the one-mile Eddie Logan Stakes here Dec. 29 and then narrowly prevailed in the Baffle Stakes when sprinting on the hillside turf course Feb. 17.
“He has done nothing wrong,” Eurton said. “Even the Breeders’ Cup I didn’t think was a horrible race considering those are some of the best young turf horses in the world.”
In the about 6 ½-furlong Baffle, Stay Hot uncorked a last-to-first rally under Antonio Fresu to prevail by a head. Fresu, who has been abord for all six of Stay Hot’s starts, again has the call on Saturday.
“That sprint race was a challenge for him. He had to work hard,” Eurton noted. “But we hadn’t done a whole lot with him going into the race. He’s just so talented he overcame it.”
Bred by the late Brereton C. Jones, Stay Hot was purchased by Exline-Border Racing for $130,000 at the 2022 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Select Yearling Sale. Exline-Border campaigns Stay Hot in partnership with The Estate of Brereton C. Jones, Burns Racing LLC, SAF Racing and William Dan Hudock.
As for Medoro, Eurton reported the undefeated filly was doing well after her win in the China Doll. He added her next start would likely come in either the GIII Providencia Stakes at 1 1/8 miles here April 20 or the GII Appalachian going a mile at Keeneland April 6.
The Pasadena goes as the third race on a nine-race card Saturday. The field in post position order: Uncle Truly, Kazushi Kimura (5-1); Stay Hot, Antonio Fresu (8-5); Guy Named Joe, Juan Hernandez (5-1); Lord Bullingdon, Umberto Rispoli (5-2); Island Cruiser, Hector Berrios (5-2).

SATURDAY’S $1 COAST-TO-COAST PICK 5 BEGINS AT 2:36 P.M PT
The $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 Saturday kicks off with the 10th race from Gulfstream Park at 2:36 p.m. PT. The sequence also includes the 12th race from Gulfstream and races five through seven from Santa Anita.
The 10th race from Gulfstream is an allowance/optional claimer at a mile on dirt. Full Screen for trainer Mark Casse is the 9-5 favorite in a seven-horse field.
The 12th at Gulfstream has an overflow field of maidens set to go 1 1/16 miles on turf. There are 16 horses entered in the 12th with four relegated to the also-eligible list. The morning-line favorite in the main body of the field is Better Bet (7-2) for young trainer Julie Stormfelt. Unit Economics, who is second on the also-eligible list, is listed at 5-2 for trainer Chad Brown.
Santa Anita’s fifth is an allowance/optional at 6 ½ furlongs on turf. Can’t Sleep for trainer Carla Gaines is the 5-2 morning line favorite. In the sixth, Matanzas Creek for trainer Tim Yakteen is the 8-5 program favorite in an allowance/optional claimer at six furlongs on dirt. The anchor leg, Santa Anita’s seventh at approximately 4:04 p.m., is an open maiden race at 1 1/8 miles on turf. Let Seamus Go for trainer Brian Koriner is the 5-2 morning line favorite.
The Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 features a player-friendly 15 percent takeout rate. It is offered every Saturday and Sunday through the end of the Santa Anita Classic Meet April 7.

SANTA ANITA SQUAD HAS LUCRATIVE WEDNESDAY AT TURF PARADISE
Santa Anita-based connections dominated Wednesday’s card at Turf Paradise, which featured four stakes races.
Jockey Armando Ayuso won three races on the program including the Turf Paradise Derby with EJ Won the Cup ($2.20) for trainer Doug O’Neill and the Arizona Oaks with Sakura Blossom ($6.20) for trainer Leonard Powell.
Trainer Jonathan Thomas and Kazushi Kimura, both based at Santa Anita this winter, teamed up to win the Cotton Fitzsimmons Stakes at a 1 1/16 miles on turf with Fuerteventura ($4).
O’Neill enters Friday as the leading trainer at the Santa Anita Classic Meet with 25 wins. Powell has won eight races at the stand while connecting at a 20 percent clip. Thomas is 2-for-16 at the meet.
Kimura (12 wins) and Ayuso (11 wins) both rank in the top 10 in the Classic Meet jockey’s standings.

FINISH LINES: The Irish O’Brien Stakes for California-breds on the hillside turf course is the feature race on St. Patrick’s Day Sunday…Santa Anita Friday announced jockey Junior Alvarado is this year’s winner of the George Woolf Memorial Award. The Woolf award, inaugurated in 1950, goes to the jockey who best demonstrates high standards of personal and professional conduct both on and off the racetrack. The winner is determined by a nationwide vote of fellow jockeys… On Sunday, the first 1,000 fans who visit the East Paddock Gardens will receive a free print of the Santa Anita Jockey Colony. Various jockeys will be on hand to sign the print from 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m…The Bullion Bomber, who this past Sunday dominated a $20,000 waiver claiming race at 5-1 for Doug O’Neill, is entered back this Sunday in a $25,000 claimer also at a mile…Gregg Colvin, CEO of 1/ST Content, will be host Tom Quigley’s handicapping guest Saturday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 11:50 a.m.