Santa Anita Stable Notes Thursday, May 23, 2024

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN
THURSDAY, MAY 23, 2024

MELAIR STAKES: GRAND SLAM SMILE BACK IN ACTION FOR SPECHT

Grand Slam Smile, a stakes winner on both dirt and turf for trainer Steve Specht, arrived at Santa Anita Wednesday from Golden Gate for a tilt in Saturday’s $125,000 Melair Stakes for 3-year-old fillies bred or sired in California.

The Melair at 1 1/16 miles on dirt will be Grand Slam Smile’s first start in more than four months. She is installed as the 8-5 favorite on Jon White’s morning line.

Following a dominant win Jan. 13 in the California Cup Oaks at a mile on turf at Santa Anita, Specht planned to next take a shot in the GIII Las Virgenes on dirt three weeks later. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as he had hoped. After shipping back down to Santa Anita to run in the Las Virgenes, which was scheduled for Feb. 4, inclement weather forced the race to be postponed six days to Feb. 10.

“When they canceled, I went ahead and hauled her back up not knowing at the time when they were going to run,” Specht said Thursday morning. “At that point she had been up and down the highway a few times. I just decided to back off here a bit.”

Grand Slam Smile didn’t return to the work tab until April 7 at Golden Gate. The Smiling Tiger filly has worked six times since, which includes a pair of six-furlong works and a one-mile drill. On Sunday, Grand Slam Smile capped off her serious preparations when sizzling five furlongs in 58.40 seconds at Golden Gate. It was the fastest of 62 works at the distance that day at Golden Gate.

“She’s as fit as possible,” Specht said. “That mile work she had was really good. She finished strong.”

The Melair will be Grand Slam Smile’s first-time racing beyond a mile. She is a two-time stakes winner on Santa Anita’s main track. Prior to her win in the California Cup Oaks, she won the Golden State Juvenile at seven furlongs on dirt in November and the Fasig-Tipton Debutante at five furlongs in June.

“Every time we come down here it’s a new experience for her,” Specht said. “Dirt, turf, short, long. But I think she’ll handle the added distance. In the Oaks, it looked like they were going to run by her but she took off again.”

Grand Slam Smile is a homebred for Larry D. Williams and Marianne Williams. She is 6: 4-2-0 with $329,900 in earnings. Golden Gate-based jockey Frank Alvarado, who has been aboard for all six starts, will come south to ride.

The Melair Stakes is one of five stakes for statebreds on California Gold Rush Day. It goes as the ninth race Saturday. Post time is approximately 5 p.m. PT. The field in post position order: Safa, Tiago Pereira (4-1); Only One America, Umberto Rispoli (5-1); Loretta Lynn, Tyler Baze (6-1); Grand Slam Smile, Frank Alvarado (8-5); Putt for Dough, Mario Gutierrez (15-1); Madison Rae, Edwin Maldonado (10-1); Roberta’s Love, Juan Hernandez (3-1).

FRAN’S VALENTINE: STAY AND SCAM GETS CLASS RELIEF FOR O’NEILL
After hitting the board in a pair of graded stakes, Stay and Scam drops in to face fellow California-breds in Saturday’s $100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf.
When last facing statebreds, Stay and Scam won the Irish O’Brien Stakes sprinting on the hillside turf course March 17. She was subsequently stretched to a mile for two graded stakes tries. In the GIII Wilshire April 4, she finished second after setting the pace. Stay and Scam then checked in third in the GIII Royal Heroine April 27. She was beaten 3 ½ lengths by Phil D’Amato’s Uncorked, who is slated to run in Monday’s GI Gamely.
Trained by Doug O’Neill, Stay and Scam is the lone stakes winner in a field of 11 signed on for the Fran’s Valentine. The post-position draw on Wednesday did her no favors. Stay and Scam will break from the far outside under Mario Gutierrez.
A homebred for Reddam Racing, Stay and Scam is a 4-year-old filly by Square Eddie. She is 12: 5-3-2 with $322,760 in earnings.
Carmen Miranda returns to the stakes ranks after being claimed for $80,000 by trainer John Sadler and Hronis Racing out a speed-and-fade effort when sprinting down the hill March 29. While she hasn’t raced around two turns since November 2022, the 5-year-old Stanford mare is 2: 1-1-0 when going a mile.
Carmen Miranda will break from the rail under Juan Hernandez. She is 18: 5-4-3 with $326,576 in earnings.
The Fran’s Valentine goes as the sixth race Saturday at approximately 3:30 p.m. PT. The field in post position order: Carmen Miranda, Juan Hernandez (7-2); Jessebear, Jose Valdivia Jr. (20-1); Abhita, Diego Herrera (10-1); Sneaker, Kyle Frey (12-1); Shezmisbehaving, Tiago Pereira (20-1); Tam’s Little Angel, Frank Alvarado (6-1); Cornelia Fort, Tyler Baze (10-1); Madiha, Armando Aguilar (5-1); Moment’s Pleasure, Hector Berrios (12-1); Rose Dawson, Geovanni Franco (12-1); Stay and Scam, Mario Gutierrez (5-2).

MEMORIAL DAY: 3 GRADED STAKES; DRINK, FOOD SPECIALS AND MORE
It will be an action-packed Memorial Day Monday at Santa Anita with top-class racing, food and drink specials, handicapping tournament and much more.
Set to be run on Monday are a pair of Grade Is on turf, the $300,000 Shoemaker Mile and $300,000 Gamely Stakes, plus the 86th running of historic GII, $200,000 Hollywood Gold Cup at 1 ¼ miles on dirt. Entries for Monday’s blockbuster card will be taken on Friday.
For on-track patrons, the world-class racing will be just part of the fun on Memorial Day. Fans on-site can enjoy Dollar Day specials of $1 beers and sodas plus $2 hot dogs. Additionally, the infield will host both a carnival and the Smorgasburg BBQ Invitational. The barbecue will feature a curated group of the best up-and-coming barbecue vendors from around Southern California.
Horseplayers will also be able to compete in a live-money handicapping tournament, the $1,500 Gold Cup Challenge. The buy-in includes a $1,000 bankroll with a $500 entry fee that will go into the prize pool.
The tournament will feature all live races from Santa Anita. Permitted wagers are Win, Place, Show, Exacta, Trifecta and Daily Double. Participants can compete on-site at Santa Anita or online at Xpressbet.com.
In addition to the cash prize pool, players will be competing for entries into the 2025 National Horseplayers Championship (NHC), plus berths to either the 2025 Pegasus World Cup Betting Challenge or 2024 California Crown Betting Championship, each valued at $6,000.
After the races Monday, there will be a poker tournament benefitting the Folds of Honor Foundation. Folds of Honor provides scholarships to the families of military veterans who have sacrificed their lives or been disabled while serving their country.
The poker tournament will be held at the Player’s Room in the Baldwin Terrace starting after the last race at approximately 6:15 p.m PT. For more information and to register please visit www.santaanita.com/poker.
Admission gates Monday open at 11 a.m. with first post set for 1 p.m.

FINISH LINES: Santa Anita morning-line maker Jon White will retire at the end of the Hollywood Meet on June 16. White joined Santa Anita in 1993 and has set the morning line since 2009…Sunday’s features are the GII, $200,000 Santa Margarita for fillies and mare at 1 1/8 miles on dirt and the GIII Daytona for older horses sprinting on the hillside turf course. The card will be set later Thursday after post positions are drawn…After a 1-for-31 start to the Hollywood Meet, fortunes have changed on a dime for trainer Steve Knapp. On Sunday, he tallied his second hat trick in a span of three days to move into a tie for third in the trainer’s standings. Knapp on Sunday won the first race with Anmer Hall ($7.60), the second with Happy Sprinter ($17.40) and eighth with favorite Clooney ($6.20). He also won three races last Friday. Knapp now has seven wins at the meet, four fewer than Mark Glatt who leads all trainers with 11 wins…Trainer Genaro Vallejo won his first race at the Hollywood Meet Sunday’s sixth with favorite Bella Renella ($2.20)…Jockey Adrien Escobedo is now represented by agent Vincent DeGregory…Every Friday at the Hollywood Meet, on-track fans receive free parking and admission plus $3 beers and $5 margaritas.

SANTA ANITA STATISTICS
(Current Through Sunday, May 19, 2024 Inclusive)
Jockey Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won

Antonio Fresu 84 17 17 10 20% 52% $786,220
Kyle Frey 84 15 17 12 18% 52% $689,260
Juan Hernandez 81 14 14 17 17% 56% $734,058
Edwin Maldonado 75 14 8 12 19% 45% $558,180
Umberto Rispoli 60 12 10 10 20% 53% $538,140
Hector Berrios 42 11 6 5 26% 52% $529,960
Mike Smith 35 8 7 4 23% 54% $507,660
Tyler Baze 58 7 12 4 12% 40% $326,180
Tiago Pereira 36 7 2 5 19% 39% $200,640
Geovanni Franco 60 6 9 9 10% 40% $350,212

Trainer Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won
Mark Glatt 45 11 13 7 24% 69% $472,240
Philip D’Amato 54 9 8 11 17% 52% $716,480
John Sadler 37 7 7 4 19% 49% $354,140
Steve Knapp 44 7 4 11 16% 50% $213,840
Jeff Mullins 24 6 3 1 25% 42% $253,840
Librado Barocio 22 6 1 4 27% 50% $264,392
Doug O’Neill 54 5 9 7 9% 39% $338,900
Peter Miller 25 5 4 6 20% 60% $219,726
Bob Baffert 24 5 3 6 21% 58% $276,780
Robert Hess, Jr. 23 5 3 3 22% 48% $145,060

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