Santa Anita Stable Notes Friday, Oct. 24, 2025

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

BREEDERS’ CUP: 43 HORSES FROM SANTA ANITA AMONG PRE-ENTRIES

Santa Anita will be well-represented at the 42nd Breeders’ Cup next week at Del Mar as 43 horses who call The Great Race Place home were pre-entered in 14 races. Leading the Santa Anita contingent is Straight No Chaser, who’ll seek a repeat victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for trainer Dan Blacker; and Full Serrano, the 2024 Dirt Mile winner who’ll look to do the same this year for trainer John Sadler.

Also trying to win a Breeders’ Cup race for the second year in a row will be Citizen Bull. Trained by Bob Baffert. Citizen Bull last year won the Juvenile to clinch the Eclipse Award as North America’s champion 2-year-old male. Citizen Bull this year is pre-entered in the Dirt Mile.

The two-day Breeders’ Cup extravaganza starts next Friday with five races for 2-year-olds. On Saturday nine races will be run highlighted by the $7 million Classic. The announcement Wednesday of the pre-entries is the first step in determining the fields for all 14 races. Final entries will be taken on Monday. Post positions will then be drawn that afternoon in the Del Mar paddock starting at 4 p.m. PT.

Horses could be pre-entered in two Breeders’ Cup races while noting which race was first preference. Below is a list of all Santa Anita-based horses that were pre-entered with trainer noted in parentheses. A (2) next to a horse’s name means that race is second preference. The races are listed in the order they will be run.

Friday, Oct. 31

Juvenile Turf Sprint: Later Than Planned (AE) (D’Amato)

Juvenile Fillies: Bottle of Rouge (Baffert); Explora (Baffert); Meaning (McCarthy); La Ville Lumiere (2) (McCarthy); La Wally (Glatt); Super Corredora (Sadler).

Juvenile Fillies Turf: Brave Deb (Mandella); La Ville Lumiere (AE) (McCarthy).

Juvenile: Brant (Baffert); Desert Gate (Baffert); Litmus Test (Baffert); Civil Liberty (O’Neill); Intrepido (Mullins); Mr. A.P. (Cerin).

Juvenile Turf: Hey Nay Nay (Sadler); Stark Contrast (McCarthy); Third Beer (AE) (Yakteen); Caro Buono (AE) (Powell).

Saturday, Nov. 1

Filly & Mare Sprint: Hope Road (Baffert); Richi (Baffert); Splendora (Baffert); Sweet Azteca (Baltas); Tamara (Mandella); Kopion (Mandella).

Turf Sprint: Ag Bullet (Baltas); Motorious (Baffert); Yellow Card (AE) (McCarthy); Incanto (AE) (Eurton).

Sprint: Dr. Venkman (Glatt); Imagination (Baffert); Lovesick Blues (Barocio); Straight No Chaser (Blacker); Tamara (2) (Mandella); Kopion (2); Big City Lights (AE) (Mandella).

Distaff: Seismic Beauty (Baffert).

Turf: Gold Phoenix (D’Amato)

Classic: Journalism (McCarthy); Nevada Beach (Baffert); Baeza (Shirreffs).

Mile: Johannes (Yakteen); Formidable Man (McCarthy); Almendares (D’Amato).

Dirt Mile: Full Serrano (Sadler); Citizen Bull (Baffert); Goal Oriented (Baffert); Nysos (Baffert); Touch of Destiny (McCarthy); Dr. Venkman (2) (Glatt).

Filly & Mare Turf: La Kika (O’Neill).

WORKS: BAFFERT QUARTET AMONG 11 BC HOPEFULS ON TAB

Brant, Imagination, Hope Road and Richi, all trained by Bob Baffert, were among 11 pre-entrants for next week’s Breeders’ Cup working Friday at Santa Anita. All of the works will be available for viewing on 1/ST.TV on the Breeders’ Cup Portal page.

Brant, pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, drilled six furlongs in 1:12.60. By Gun Runner, Brant is a perfect 2-for-2 including a win in the GI Del Mar Futurity going seven furlongs Sept. 27. The 1 1/16-mile Juvenile will be his first time racing around two turns.

Hope Road and Richi are both pre-entered in the Filly & Mare Sprint. Hope Road, winner of the GI Ballerina last out on Aug. 23 at Saratoga, sizzled five furlongs in 57.80 seconds. Richi went the same distance in 58.20 seconds. In the seven-furlong Filly & Mare Sprint, Richi will be cutting back in distance following a runner-up effort in the GII Zenyatta at 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 28 at Santa Anita.

Imagination, pre-entered in the Sprint, also worked five furlongs in 57.80 seconds. He and Hope Road shared the bullet for the distance.

Trainer John Sadler worked Hey Nay Nay (Juvenile Turf) and Super Corredora (Juvenile Fillies). Hey Nay Nay worked five furlongs in 1:00.40. By No Nay Never, Hey Nay Nay is a perfect 3-for-3 with wins in the Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park and GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf most recently on Sept. 7.

Super Corredora returned to the tab following an eye-catching debut win at one mile on Oct. 11 at Santa Anita. The daughter of Gun Runner was clocked going four furlongs in 47.0 seconds, which was the second-fastest of 40 works at the distance.

GI American Pharoah winner Intrepido, pre-entered in the Juvenile, worked five furlongs in 1:04.0 for trainer Jeff Mullins. By Maximus Mischief, Intepido won the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah by three-quarters of a lengths when facing winners for the first time.

Incanto, who is on the also-eligible list for the Turf Sprint, worked four furlongs in 48.60 seconds for trainer Peter Eurton. A 3-year-old gelding by Mehmas, Incanto most recently shipped to Remington Park and checked in sixth in the Great West Turf Sprint on Sept. 28.

Brave Deb, pre-entered in the Juvenile Fillies Turf for trainer Richard Mandella, worked six furlongs in 1:14.60. By Authentic, Brave Deb improved to 2-for-2 when winning the GIII Surfer Girl at one mile on turf Oct. 5 at Santa Anita.

Caro Buono, who is on the also-eligible list for the Juvenile Turf, worked four furlongs on the training track in 47.60 seconds. Trained by Leonard Powell, Caro Buono was imported from his native France this summer. In two U.S. starts the colt by Zelzal finished fourth in both the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf and GIII Zuma Beach at Santa Anita most recently on Oct. 5.

Third Beer, who is also on the also-eligible for the Juvenile Turf, worked five furlongs in 1:01.60. Trained by Tim Yakteen, the colt by Mendelssohn most recently finished second in the Zuma Beach following a debut win going one mile on turf Aug. 29 at Del Mar.

SADLER LOOMS LARGE GII TWILIGHT DERBY, TOKYO CITY CUP

Trainer John Sadler looms a major threat in both of Saturday’s co-feature races, the GII Twilight Derby and Tokyo City Cup at Santa Anita.

In the Tokyo City Cup at one mile, Sadler will saddle 6-5 morning line favorite Pony Express. Then in the Twilight Derby, contested at 1 1/8 miles on turf, Sadler will send out 2-1 second choice Namaron. The Twilight Derby and Tokyo City are part of a 10-race card on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. PT.

Pony Express will be returning to the stakes ranks in the Tokyo City Cup. A 4-year-old Gun Runner colt, Pony Express when last seen in June romped by six lengths when winning a first-level allowance going a mile at Santa Anita. The effort earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure, which is the highest recorded by any horse in the Tokyo City Cup field.

Pony Express’s allowance win here was his one and only start since September 2024. Sadler said Pony Express was slated to start at the Del Mar meet “but he came up with a little throat thing and couldn’t run there.

“He does very good at this track. He won impressively here last out and this was the next logical step,” Sadler said. “We’re excited about him. He’s been training well.”

Pony Express, a $500,000 auction buy as a yearling, will break from the rail under Umberto Rispoli. His chief rivals include Grade I winner Gaming (2-1) and Grade I-placed Privman (7-5), both trained by Bob Baffert.

The Tokyo City Cup goes as the second race at approximately 1:31 p.m. The field in post position order: Pony Express, Umberto Rispoli (6-5); Gaming, Hector Berrios (2-1); Mining District, Kazushi Kimura (15-1); Privman, Juan Hernandez (7-5).

Namaron makes his second U.S. start in the Twilight Derby after being imported from his native Germany where he was a Group III winner. Owned by Hronis Racing, Namaron was purchased at the Goffs London sale for $271,259 this summer. He made his domestic debut on Sept. 6 at Kentucky Downs in the one-mile Gun Runner Stakes. Namaron settled near the back of a 14-horse field that day before rallying under Flavien Prat to finish third by 1 ¾ lengths.

“We bought him with the idea of running him at Del Mar. He didn’t make it, so we ran him at Kentucky Downs,” Sadler said. “He ran a really good race in a 14-horse field. Prat was really pleased with him. We think he’s a really nice horse. But this is just his second start here, so his form against these American horses still a little mysterious.”

Namaron will have the services of top turf rider Hector Berrios for his California unveiling.

The Twilight Derby goes as the fifth race at 3:05 p.m. The field in post position order: Septembersixtyfour, Kazushi Kimura (6-1); Namaron, Hector Berrios (2-1); Scipio, Antonio Fresu (9-2); Maaz, Ricky Gonzalez (15-1); Test Score, Juan Hernandez (4-5).

FINISH LINES: Sunday is closing day of the Autumn Meet. Highlighting a 10-race card is the GIII Autumn Miss for 3-year-old fillies at one mile on turf. First post is 1 p.m. PT and the Autumn Miss goes as the eighth race at approximately 4:30 p.m…All pools on Sunday will have mandatory payouts…Friday’s $1 Sunset Pick Six starts at 1:35 p.m. with the eighth race from Gulfstream Park…The $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 starts at 2:07 p.m. with the ninth race from Gulfstream…Phil D’Amato holds a two-win advantage over Bob Baffert in the trainer’s standings with three days remaining. D’Amato (11 wins) has seven horses entered in six races to close out the meet while Baffert has nine horses entered in five races…Clocker Toby Turrell (The Winner’s Card) will be host Tom Quigley’s handicapping guest Saturday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 11:50 a.m.

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