Santa Anita Stable Notes Monday, Dec. 29, 2025

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

MONDAY, DEC. 29, 2025

BAFFERT: 3 OPENING DAY STAKES WINNERS ‘ALL DOING WELL’
GI AMERICAN OAKS WINNER AMBAYA LIKELY TO GET BREAK
FRESU ‘OUT FOR SOME TIME’ WITH BROKEN TOE ON LEFT FOOT
WORKS: SUPER CORREDORA DRILLS, TARGETING LAS VIRGENES
GIII FRANKEL, EDDIE LOGAN HEAD WEDNESDAY’S MAKEUP CARD

BAFFERT: 3 OPENING DAY STAKES WINNERS ‘ALL DOING WELL’
Bob Baffert’s three graded stakes winners on opening day Sunday—Nysos, Goal Oriented and Usha—were “all doing well” Monday morning, the Hall of Fame trainer reported.
Nysos won the Grade II Laffit Pincay Jr. by a head after a thrilling stretch duel with stablemate Nevada Beach to improve to 7-for-8 with more than $1.2 million in earnings. The 4-year-old colt by Nyquist earned a 101 Beyer Speed Figure for the victory.
Following the race, Baffert said both Nysos and Nevada Beach were each candidates to run in the Saudi Cup in Riyadh on Feb. 14, but nothing has been decided.
On Monday morning, Baffert said, “they all came back well but no plans in the future for any of them yet. We haven’t thought about it.”
Goal Oriented uncorked a career-best 108 Beyer Speed Figure when rallying from last to win the GI Malibu going seven furlongs by one length over stablemate Midland Money. It was the first stakes win for the 3-year-old colt by Not This Time. In four previous starts this year—all Grade Is around two turns—Goal Oriented finished third in both the Haskell and Pennsylvania Derby, fourth in the Preakness and sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. With the win, he upped his record to 7: 3-0-2 with $624,460 in earnings.
Also in the Malibu, Baffert scratched both Barnes and Cornucopian. As for Barnes, Baffert said “no update yet.” Cornucopian was scratched prior to the race after acting up in the saddling enclosure and falling on his hind-end.
“It was unfortunate, but he’s fine,” Baffert said.
Usha earned a 99 Beyer Speed Figure for her dominant 5 ¼-length victory in the GI La Brea for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs. It was also the first stakes win for the daughter of Tiz the Law.
As a 2-year-old, Usha was winless in four starts. But since returning from a nine-month layoff in July, she’s won 3-of-4 with all three victories coming by open lengths.

GI AMERICAN OAKS WINNER AMBAYA LIKELY TO GET A BREAK
Trainer Jonathan Thomas earned a graded stakes double Sunday with Ambaya winning the GI American Oaks and Hiding in Honduras scoring in the GII Mathis Mile. Thomas also saddled the third-place finisher in the American Oaks, Will Then. All three horses were doing well Monday morning, Thomas said.
Ambaya got up to win the 1 ¼-mile American Oaks by a half-length after enjoying a ground saving trip and then splitting horses under Kazushi Kimura, who rode the filly in place of an injured Antonio Fresu. Will Then finished another neck back in third.
“(Ambaya) backed up what we’ve seen from her in the morning,” Thomas said. “As her prior form would indicate, she’s had a couple of troubled trips. But she was able to put it all together yesterday and got the job done.”
By Ghostzapper, Ambaya improved to 6: 2-2-1 with $245,960 in earnings for owner-breeder Augustin Stable.
Hiding in Honduras also enjoyed the benefit of a ground-saving trip when scoring by a head under Fresu in the Mathis Mile for 3-year-olds. The Dialed in gelding is now 2-for-3 with $147,600 in earnings.
As for what’s next for Ambaya, Will Then and Hiding in Honduras, Thomas said “we’ll let the dust settle.
“The fillies especially. They’ve each had a very long, hard year. They’ve traveled a lot, so we’ll probably let them kind of get their feet underneath them and let them recover a little bit.
“Hiding in Honduras I’d run him next week if there was something for him.”
The American Oaks was Thomas’s third Grade I win. In 2018, Thomas won both the GI Belmont Derby and GI Travers with Catholic Boy for owner Robert LaPenta, who also owns Hiding in Honduras.

FRESU ‘OUT FOR SOME TIME’ WITH BROKE TOE ON LEFT FOOT
Jockey Antonio Fresu will be “out for some time” after suffering a broke toe in his left foot in Sunday’s seventh race, agent Ron Anderson reported Monday morning.
Fresu was aboard 2-1 favorite Anmer Hall in a downhill sprint when they were put in tight quarters turning into the stretch and hit the rail. Anderson said Fresu’s left riding boot was split as a result of the incident. He was subsequently sent to a local hospital for further evaluation and later released.
“We’ll know more later this morning, but he’s going to be out for some time,” Anderson said. “It’s his ‘inside’ foot, so that can be a little more worrisome. These guys though they are in such good condition, they heal fast.”
Prior to the injury, Fresu on Sunday guided Hiding in Honduras ($21.40) to a victory in the Grade II Mathis Mile for trainer Jonathan Thomas and won the third race aboard My Perfect Wave ($16.20) for trainer Tim Yakteen.
A 34-year-old native of Sardinia, Fresu has been riding locally since the end of 2022. He has won 379 races in the U.S. Earlier this year, Fresu finished as the leading rider at the Santa Anita Hollywood Meet.

WORKS: SUPER CORREDORA DRILLS, TARGETING LAS VIRGENES
Three of the big names heading into 2026—Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner Super Corredora, GI American Pharoah winner Intrepido and older Grade I winner Full Serrano—all recorded timed workouts Monday at Santa Anita.
Super Corredora and Full Serrano are both trained by John Sadler. Super Corredora worked five furlongs in 1:00.20. It was the third work this month for the Gun Runner filly following her victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Oct. 31 at Del Mar. Sadler said Super Corredora is “definitely targeting” the one-mile Las Virgenes Stakes on Feb. 1 at Santa Anita for her sophomore debut.
Full Serrano also worked five furlongs in 1:00.20. The 6-year-old horse by Full Mast most recently finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile after winning that race last year. Sadler said Full Serrano is a candidate for the GII San Pasqual going 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 31 at Santa Anita.
“We got to see a little more training, but he’s possible for the San Pasqual,” Sadler said.
Intrepido, trained by Jeff Mullins, drilled five furlongs in 1:03.00. It was his sixth work since Nov. 24. By Maximus Mischief, Intrepido won the American Pharoah in early October at Santa Anita prior to finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Oct. 31.
Mullins said he is “not sure yet” where Intrepido will surface for his 3-year-old unveiling.

FINISH LINES: Santa Anita will host a nine-card Wednesday starting at 12 p.m. PT as a makeup for the delayed start to the Classic Meet. Featured on the program are the GIII Robert J. Frankel for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf and the Eddie Logan for 2-year-olds at one mile on turf…A crowd of 41,962 converged on Santa Anita Sunday for the delayed opening of the Classic Meet. It’s the highest on-track attendance on opening day since 2016 and the highest for a Sunday opener this century…With just three winning favorites on Sunday’s card, there were some big payouts in multi-race wagers. The $2 Pick Six paid $13,891 for 10 winning tickets. The 50-cent early Pick 5 paid $16,067 and the late Pick 5 returned $5,132…On New Year’s Day Thursday, a nine-race card is set starting at 12 p.m. PT. To help ring in the New Year, on-track patrons will be treated to $2 hot dogs, $2 beers and $2 sodas.

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