Santa Anita Stable Notes Friday, Jan. 23, 2026

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

SUPER CORREDORA CROWNED 2025 CHAMPION 2-YEAR-OLD FILLY

Trainer John Sadler is dealing with the flu and was unable to attend Thursday night’s Eclipse Awards in South Florida where his latest star pupil, Super Corredora, was crowned the champion 2-year-old filly of 2025. He did make it to his Santa Anita barn Friday morning despite still being under the weather, gamely leading his stable through its daily training activities.

“It means the world to us,” Sadler said of the award. “This is why we do it. I’m an older trainer now, I have almost 3,000 wins or whatever it is. But to still be able to win the bigger races at this point in my career, this is what we’re shooting for.”

Entering Friday, the 69-year-old Sadler has won 2,907 races in North America, according to Equibase.

Super Corredora capped off her championship season with a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar. She received 146 first-place votes to easily outdistance runner-up Cy Fair, who received 49 first-place votes.

Super Corredora is Sadler’s first champion since 2022 when the superlative Flightline was named both Horse of the Year and champion older dirt male. Sadler’s other previous champions were Accelerate in 2018 (older dirt male) and Stellar Wind in 2015 (3-year-old filly).

Super Corredora is a Gun Runner filly owned by Spartan Equine Racing, West Point Thoroughbreds, Robert C. Gardiner and Michael W. Olszewski. Sadler confirmed Friday she remains on schedule to make her 3-year-old debut Feb. 8 in the Las Virgenes Stakes going a mile at Santa Anita.

GIII LA CANADA: SO THERE SHE WAS LOOMS A THREAT TO FAVORITE

Saturday’s feature on a nine-race at Santa Anita is the GIII La Canada Stakes for older fillies and mares going 1 1/16 miles on the main track. The key principles in the lineup, 7-5 program favorite Brilliantly and 9-5 second choice So There She Was, will be stretching out in distance and getting class relief after testing the GI La Brea going seven furlongs on opening day Dec. 28.

Brilliantly, trained by Bob Baffert, finished ahead of a slow starting So There She Was in the La Brea. However, Brilliantly has never gone two turns on dirt, though she did earn a front-running maiden win going a mile on turf back in March. So There She Was is already well-proven at a route of ground on dirt. Trained by Doug O’Neill, So There She Was last year won the Remington Park Oaks at 1 1/16 miles and was narrowly beaten in the GIII Torrey Pines going a mile at Del Mar.

“I think her getting back to two turns is going to benefit her. She’s really been training well and always seems to show up,” O’Neill said.

In the Malibu, Brilliantly was forwardly placed and weakened in the stretch to finish fourth, eight lengths back of her winning stablemate Usha. In the La Canada, the 4-year-old filly by Uncle Mo will be re-adding blinkers for her two-turn debut on dirt. She previously wore blinkers in her first two starts, which included her maiden win on turf.

So There She Was in the Malibu broke slowly and was last down the backstretch. She ran past horses on the turn to get into the fray but then flattened out in the stretch to finish sixth in a 10-horse field.

In both of her previous races around two turns, So There She Was managed to be forwardly placed throughout. O’Neill expects a similar scenario on Saturday for the 4-year-old Munnings filly.

“She’s such a big filly, that the starts sprinting might be a little bit of a challenge for her,” O’Neill said. “But going two turns, her normal break should put her right there in a better position.”

So There She Was will be ridden by Emisael Jaramillo for the first time in the La Canada. Mirco Demuro had the mount in the Malibu.

The La Canada goes as the eighth race at 4:04 p.m. PT. The field in post position order: Ooty, Tiago Pereira (8-1); Fugitive Star, Hector Berrios (12-1); So There She Was, Emisael Jaramillo (9-5); Brilliantly, Juan Hernandez (7-5); Nafisa, Kazushi Kimura (5-1); Jane Austen, Abel Lezcano (6-1).

WORKS: EXPLORA BACK ON TAB AFTER SANTA YNEZ WIN

Explora returned to the work tab Friday for trainer Bob Baffert after collecting her second stakes win in the seven-furlong Santa Ynez Stakes when making her sophomore bow Jan. 10 at Santa Anita. Other notables on the tab included Hope Road, off since winning the GIII Bayakoa Nov. 20 at Del Mar; and Gold Phoenix, who is gearing up for a 7-year-old campaign for trainer Phil D’Amato.

Explora worked an easy half mile in 51.20 seconds. In the Santa Ynez, the daughter of Blame was last for the opening half mile before blowing past the field and romping by 5 ¼ lengths. Last year, Explora won the GII Oak Leaf at 1 1/16 miles at Santa Anita and was second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies to close out the campaign.

Hope Road worked four furlongs in 47.0 seconds for Baffert. Prior to her win in the Bayakoa last year, Hope Road finished third as the favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint. The 4-year-old Quality Road filly is a homebred for Cicero Farms.

Gold Phoenix has been off since finishing fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. The veteran gelding worked five furlongs on the synthetic training track in 59.60 seconds, which was the fastest of 16 works at the distance. This was his fourth work since Dec. 31.

Among trainer Michael McCarthy’s workers were sophomores Stark Contrast and La Ville Lumiere, who have both already won stakes on turf at the Classic Meet. Stark Contrast, winner of the Eddie Logan at one mile on the lawn Jan. 8, returned to the tab with a four-furlong work on the main track in 48.60 seconds. He is a homebred son of Caravaggio for Amerman Racing.

La Ville Lumiere won the Blue Norther for fillies at one mile on turf on Dec. 29. The daughter of City of Light worked four furlongs on the main track in 50.40.

In addition to her win in the Blue Norther, La Ville Lumiere last year also finished third in the GII Oak Leaf on dirt and was seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. McCarthy has said La Ville Lumiere could move back to the dirt for a stakes opportunity later this winter or spring.

FREE PP’S FOR FRIDAY’S $95K CARRYOVER IN COAST-TO-COAST PICK 5

There are carryovers of $95,704 in the $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 and a $19,498 carryover in the $1 Sunset Pick Six on Friday.

The Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 starts at 1:20 p.m. PT with the ninth race from Gulfstream Park. Also in the sequence is the 10th race from Gulfstream Park and the third, fifth and seventh races from Santa Anita.

To help horseplayers make informed decisions, Santa Anita has teamed with Daily Racing Form to provide free past performances for Friday’s Coast-to-Coast Pick 5. They can be accessed at https://promos.drf.com/coast-to-coast-pick5.

The $1 Sunset Pick Six incorporates the final three races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park. Friday’s sequence starts at 12:50 p.m. with the eighth race from Gulfstream.

Both the Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 and Sunset Pick Six are available to retail players only and feature a low 15 percent takeout.

FINISH LINES: Longtime Santa Anita trainer James Cassidy died Wednesday at his home in Monrovia at the age of 80. He had been suffering from heart disease. Cassidy won 442 races and banked more than $30.7 million in earnings during his career. Details on services have not been announced…Jockey Hector Berrios won three races Monday to move into a tie for third in the jockey’s standings. Berrios won the second race aboard Comedy Town ($4.20) for trainer George Papaprodromou, the fifth race with Ketonia ($9) for trainer Ron Ellis and the ninth race on Ventry Stand ($4) for trainer John Sadler… Santa Anita’s George Ortuzar successfully tabbed the winners in eight of the nine races on Monday’s card in the Santa Anita race day program. Ortuzar’s selections and analysis are available every race day in the program, which if you are not on track can also be accessed for free at santaanita.com…Santa Anita VIP Player host Jeff Chapman will be host Tom Quigley’s handicapping guest Saturday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 11:20 a.m. PT…Sunday’s feature is the Baffle Stakes for 3-year-olds at about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course. Installed as the 2-1 program favorite is graded stakes winner Hey Nay Nay, who’ll have Berrios aboard for trainer John Sadler. The Baffle goes as the seventh race at approximately 3:30 p.m.

About The Stronach Group and 1/ST

The Stronach Group is a world-class technology, entertainment and real estate development company with Thoroughbred racing and pari-mutuel wagering at the core. The Stronach Group’s 1/ST business (pronounced “First”) is North America’s preeminent Thoroughbred racing and pari-mutuel wagering company and includes the 1/ST RACING & GAMING, 1/ST CONTENT, 1/ST TECHNOLOGY and 1/ST EXPERIENCE businesses, while advocating for and driving the 1/ST HORSE CARE mission. 1/ST represents The Stronach Group’s continued movement toward redefining Thoroughbred racing and the ecosystem that drives it. 1/ST RACING & GAMING drives the best-in-class racing operations and gaming offerings at the company’s premier racetracks, training centers and premier events including: Santa Anita Park and San Luis Rey Downs (California); Gulfstream Park – home of the Pegasus World Cup and Palm Meadows Thoroughbred Training Center (Florida); Laurel Park, The Preakness Stakes, Rosecroft Raceway and Bowie Training Center (Maryland). 1/ST CONTENT is the operating group for 1/ST’s media and content companies including: Monarch Content Management, Elite, TSG Global Wagering Solutions (GWS) and 1/ST TV. 1/ST TECHNOLOGY is racing’s largest racing and gaming technology company offering world-class products via its AmTote, Xpressbet, 1/ST BET, XB SELECT, XB NET, PariMAX and Betmix brands. 1/ST EXPERIENCE blends the worlds of sports, entertainment and hospitality through innovative content development, elevated national and local venue management and hospitality, strategic partnerships, sponsorships, and procurement development. As the advocate for critical industry reforms and by making meaningful investments into aftercare programs for retired horses and jockeys, 1/ST HORSE CARE represents The Stronach Group’s commitment to achieving the highest level of horse and rider care and safety standards in Thoroughbred racing on and off the track. The Stronach Group’s TSG Properties is responsible for the development of the company’s live, play and work communities surrounding its racing venues including: The Village at Gulfstream Park (Florida) and Paddock Pointe (Maryland). For more information, visit www.1st.com or follow @1ST_racing on Twitter or @1stracing on Instagram and Facebook.