SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES FRIDAY, MARCH 10, 2017

BY ED GOLDEN / MIKE WILLMAN —-

Doug O’Neill; Benoit

• O’NEILL HAS ‘11- 4 THE MONEY’ ON SATURDAY
• ‘CLASS IS IN’ THROUGHOUT DAY IN PADDOCK
• WHITE’S MORNING LINE AVAILABLE FOR ALL SATURDAY STAKES

TEAM O’NEILL SET FOR BUSY DAY WITH 11 HORSES ENTERED

The big boys come out to play Saturday.

Among those entered at Santa Anita in five stakes—three of them Grade I’s—are Bob Baffert’s undefeated Triple Crown contender Mastery and John Shirreff’s nearly perfect Grade I winning Gormley in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles; Phil D’Amato’s versatile speedster Midnight Storm and Jimmy Jerkens’ highly accomplished Shaman Ghost in the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap for older horses at a mile and a quarter; Peter Eurton’s stretch-running Kobe’s Back in the Grade I Triple Bend Stakes for older horses at seven furlongs, his first start since finishing third in the 2016 Triple Bend last June; and 2015 Santa Anita Derby winner Dortmund, who’s making his debut on grass in the Grade I Frank E. Kilroe Mile—which is also his first start for trainer Art Sherman.

With an 11-race card on tap, the busiest trainer in Arcadia will be Doug O’Neill, who has 11 horses entered throughout the day which will begin with a special early first post time of 12 noon. A three-time Santa Anita training king, the 48-year-old O’Neill is a racing department’s dream, evidenced by the fact he’s entered a Winter-Meet high of 121 horses, 12 more than runner-up Richard Baltas.

“Team O’Neill” could have its best chance Saturday with Iliad in the San Felipe, although the son of 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper looms the third choice behind Mastery and Gormely, a winner of the Grade I FrontRunner here on Oct. 1 and the Grade III Sham Stakes on Jan. 7.

O’Neill has enjoyed successful treks on the Triple Crown trail, having won the Kentucky Derby twice in the last four years, with I’ll Have Another in 2012 and again last year with Eclipse Champion 2-year-old Male of 2015, Nyquist.

Owned by Kaleem Shah, who also campaigns Dortmund, Iliad has had only three starts, all of them sprints and none further than his 3 ½ length win in the seven furlong, Grade II San Vicente here on Feb. 12—a race that produced a career-best 96 Beyer Speed figure.

Among those in Iliad’s San Vicente wake was 4-5 favorite Battle of Midway, who although he was beaten eighth lengths, rebounded to win a first condition allowance here on Thursday for Jerry Hollendorfer, prevailing by a neck while getting a mile and a sixteenth in 1:4416 under Flavien Prat. Following the win, Hollendorfer told TVG’s Britney Eurton that his Smart Strike colt would now be considered for the Grade I, $1 million Santa Anita Derby on April 8.

“Iliad ran huge in the San Vicente,” said O’Neill. “He’s got a mind, the stride and the pedigree of a two-turn horse, but you never know until you do it. We’re excited about him. He’s doing really well.”
In addition to Iliad, O’Neill will also be represented in the San Felipe by Term of Art and Ann Arbor Eddie.

A winner of the Grade III Cecil B. DeMille Stakes three starts back at Del Mar on Nov. 27, Term of Art comes off an even fourth place finish in the Grade III Robert B. Lewis on Feb. 4, while Ann Arbor Eddie, a two-time stakes winner versus state-breds, comes off a second place finish at even money in the Grade III El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields on Feb. 18.

The San Felipe offers 85 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, distributed on a 50-20-10-5 basis.

Team O’Neill will also have a three-pronged attack in the $75,000 China Doll Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on grass: Go On Mary, How About Zero and Simmy’s Temple.

I don’t know if running 11 in one day at the same track is a personal record,” O’Neill said, “But it’s close. I’ve had a bunch before, but that’s a lot. It’s going to be an exciting day. The weather’s going to be nice and all the horses are doing well.”

LARGE NUMBER OF BIG ’CAP DAY SCHOOLERS SET FOR TODAY

The following horses, all entered for Santa Anita Handicap Day, tomorrow, will be on display in the saddling paddock throughout this afternoon:

Race One: No Walking, Phil D’Amato (Triple Bend)
Conquest Enforcer, D’Amato (Kilroe Mile)
Midnight Storm, D’Amato (Big ’Cap)
Hard Aces, John Sadler (Big ’Cap)
Lady Beware, Mick Ruis (China Doll)

Race Two: Flamboyant, Paddy Gallagher (Kilroe Mile)
La Force, Gallagher (China Doll)
Madame Dancelot, Richard Baltas (China Doll)
Silent Bird, Mark Glatt (Triple Bend)

Race Three: Masochistic, Ron Ellis (Triple Bend)
Imperative, Bob Hess, Jr. (Big ’Cap)

Race Four: Conquest Cobra, Vladimir Cerin (Triple Bend)
Follow Me Crev, Cerin (Big ’Cap)
Gormley, John Shirreffs (San Felipe)

Race Six: Bal a Bali, Richard Mandella (Kilroe Mile)
Twentytwentyvision, Mandella (Big ’Cap)
Siberian Iris, Mandella (China Doll)
Vending Machine, Peter Miller (San Felipe)

FINISH LINES: Jon White’s morning line for all of Saturday’s Stakes are as follows: Grade II, $400,000 SAN FELIPE STAKES (Race 5): Term of Art (20-1), Vending Machine (20-1), Ann Arbor Eddie (8-1), Mastery (6-5), Gormley (9-5), Iliad (5-2) and Bluegrass Envy (50-1)…Grade I, $400,000 TRIPLE BEND STAKES (Race 8): Denman’s Call (15-1), Point Piper (10-1), Kobe’s Back (5-2), Silent Bird (4-1), Masochistic, (even), Nowalking (15-1) and Conquest Cobra (10-1)…Grade I, $400,000 FRANK E. KILROE MILE (Race 9): Bal a Bali (8-1), Flamboyant (12-1), Bolo (3-1), Dortmund (4-1), Ring Weekend (4-1), Conquest Enforcer (7-2) and What a View (7-2)…Grade I, $1 million SANTA ANITA HANDICAP (Race 10): Midnight Storm (8-5), Gangster (30-1), Shaman Ghost (2-1), Isotherm (12-1), Hard Aces (15-1), Follow Me Crev (8-1), Twentytwentyvision (12-1), Hi Happy (12-1) and Imperative (5-1)…$75,000 CHINA DOLL STAKES (Race 11): Miss Sugars (4-1), Go On Mary (10-1), Bernina Star (20-1), How About Zero (15-1), Sircat Sally (5-2), Grand Prix (20-1), Simmy’s Temple (30-1), La Force (12-1), Madam Dancealot (6-1), Beau Recall (5-1), Miss Sunset (6-1), Lady Beware (30-1), Siberian Iris (12-1) and Spy Ring (8-1)…Come early on Saturday, as there is special early first post time of 12 noon. Admission gates open at 10 a.m…All Santa Anita THOROUGHBREDS members will receive a signature Santa Anita umbrella, free with paid admission while supplies last on Big ’Cap Day…There will be a $1 million guaranteed Late Pick 4 and a $100,000 guaranteed Pick Six on Saturday as well…Don’t forget, SPRING FORWARD! one hour Saturday night, as Daylight Savings Time will be in effect Sunday.

SANTA ANITA STATISTICS

Jockey Standings
(Current Through Thursday, March 9, 2017 Inclusive)

Jockey Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won
Flavien Prat 195 44 30 38 23% 57% $2,813,844
Tyler Baze 210 35 41 24 17% 48% $1,646,719
Kent Desormeaux 122 26 15 13 21% 44% $1,479,997
Rafael Bejarano 111 19 17 20 17% 50% $1,079,983
Joseph Talamo 133 19 13 18 14% 38% $636,468
Norberto Arroyo, Jr. 90 18 8 9 20% 39% $790,821
Mike Smith 45 15 4 13 33% 71% $1,389,527
Martin Pedroza 103 14 19 19 14% 50% $586,753
Stewart Elliott 130 14 16 18 11% 37% $693,348
Santiago Gonzalez 109 12 18 13 11% 39% $570,427
Tiago Pereira 95 11 11 13 12% 37% $380,035
Corey Nakatani 65 11 7 6 17% 37% $603,746
Luis Contreras 89 10 10 23 11% 48% $487,537
Edwin Maldonado 61 10 7 9 16% 43% $321,640

Trainer Standings
(Current Through Thursday, March 9, 2017 Inclusive)
Trainer Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won

Peter Miller 89 27 21 9 30% 64% $1,330,356
Jerry Hollendorfer 105 21 14 21 20% 53% $1,494,864
Richard Baltas 109 19 19 17 17% 50% $1,011,712
Doug F. O’Neill 121 15 24 20 12% 49% $1,181,851
Philip D’Amato 75 15 10 13 20% 51% $910,490
Bob Baffert 51 10 7 9 20% 51% $978,451
Peter Eurton 48 10 5 6 21% 44% $531,807
William Spawr 27 10 4 3 37% 63% $303,251
Mark Glatt 67 9 11 9 13% 43% $420,450
John W. Sadler 50 9 10 10 18% 58% $525,394
Vladimir Cerin 47 9 10 7 19% 55% $337,504
Steven Miyadi 56 8 14 6 14% 50% $378,701
Kristin Mulhall 31 7 6 3 23% 52% $213,230
J. Keith Desormeaux 35 7 3 5 20% 43% $447,105

About Us
Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top race horse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horseracing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horseracing industry.