SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES

By Ed Golden —-

COLLECTED, STELLAR WIND WORK FOR BREEDERS’ CUP
ECLIPSE WINNER KYLE FREY RETURNS AT SANTA ANITA
VETERAN IGGY PUGLISI RIDING A WELCOME HOT STREAK

COLLECTED, STELLAR WIND IN ‘NICE’ BC BREEZES

Pacific Classic winner Collected, one of Bob Baffert’s “Fab Four” for the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Nov. 4, worked six furlongs at 7:45 Saturday morning in a bullet 1:12 flat under Martin Garcia, the fastest of 14 drills at the distance, the average time of which was 1:14.48.

“He went very nice,” Baffert said of Collected, who conquered stablemate Arrogate in the Pacific Classic two months ago. “He got some nice company, so it worked out. All my horses for the Classic will have their works here and then ship for the Breeders’ Cup races.”

Early Saturday morning, champion Stellar Wind worked seven furlongs in 1:28.20 for the Distaff on Nov. 3 in company with Shenandoah Queen who was timed in 1:29.60. Regular rider Victor Espinoza was aboard Stellar Wind.

“She went real nice, outworked her company by a couple lengths, so that was kind of her big long distance work,” trainer John Sadler said of the daughter of Curlin. “She’ll have her final breeze here next Saturday.”

Added Espinoza: “She felt great. It was an excellent work for her. The track was a little slow that early, but she’s ready to go.

“I worked Accelerate (Dirt Mile) at the 7:45 break and the track was more firm, but the times don’t always mean everything. It’s how they felt and how they moved. They were brilliant.”

In other Breeders’ Cup news:

Champion female sprinter Finest City (Filly & Mare Sprint) worked five furlongs for Ian Kruljac under Corey Nakatani in 1:02.40, breezing.
“Great” is how the trainer termed the move. “She’s happy.”
My Boy Jack (Juvenile Turf) went four furlongs for Keith Desormeaux in 51.40; Encumbered (also Juvenile Turf) worked five furlongs for Simon Callaghan in 1:00.20; and Obviously Mile winner Blackjackcat (Mile) also went five furlongs in 1:00.20 for Mark Glatt.
In all there were 196 recorded works at Santa Anita on a spectacular Saturday morning, including 20 on the training track.

FREY EXCITED TO SEE WHAT FUTURE HOLDS

Eclipse Award-winning apprentice jockey of 2011 Kyle Frey is expected to resume riding at Santa Anita shortly, according to his agent, Mark North.

A 25-year-old native of Tracy, California, Frey (pronounced FRAY) last rode during the first week of Del Mar’s Bing Crosby meet before he was sidelined with an abscess caused by an infection underneath his right thigh that required surgery in late July.

“Honestly,” said North, “he has never been as good as he is now because he was basically riding on one leg, so with two he should be better. We have some good clients here.”

Frey’s troubles started when he broke his femur while riding at Parx in Bensalem, Pa., in June of 2012, after which metal rods were used to help fuse the bone back together, leading to the life threatening infection he experienced this past summer. But he’s overcome those hurdles, as one might expect from a kid whose family has an extensive racing background.

Kyle’s grandfather, Paul, rode at Longacres and up and down the West Coast; his father, Jay, galloped horses, was the valet for Hall of Fame jockey Russell Baze and still lends his services in that vocation, in addition to working for trainer Jeff Bonde in the Bay Area.

“I have a new-found appreciation of life,” Kyle said. “If one of those abscesses would have popped, I could have died. I’m excited to see what the future holds.”

UNSUNG IGGY PUGLISI ON A ROLL AT SANTA ANITA

Yes, that is Iggy Puglisi tied with perennial Southern California riding king Rafael Bejarano with three wins each in Santa Anita’s Autumn Meet standings through 13 racing days.

Iggy (real handle Ignacio), after enduring a lengthy dry spell early on this year, has won with his last three mounts: Streak of Luck for trainer Matt Chew on Thursday, and Chay Up And Away for Paul Aguirre and Axelrod for Michael McCarthy yesterday.

A 43-year-old native of Rosario, Argentina, Puglisi has ridden only seven horses this meet, including Axelrod for long-time client Aguirre (pronounced Ah-GEAR-ee, as in “You made life cheery”).

“I’ve told Iggy to try and tell his agent (Bill Sadoo) to just get ‘live’ horses, because all the smaller trainers like Iggy and he does them a lot of favors,” said the 61-year-old Aguirre, a member of UCLA’s basketball junior varsity in his youth while attending the Westwood school.
“The guy’s a good rider. He just has to be more selective in what he decides to ride. He makes good choices and good decisions in a race and given the right horse, he’ll get it home.

“We’ve been associated so long, he feels like family to me, it’s been that long.

“I think it’s been 25 years.”

FINISH LINES: With all eyes on the seventh and deciding game of the American League Championship Series tonight between the New York Yankees and the Houston Astros, it seems almost fitting that trainer Steve Miyadi sent out horses named for Hall of Fame baseball greats Catfish Hunter and Nap Lajoie to work on the training track this morning.

SANTA ANITA STATISTICS
(Current Through Friday, Oct. 20)

Jockey
Mts
1st
2nd
3rd
Win%
ITM%
Money Won

Evin Roman
82
13
7
14
16%
41%
$369,336
Kent Desormeaux
48
12
6
3
25%
44%
$687,161
Corey Nakatani
27
9
2
1
33%
44%
$471,885
Tyler Baze
75
8
14
9
11%
41%
$519,143
Drayden Van Dyke
47
7
2
3
15%
26%
$453,115
Flavien Prat
73
6
14
13
8%
45%
$950,127
Stewart Elliott
36
6
4
3
17%
36%
$188,618
Tiago Pereira
49
6
3
1
12%
20%
$223,560
Joseph Talamo
49
5
9
9
10%
47%
$415,206
Santiago Gonzalez
34
5
3
5
15%
38%
$163,840
Gary Stevens
25
5
3
3
20%
44%
$191,950

Trainer
Mts
1st
2nd
3rd
Win%
ITM%
Money Won
Philip D’Amato
39
6
10
4
15%
51%
$376,715
Richard Baltas
37
6
7
2
16%
41%
$279,568
Vladimir Cerin
19
6
4
1
32%
58%
$154,080
Peter Miller
32
6
2
4
19%
38%
$399,420
Richard Mandella
19
5
4
3
26%
63%
$489,725
Mark Glatt
29
4
6
3
14%
45%
$176,321
Jerry Hollendorfer
31
4
3
7
13%
45%
$202,060
J. Keith Desormeaux
22
4
2
3
18%
41%
$236,180
Neil Drysdale
16
4
1
4
25%
56%
$162,530
Mick Ruis
15
4
1
0
27%
33%
$249,325

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.