SANTA ANITA STABLE NOTES

By ED GOLDEN & MIKE WILLMAN —-

• O’NEILL, PRAT STEAM TO TAKE SPRING HONORS
• THE BEAT GOES ON FOR BAFFERT AND JUSTIFY
• APPRENTICE ESPINOZA A TEENAGE SENSATION
• MASSIVE MANDATORY EXOTIC PAYOUTS TODAY

O’NEILL & PRAT BRING LOFTY NUMBERS INTO CLOSING DAY

Congratulations are in order for Doug O’Neill and Flavien Prat, as both have clinched titles in their respective categories.

O’Neill, who coming into today had saddled by far the most horses of any trainer, 136, through 40 racing days, enjoyed a five-length advantage over both Phil D’Amato and Peter Miller with 31 wins. O’Neill thus celebrates his seventh overall meet title at Santa Anita dating back to the 2004-05 Winter Meet. In the stakes-won category, O’Neill bagged a pair, two behind Bob Baffert’s leading total of four coming into closing day.

A 50-year-old native of Dearborn, Michigan, O’Neill relocated to Southern California with his family at age 10 and quickly developed a love for racing as a result of frequent pilgrimages to Santa Anita, HollywoodPark and Del Mar with his late father and brothers.

Known for his unflagging optimism and approachable method of operation, O’Neill is always quick to defer credit to his owners and “Team O’Neill” members that include his brother Dennis and assistants Leandro Mora and Steve Rothblum.

As for Prat, a 25-year-old native of Melon, France, he continues to ascend the ranks of America’s top riders as he’s clinched his third Santa Anita riding title with 37 wins coming into today from 140 mounts—good for a lofty 26 percent win quotient and nine clear of Geovanni Franco’s 28 victories.

In the all-important stakes-won category, Prat also ranked first, with five added money wins, two clear of Victor Espinoza, Mike Smith, Joe Talamo, Franco and Gary Stevens.

Fluent in both French and English, Prat’s business is on the rise not just here in Southern California, but nationally as well, evidenced by the fact he and his agent, Derek Lawson, will be traveling to ride in New York full-time prior to the Del Mar opener on July 18.

Readily accessible, fiercely competitive, a great judge of pace and naturally light, Prat appears to have a limitless future.

BAFFERT SLEEPS EASY AFTER PARADING JUSTIFY

Basking in the afterglow of rock star treatment accorded Justify at Santa Anita yesterday, Bob Baffert was back on the beat Sunday morning, the throes of the Triple Crown sweep and its accompanying commitments standing in bold relief.

“I finally slept,” Baffert said. “I thought it was pretty cool, everybody really enjoyed him and they had a good crowd,” the Hall of Fame trainer said of Justify parading before his adoring fans prior to Baffert fielding a myriad of questions from ever-curious media members.

“Mike Smith signed all those autographs (on attractive posters depicting Justify’s victories in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes, given to fans with paid admission). He must have signed 3,500 or something like that.”

As for Justify, Baffert is on record as saying he won’t publicly commit to the undefeated son of the late Scat Daddy’s next race until the chestnut colt has his first workout since winning the Belmont on June 9. He held firm on that Sunday.

Presently at his home base of Santa Anita, Baffert ultimately will head to Del Mar for the meet that starts July 18, and Justify “will go with me, wherever I go.”

PUBLIC ASKED TO SUBMIT PICTURES WITH JUSTIFY

The National Thoroughbred Racing Association is asking fans and horsemen to submit their personal photos with Triple Crown winner Justify for inclusion in a video montage to be shown during the 48th Annual Eclipse Awards ceremony next January.

Submissions can be made on Twitter by using the hashtag #JustifyandI or by tagging @NTRA or posting an image to the wall of the official NTRA page (Facebook.com/1NTRA).

The Eclipse Awards will be held Thursday, Jan. 24, 2019, at Gulfstream Park Racing & Casino in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

APPRENTICE ASA ESPINOZA ON FAST TRACK TO SUCCESS

Asa Espinoza is far and away the meet’s leading apprentice rider, and with 21 victories, is tied for fifth overall at the Spring Meet which ends today.

Not bad for an 18-year-old kid who doesn’t even have his driver’s license yet.

“He’s done really well for a guy who started from scratch here in February,” said his agent, Brian Beach, who also represents Asa’s uncle, Hall of Fame member Victor Espinoza.

“Usually it’s not advisable for an apprentice to start out at Santa Anita. Generally they come here with a couple hundred mounts under their belt, so from where he started to where he is now is remarkable.

“Victor’s helped him a lot, and Asa is good at listening to advice from veteran riders like Kent Desormeaux, Martin Pedroza and Tyler Baze who also have helped him.

“He still doesn’t have his driver’s license. He takes his test in two weeks.”

FINISH LINES: There are mandatory payouts today on the early and late Pick Five, the Pick Six, and the Super High Five. There is a massive Pick Six carryover of $821,858 and a guaranteed Late Pick Four pool of $500,000 . . . Former jockey Jerry Truman was at Clocker’s Corner Sunday morning, fresh from Florida to visit his brother, trainer Eddie, and other family members. Like his 78-year-old sibling still an avid bicyclist, 71-year-old Jerry last rode in 1959 after being injured the year before, but memories of yesteryear remain fresh. “I rode with Shoe (Bill Shoemaker) and Eddie Arcaro,” Jerry recalled. “I remember riding at Washington Park and was down on the inside, and Arcaro didn’t want to let me get by him, but he did. “I wasn’t going to win the race,” he later told me, “because I didn’t have horse. But if I did, I wouldn’t have let you through.” . . . Dept. of Good News: Longtime Santa Anita press box concierge and former boxer Cuco Talamantes, who has been sidelined for the past few months due to surgery and chemotherapy treatments, was a press box visitor yesterday and by all accounts, looked tremendous. Although he’s lost some weight, Talamantes vowed to be back on the job for the Autumn Meet in September . . . Despite rehabbing in the hospital after surgery on his left ankle, veteran turf writer Art Wilson of the Southern California News Group keeps up with the news through the Stable Notes and has been able to connect off-track on two longshots, Faversham ($36.40) and Michael Mundo ($25.60).

SANTA ANITA STATISTICS

(Current Through Saturday, June 23)
Jockey Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won

Flavien Prat 140 37 23 22 26% 59% $2,020,219
Geovanni Franco 177 28 27 19 16% 42% $1,336,070
Joseph Talamo 153 26 25 18 17% 45% $1,466,484
Mario Gutierrez 122 24 18 21 20% 52% $1,161,747
Asa Espinoza 162 21 19 27 13% 41% $670,244
Tiago Pereira 151 21 13 22 14% 37% $769,875
Drayden Van Dyke 116 20 20 16 17% 48% $1,160,040
Tyler Baze 146 17 31 15 12% 43% $966,700
Stewart Elliott 151 17 21 17 11% 36% $841,024
Martin Pedroza 116 17 18 15 15% 43% $584,393
Kent Desormeaux 102 15 10 24 15% 48% $1,040,245
Franklin Ceballos 118 14 11 9 12% 29% $427,643
Rafael Bejarano 88 11 13 9 13% 38% $693,199
Tyler Conner 123 10 21 23 8% 44% $553,664
Heriberto Figueroa 69 10 13 7 14% 43% $277,750
Kyle Frey 64 10 5 5 16% 31% $291,044

Trainer Starts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won
Doug O’Neill 136 31 28 21 23% 59% $1,543,442
Philip D’Amato 111 26 21 25 23% 65% $1,650,498
Peter Miller 120 26 15 19 22% 50% $1,187,629
Richard Baltas 99 16 16 12 16% 44% $830,943
Jerry Hollendorfer 80 14 9 9 18% 40% $821,811
John Sadler 92 11 24 15 12% 54% $988,196
Bob Baffert 48 11 9 8 23% 58% $946,996
Vladimir Cerin 50 11 6 7 22% 48% $379,506
Mark Glatt 62 10 8 3 16% 34% $396,235
David Jacobson 50 10 6 6 20% 44% $258,330
Peter Eurton 54 10 4 9 19% 43% $409,938

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.