Santa Anita Stable Notes Thursday, February 29, 2024

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 29, 2024
Benoit Photo
MANDELLA AIMS FOR 4th BIG CAP, STAKES HAT TRICK SUNDAY
WORK TAB: OAKS PROSPECTS KOPION, NOTHING LIKE YOU TUNE-UP
HALL OF FAME FINALISTS: SANTA ANITA WELL-REPRESENTED
SANTA ANITA HANDICAP CARD MOVED TO SUNDAY
SANTA ANITA’S JON WHITE HEADED TO WA STATE RACING HOF

MANDELLA AIMS FOR 4TH BIG CAP, STAKES HAT TRICK SUNDAY
Richard Mandella has seven stakes wins at the Classic Meet to lead all trainers. On Sunday, the Hall of Fame conditioner will bid for a graded-stakes hat trick with starters in the GI Santa Anita Handicap, GI Frank E. Kilroe Mile and GII Buena Vista.
In the 87th Big Cap, a 1 ¼-mile dirt test for older horses, Mandella starts the long-winded Salesman off a nearly four-month layoff. He’ll also saddle Goliad in the Kilroe Mile and Ruby Nell in the Buena Vista, which is for older fillies and mares at one mile on turf.
Salesman will try and become Mandella’s fourth Big Cap winner and first since Rock Hard Ten in 2005. Mandella’s other Big Cap wins came with South American-breds Siphon in 1997 and Malek in 1998.
Salesman has not started since an 8 ¼-length romp in the Thoroughbred Aftercare Alliance Stakes at 1 5/8 miles on the Breeders’ Cup Saturday undercard Nov. 4 at Santa Anita. The extended layoff for Salesman entering the Big Cap was not necessarily by design, Mandella noted Thursday morning.
“I was going to run him, but little things came up in between,” he said.
A 7-year-old gelding by Dubawi, Salesman has worked seven times since Jan. 6 at Santa Anita. The tab includes a pair of seven-furlong drills and a one-mile work on Feb. 16.
“He’s really been working well. I think he’s ready,” Mandella said.
Top jockey Flavien Prat, who rode Salesman in the TBA Stakes, again has the call Sunday.
Goliad enters the Kilroe in the best form of his career. The 7-year-old gelding by War Front has morphed into a front-end force this season with consecutive gate-to-wire victories including the GIII Thunder Road at a mile here Feb. 3. Both wins came under Kazushi Kimura, who again has the call on Sunday.
“He’s just a head-strong horse that likes to go out there and roll,” Mandella said.
Goliad will break from the far outside in an eight-horse field. He may have to deal with another speed horse on Sunday. First Peace stretches out for trainer Mark Glatt after being forwardly placed in three straight sprints on the hillside turf course, which includes a second-level allowance win Feb. 15.
“I haven’t studied the race, and I’ll leave it up to Kimura, but I doubt he’ll take him way back. For one, the horse is just too strong,” Mandella said.
Ruby Nell most recently shipped to Gulfstream Park and ran third in the GII Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf at 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 27. In that effort, which followed a front-running win in the one-mile Lady of Shamrock here, Ruby Nell was taken off the pace by jockey Frankie Dettori.
“I probably said too much to Dettori,” Mandella said. “I was worried about her opening-up too much against that type of field. She got off a little slow, then got stuck behind a slower pace than she’s used too. I take the blame there.”
In the Buena Vista, Edwin Maldonado replaces Dettori aboard Ruby Nell. Maldonado had ridden Ruby Nell in her previous six starts but was forced to miss the Pegasus due to a shoulder injury.
Santa Anita has 10 races scheduled for Sunday. First post is 12:30 p.m. PT.

WORK TAB: OAKS PROSPECTS KOPION, NOTHING LIKE YOU TUNE-UP
Thursday’s workers at Santa Anita included a pair of 3-year-old fillies with graded-stakes wins on the resume, Kopion for Richard Mandella and Nothing Like You for Bob Baffert.
Kopion won the GIII Santa Ynez going seven furlongs here Jan. 7. Most recently, the Omaha Beach filly was second behind Kinza in the one-mile GIII Las Virgenes here Feb. 10.
On Thursday, Kopion had her first work since the Las Virgenes with an easy three-furlong move in 38.20 seconds.
Nothing Like You won the GII Starlet at Los Alamitos Dec. 10, but then was a well-beaten fourth in the Las Virgenes. The Malibu Moon filly worked three furlongs in 37.00 seconds.
The next stop on the road to the GII Santa Anita Oaks April 7 is the GIII Santa Ysabel at 1 1/16 miles March 9 . The Santa Ysabel, which is a point-paying prep for the Kentucky Oaks, was originally slated for this Sunday but was pushed back a week due to recent weather-related interruptions at Santa Anita.
Also working Thursday for trainer Michael McCarthy was Endlessly, who returned to the tab following his third stakes win in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Feb. 10. The Oscar Performance colt drilled four furlongs in 48.60 seconds.
Prior to winning the El Camino Real Derby, which provided a berth to the Preakness Stakes, Endlessly won both the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes and GIII Zuma Beach, also on turf, at Santa Anita last fall.

HALL OF FAME: SANTA ANITA WELL-REPRESENTED AMONG ’24 FINALISTS
Finalists for induction into the Racing Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. were announced this week and Santa Anita has no shortage of representation.
Of the nine horses on this year’s ballot, five called Santa Anita home including 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. This is Justify’s first-year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame. Other horses with Santa Anita ties on the ballot are Game on Dude, Kona Gold, Rags to Riches and Blind Luck.
Six trainers are also among the finalists including Santa Anita-based Doug O’Neill, John Sadler and John Shirreffs.
Rounding out the ballot finalists are two jockeys, Joel Rosario and Jorge Chavez. Rosario has won multiple riding titles at Santa Anita and is based here this winter. This is his first year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame.
Voters for the Hall of Fame can select as many candidates as they feel are worthy of induction. The winners will be announced April 23.

SANTA ANITA LINEMAKER JON WHITE ELECTED TO WA STATE HOF
Immersed in the intricacies of racing since attending races as a small boy with his father at Playfair Race Course in Spokane, Santa Anita Morning Linemaker and native Washingtonian Jon White experienced the thrill of a lifetime early Wednesday morning when it was announced that he had been selected for induction into the Washington State Racing Hall of Fame this coming Aug. 10.
“What a tremendous honor it is for this Washington-bred to go into the Washington Racing Hall of Fame,” said White in an Emerald Downs press release. “I consider it to be the pinnacle of my career in racing. I just wish that my father (Quentin White) was still alive to see this. As a lifelong racing fan, he’d be over the moon.”
Prior to becoming one of the nation’s most highly respected linemakers by virtue of his work at both Santa Anita and Del Mar, White’s racing resume, which dates back 50 years to 1974, indeed redefines “comprehensive.”
Hired on by Daily Racing Form to be a chart caller at Playfair at age 19, White would go on in 1979 at age 24, to become one of the youngest stewards in racing history at Yakima Meadows and he would then become a licensed steward at Les Bois Park in Boise, ID in 1990. He’s been a licensed CHRB steward since 2010.
A reporter-columnist for DRF at all Southern California tracks from 1981 through 1986, White is considered one of racing’s top historians. His attention to detail was more than evident when in 1986 he was assigned to be Daily Racing Form’s full-time chart caller at Santa Anita, Hollywood Park, Del Mar and Fairplex Park, a position he held until the summer of 1993.
“As a horseplayer and later as a broadcaster, Jon’s trip notes were invaluable,” said FanDuel TV’s Kurt Hoover. “He took the time and he really cared about the information he was providing. Day in and day out, his trip notes were the best.”
White made a career shift in 1993, as he stepped away from Daily Racing Form and began working as an integral part of the newly minted HRTV network, working on-air prior to becoming Santa Anita’s linemaker in 2007.
White met popular racing writer Tracy Gantz (BloodHorse Magazine and The California Thoroughbred) in the Hollywood Park press box on May 17, 1981 (“John Henry won the Hollywood Turf Invitational that day”) and married her on Nov. 27, 1983.
They reside in nearby Monrovia.
–Mike Willman

FINISH LINES: Due to a forecast of heavy rain, there is no live racing at Santa Anita Saturday. The card scheduled for Saturday, which includes the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap and three other graded stakes, has been moved to Sunday…Entries are being taken Thursday morning for a special Monday card, with first post time at 12:30 p.m…Nysos, who is entered in Sunday’s GII San Felipe, is tabbed as the 4-1 morning-line favorite in this weekend’s Preakness Stakes future wager…Top California stallion Mr. Big succumbed to laminitis this week at the age of 21. Owned by George Krikorian, he stood at Pete Parella’s Legacy Ranch near Clements, Calif…Santa Anita will be open for simulcast wagering on Saturday, with free parking and admission…ANGELA VALENZUELA reports the Holy Angels Middle Schoolers defeated the Santa Anita Jockeys this past Monday night at La Salle High School by a 23-19 score.

SANTA ANITA STATISTICS
(Current Through Sunday, February 25, 2024 Inclusive)
Jockey Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won

Juan Hernandez 156 33 30 26 21% 57% $2,304,722
Flavien Prat 112 32 27 14 29% 65% $2,324,494
Antonio Fresu 151 30 21 23 20% 49% $1,796,330
Lanfranco Dettori 116 23 18 17 20% 50% $1,270,700
Umberto Rispoli 95 18 13 22 19% 56% $1,275,402
Hector Berrios 75 15 17 10 20% 56% $928,220
Tiago Pereira 82 11 10 12 13% 40% $734,382
Kazushi Kimura 107 10 17 15 9% 39% $781,364
Armando Ayuso 85 9 13 9 11% 36% $401,540
Geovanni Franco 81 9 12 12 11% 41% $473,142

TTrainer Sts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won
Mark Glatt 60 20 13 8 33% 68% $992,464
Doug O’Neill 91 18 15 12 20% 49% $966,040
Philip D’Amato 98 16 16 10 16% 43% $1,388,680
Steve Knapp 73 16 8 10 22% 47% $582,380
Bob Baffert 54 13 15 5 24% 61% $1,256,240
Richard Mandella 33 12 5 3 36% 61% $817,240
John Sadler 63 11 12 12 17% 56% $843,746
Peter Eurton 59 9 12 9 15% 51% $568,800
Jeff Mullins 50 8 8 10 16% 52% $455,680
Michael McCarthy 53 8 7 12 15% 51% $633,820

About The Stronach Group
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 and training centers including: Santa Anita Park, Golden Gate Fields and San Luis Rey Downs (California); Gulfstream Park – home of the Pegasus World Cup Championship Invitational Series, Gulfstream Park West and Palm Meadows Thoroughbred Training Center (Florida); the Maryland Jockey Club at Laurel Park, Pimlico Race Course – home of the legendary 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 XBTV. 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.