Santa Anita Stable Notes Monday, May 26, 2025

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

MONDAY, MAY 26, 2025

SEISMIC BEAUTY EARNS 104 BEYER IN GII SANTA MARGARITA WIN
SUNDAY’S PICK 6 POOL SCOOPED FOR $96K WITH $16 TICKET
WORKS: BEVY OF STAKES HORSES ON TAB FOR D’AMATO
‘MOMENT OF REMEMBERANCE’ SET FOR AFTER 5th RACE

SEISMIC BEAUTY EARNS 104 BEYER IN GII SANTA MARGARITA WIN

Trainer Bob Baffert reported Seismic Beauty was “great” the morning after her scintillating win in Sunday’s GII Santa Margarita Stakes for fillies and mares.

Seismic Beauty, a massive 4-year-old daughter of the late Uncle Mo, romped by five lengths under Antonio Fresu to win her stakes debut in the 1 1/8-mile Santa Margarita. The winning time of 1:48.30 is the fastest clocking in the Santa Margarita since 2012 when Include Me Out won in a time of 1:47.62 for trainer Ron Ellis with Joe Talamo aboard.

Daily Racing Form reported Seismic Beauty earned a 104 Beyer Speed Figure for the effort.

Owned by My Racehorse and Peter Leidel, Seismic Beauty—who weighed in at a robust 1,164 pounds prior to the Santa Margarita—is out the stakes-placed Medaglia d’Oro mare Knarsdale. She was purchased by her owners for $550,000 at the 2022 Keeneland September yearling sale. With the Santa Margarita score, Seismic Beauty improved to 6: 3-2-1 with $236,840 in earnings.

Joe Moran, California racing manager for My Racehorse, said from the winner’s circle that the GI Clement L. Hirsch going 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Aug. 2 would likely be Seismic Beauty’s major summer goal. In addition to being a Grade I, the Hirsch also offers the winner an automatic bid to the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. This year’s Breeders’ Cup is also at Del Mar.

“I think in the back of our head we were very hopeful that she could do this,” Moran said. “At the end of the day, we will leave it up to Bob, but I think the Clement Hirsch at Del Mar, a Breeders’ Cup Distaff ‘Win and You’re In,’ is the plan and then the Breeders’ Cup.”

SUNDAY’S PICK 6 POOL SCOOPED FOR $96K WITH $16 TICKET

For the second day in a row Sunday, there was a pool scoop in the $2 Pick Six at Santa Anita. On Saturday, a single winning ticket purchased for $960 through Xpressbet paid $107,818. On Sunday, the lone winning ticket was purchased on-track for a mere $16 in Santa Anita’s Paddock Room and returned $96,048.40.

In Sunday’s Pick Six sequence, there was just one winning favorite and two horses that paid double-digits for a $2 wager. The pool scoop was clinched in the 10th and final race when first-time starter Ellen Jorth, ridden by Antonio Fresu for trainer Phil D’Amato, won and paid $23.80.

The winning horses in Sunday’s Pick Six starting with the fifth race were #8 Saul Elliot ($5), #7 Tiaraqueen ($23.20), #8 Twilight Empire ($8.80), #5 Catch the Breeze ($9), #1 Mucho Magical ($7.60) and #9 Ellen Jorth ($23.80).

Sunday’s Pick Six features another competitive sequence that features a robust 9.0 starters per race. With 11 races on the card, the Pick Six starts with the sixth race at 3:36 p.m. PT. Entries are available at santaanita.com.

WORKS: BEVY OF STAKES HORSES ON TAB FOR D’AMATO

It was a busy morning for the Phil D’Amato barn Monday at Santa Anita as no fewer than 15 horses worked for the Hollywood Meet’s leading trainer, many of them graded stakes performers.

Among the group was 2024 GI Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold. Gearing up after a brief freshening, Stronghold worked an easy three furlongs for the second Monday in a row. Last week, the Ghostzapper colt went in 38.20 seconds. This time he was timed in 38.40 seconds. Stronghold closed out 2024 finishing second in the GI Malibu on Dec. 26 at Santa Anita. That was followed by a disappointing 10th-place effort in the GI Pegasus World Cup when stretched out to 1 1/8 miles on Jan. 25 at Gulfstream Park.

Grade I winner Gold Phoenix worked four furlongs on the training track in 51.0 seconds. It was his first work since finishing fourth in the GI Turf Classic Stakes May 3 on the Kentucky Derby undercard at Churchill Downs.

Multiple Grade II winner Hang the Moon worked three furlongs on the training track in 37.60 seconds for D’Amato. Winner last year of both the GII Rodeo Drive at Santa Anita and GII John C. Mabee at Del Mar, the 5-year-old Uncle Mo horse hasn’t started since finishing sixth in the GIII Robert J. Frankel Dec. 27 at Santa Anita.

Iron Man Cal was back on the tab after finishing sixth in the GI American Turf for 3-year-olds on the Kentucky Derby undercard. It was his first start since a runner-up effort in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Nov. 1 at Del Mar. By Collected, Iron Man Cal worked four furlongs on the main track in 47.80 seconds.

Sun of Hill, exiting a runner-up effort in the GIII Royal Heroine, worked four furlongs in 47.40 seconds. It was the fastest of 38 works at the distance on the main track.

Sorrento Sky worked for the first time since finishing third in the GIII San Simeon sprinting on the hillside turf course March 8. The 4-year-old, Irish-bred colt by Prince of Lir drilled three furlongs on the training track in 37.40 seconds.

Rounding out D’Amato’s notable workers was California-bred stakes winner Shea Brennan. Most recently second in the 1 1/16-mile Cal Cup Derby Jan. 18, the Tough Sunday colt worked three furlongs in 37.00 seconds. It was his second work in seven days after a brief freshening.

Other notables on the tab included Stay Hot, Artislas, Grand Slam Smile and an unraced 2-year-old filly out of multiple Grade I winner I’m a Chatterbox.

Stay Hot, trained Peter Eurton, worked six furlongs on the main track in 1:12.00. A three-time stakes winner last year, the 4-year-old ridgling by Summer Front hasn’t started since finishing second in the GII Mathis Mile Dec. 26 at Santa Anita.

Artislas, winner of last year’s GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf and Eddie Logan Stakes at Santa Anita, worked four furlongs on the training track in 50.60 seconds. Trained by Jeff Mullins, the 3-year-old colt by Catalina Cruiser most recently finished fifth in the Cinema Stakes May 11 at Santa Anita.

Grand Slam Smile, a five-time stakes winner against California-breds, worked five furlongs in 1:02.60. The 4-year-old filly by Smiling Tiger hasn’t started since Nov. 30 when second in the Livermore Valley Stakes at Pleasanton. Grand Slam Smile is now trained by Sean McCarthy following the retirement of Steve Specht in December.

The filly out of I’m a Chatterbox is by top stallion Into Mischief and trained by Richard Mandella. She was credited with a two-furlong work in 25.40. It was her first time on the work tab. As a yearling, she was purchased by Spendthrift Farm for $700,000 at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale.

FINISH LINES: In honor of Memorial Day, there will be a ‘Moment of Remembrance’ after Monday’s fifth race. It will include a moment of silence and performance of ‘God Bless America.’…The three graded stakes on Monday’s card will be run consecutively starting with the GI Gamely, which goes as the seven race at 4:08 p.m. PT. It will be followed by the GII Hollywood Gold Cup (4:39 p.m.) and GI Shoemaker Mile (5:08 p.m.). In the Gamely, both Alpha Bella (6-1) and Where’s My Ring (10-1) are scratched… Antonio Fresu won three races Sunday to extend his lead in the jockey’s standings. He won the GII Santa Margarita aboard Seismic Beauty ($5.40) for trainer Bob Baffert, the fifth race on debuting 2-year-old Saul Elliot ($5) for trainer Doug O’Neill and the 10th and final race with first-time starter Ellen Jorth ($23.80) for trainer Phil D’Amato. Fresu, a 32-year-old native of Italy, has never won a riding title at Santa Anita. He holds a six-win lead over Umberto Rispoli entering Monday…After Monday’s card, live racing resumes Friday with a nine-race card starting at 1 p.m. Saturday’s card will have 10 races starting at 1 p.m. with the feature being the GIII Triple Bend going seven furlongs.

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