Santa Anita Stable Notes Friday, Jan. 2, 2026

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

SANTA YNEZ: LA WALLY, REVERA LOOK TO UPEND BAFFERT TRIO
The Santa Ynez Stakes for newly turned 3-year-old fillies goes as the feature on a nine-race card scheduled for Saturday at Santa Anita. The Santa Ynez, contested at seven furlongs, kicks off the road to the Grade II Santa Anita Oaks on April 4 and also awards qualifying points for this spring’s Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs.
Looming as the heavy 1-2 favorite on the morning line is Explora, one of three runners entered for trainer Bob Baffert. Explora returns to sprinting and drops in class following a second-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies going 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar on Oct. 31. Also entered for Baffert is Grade III winner Himika (5-2), most recently second in the seven-furlong Desi Arnaz on Nov. 16 at Del Mar; and Toaster (10-1), a daughter of McKinzie who won her debut sprinting 6 ½ furlongs at Los Alamitos on Dec. 12.
The chief rivals to Baffert’s triumvirate are La Wally (6-1) and Revera (10-1).
La Wally, trained by Mark Glatt, also exits the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The daughter of Constitution pressed the pace in second for the opening half mile before weakening to finish eighth in a field of nine.
“She didn’t fire her race,” Glatt said Friday morning. “She came back OK. We kind of put her up into the race a little more than we had and maybe that wasn’t the right tactic for her. We’ll see what happens Saturday.”
Prior to the Breeders’ Cup, La Wally finished second to Explora in the GII Oak Leaf at 1 1/16 miles on Oct. 4 at Santa Anita. In two prior sprint tries, La Wally won her debut going five furlongs at Del Mar in July and then was third, beaten 1 ½ lengths in the GI Del Mar Debutante going seven furlongs.
“I think the cutback is Ok for her,” Glatt said.
La Wally, who’ll be ridden by Umberto Rispoli for the first time, looks to be well-drawn in the outside post given the abundance of speed to her inside.
“She should sit the right trip,” Glatt said.
Owned by Muir Hut Stables, La Wally was a $300,000 auction buy as a yearling.
Revera, trained by John Sadler, most recently beat Santa Ynez rival Himika by three-quarters of a length when scoring in the Desi Arnaz. Never worse than second in four starts, Revera previously finished runner-up to Himika in the Anoakia going six furlongs at Santa Anita Nov. 16.
Revera, by Lexitonian, was an $85,000 purchase at last year’s OBS March Sale.
“She’s a very hard trier,” Sadler said. “If you look at her form, two wins and two seconds. She’s tried every time.
“Unfortunately, we got the draw we didn’t want.”
Revera, who has been on or near the early lead in all four starts, will break from post one with new jockey Hector Berrios, who replaces the injured Antonio Fresu.
The Santa Ynez goes as the eighth race at 3:43 p.m. PT. The field in post position order: Revera, Hector Berrios (10-1); Explora, Juan Hernandez (1-2); Himika, Kazushi Kimura (5-2); Toaster, Mike Smith (10-1); La Wally, Umberto Rispoli (6-1).

MAKEUP CARD ADDED FOR THURSDAY, JAN. 8 AFTER CANCELLATIONS
Following the cancellation of racing on Wednesday and Thursday, Santa Anita has added a special makeup card for this upcoming Thursday, Jan. 8. Entries will be taken on Saturday.
The program will include both the GIII Robert J. Frankel for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf and the Eddie Logan Stakes at one mile on turf for what are now newly turned 3-year-olds. Both races had been scheduled for Wednesday.
The remaining races from the canceled cards on Wednesday and Thursday will be offered back the first weekend of Condition Book #2 from Jan. 16-18.
A rain-drenched start to the Santa Anita season has resulted in four cards being canceled since the scheduled start of the Classic Meet on Dec. 26. One makeup card was held this past Monday.

FRIDAY’S $1 SUNSET PICK 6 HAS A $6,991 CARRYOVER
There is a $6,991 carryover in Friday’s $1 Sunset Pick Six. The sequence, which incorporates the final three races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, starts at 12:19 p.m. PT with the eighth race from Gulfstream.
To help make informed selections, Santa Anita has teamed with Daily Racing Form to provide free past performances for the Sunset Pick Six. They can be accessed at https://promos.drf.com/sunset-pick6. Note that Friday’s seventh and ninth races at Santa Anita have both been taken off the turf and will be run on the main track at their originally scheduled distances.
Also available to horseplayers Friday is the $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5, which links select races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park. The wager kicks off at 12:49 p.m. PT with the eighth race from Gulfstream. Also in the sequence is the ninth race from Gulfstream and the third, fourth and fifth races from Santa Anita.
Free past performances for the Coast to Coast are also available at https://promos.drf.com/coast-to-coast-pick5.
Both the Sunset Pick Six and Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 feature a low 15 percent takeout and are available to retail players only.

FINISH LINES: Friday’s fourth and seventh races, both originally scheduled for the turf, will be run on the main track at their assigned distances…Sunday’s feature on a scheduled nine-race card is the GIII La Flores for older fillies and mares going six furlongs. Installed as the 3-2 program favorite is Thermal for trainer John Sadler. Thermal will be ridden by Hector Berrios. First post Sunday is 12 p.m. PT. The Las Flores goes as the sixth race at approximately 2:30 p.m….On Monday, there was a single winning ticket in the $2 Pick Six that paid a cool $47,288.60. The consolation payout was $277.60 for tickets with 5-of-6 winners. The winning horses starting with the fourth race were #8 Into The Hall ($4.60), #4 Captain Choochies ($17.60), #4 Tessuto ($6.20), #9 Gas Me Up ($28.20), #7 Mr. Disrespectful ($7) and #11 Medici ($9.80)…Monday’s $1 Super High 5 paid $24,265.50 for a single winning ticket. According to track officials, the winning ticket was purchased for $180 through an online wagering platform….Horseplayer Joe Vida, winner of the $1,500 Santa Anita Opening Day Live Money Tournament, will be host Tom Quigley’s handicapping guest Saturday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 10:50 a.m. PT.

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