SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Umberto Rispoli / 9
Antonio Fresu / 9
Juan Hernandez / 8
Tiago Pereira / 8
Armando Ayuso / 8
Hector Berrios / 7
Trainers / Wins
Phil D’Amato / 9
Bob Baffert / 6
John Sadler / 6
Steve Knapp / 5
Leonard Powell / 4
George Papaprodromou / 4
UPCOMING STAKES
SANTA ANITA
Saturday
• $100,000 Siren Lure Stakes, 4-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs on turf
Sunday
• $100,000 Cinema Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 mile on turf
LOS ALAMITOS
Saturday
• $35,000 Dillingham Handicap, 3-year-old quarter horses, 400 yards
Sunday
• $400,000, Grade II Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity, 2-year-old quarter horses, 300 yards
DOWN THE STRETCH
• Journalism, the Santa Anita Derby winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up, remained at Churchill Downs on Thursday and is not definite to run in the May 17 Preakness as the entry deadline approaches Monday. Aron Wellman, who heads the ownership group, said in comments posted on the Pimlico website: “We’re going to monitor Journalism to the best of our ability and then make the best decision for the horse at the end of the day. But we’re not saying we’re in and we’re certainly not shutting the door.” Trainer Bob Baffert told Pimlico officials he plans to enter Goal Oriented, who’s 2 for 2 at sub-stakes levels at Santa Anita and Churchill, as well as Rodriguez, the Wood Memorial winner who missed the Kentucky Derby with a foot bruise. The 10 Preakness candidates, with jockeys if known: Journalism (Umberto Rispoli), Rodriguez (Mike Smith), American Promise (Nik Juarez), River Thames (Irad Ortiz Jr.), Gosger (Luis Saez), Heart of Honor (Saffie Osborne), Bullard, Pay Billy (Raul Mena), Clever Again (Jose Ortiz) and Goal Oriented.
• Santa Anita features ungraded stakes Saturday and Sunday. The Siren Lure is a matchup of veterans, returning Bran (Umberto Rispoli) and Air Force Red (Armando Ayuso), the latter seeking his second stakes victory in a row for trainer Leonard Powell, who’s up to fifth in the Hollywood Meet standings with four wins from his past 18 starts. The Cinema pits recent stakes winner Freedom’s Not Free (Antonio Fresu) against Artislas (Reylu Gutierrez), a two-time stakes winner for trainer Jeff Mullins, coming off Queen Maxima’s stakes win at Churchill on May 2.
• Beyond Repair (Ruben Lozano) and Beuteeful (Jose Nicasio) top the qualifiers for Sunday night’s Grade II Robert Adair Kindergarten Futurity, the first of the big races for 2-year-old quarter horses at Los Alamitos this year.
• Results on the classy cards at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks and Derby days shook up the National Thoroughbred Racing Association top 10. Poor performances dropped 2024 Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna from No. 1 to No. 5 and Santa Anita Handicap winner Locked from No. 3 to No. 6. Wins lifted Fierceness to No. 2, Mindframe to No. 3, turf horse Spirit of St. Louis to No. 7, filly Kopion to No. 8 and mare Raging Sea to No. 9. White Abarrio, who could race next in the June 7 Met Mile at Saratoga, inherited the No. 1 spot.
• California’s Kopion was the fastest of the 15 stakes winners at Churchill on Friday and Saturday, earning a Beyer speed figure of 109 by winning the Derby City Distaff by three lengths in 1:21.76 for 7 furlongs. With her 110 in winning the Santa Monica Stakes at Santa Anita, the 4-year-old filly ridden Saturday by Kazushi Kimura for trainer Richard Mandella has the two highest Beyer figures by a female in 2025.
• The death of the unraced 3-year-old thoroughbred filly Pretty Wicked from an injury in training at Los Alamitos on May 1 was the 13th at Los Al and Santa Anita since the latter track’s season opened Dec. 26, according to California Horse Racing Board data. That total includes deaths attributed to musculoskeletal and non-musculoskeletal causes in racing and training. The 13 matches the number from the same period in 2024 and approximates the average for the same period the past four years.
— Kevin Modesti
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