Multiple grade II winner Twilight Eclipse will stretch out to two miles Friday, June 6 when the 5-year-old Purim gelding faces an expected 11 rivals in the inaugural $200,000 Belmont Gold Cup Invitational Stakes.
Stella Perdomo's 7-year-old gelding Forte Dei Marmi has the distinction of being the only grade I winner in the full 14-horse field set for the April 26 Dixiana Elkhorn Stakes (gr. II) at Keeneland.
Quaesitor earned the first stakes victory of his career amidst a frosty conclusion to the 2013 season at Woodbine, closing from last to capture the marathon Valedictory Stakes (Can-III) from favorite Eagle Poise.
After reviewing the Sycamore Stakes contested Oct. 17 at Keeneland, the American Graded Stakes Committee has decided not to reinstate the grade III status of the scheduled turf race that was moved to main track.
Shadwell Stables' Najjaar returned to Polytrack for the first time since his 2-year-old season and handled the switch with success Oct. 17, taking an off-the-turf edition of the $100,000 Sycamore Stakes.
Unusual Suspect won six stakes races in California and one in Australia, highlighted by the 2010 Hollywood Turf Cup (gr. IT), during a 72-race career.
The longest race at Santa Anita Park, the closing day San Juan Capistrano Handicap (gr. IIT), was settled by about an inch when Bourbon Bay came from far out of it at the quarter pole to tag Eagle Poise at the wire.
Bourbon Bay will start as an overwhelming favorite in the marathon $150,000 San Juan Capistrano Handicap (gr. IIT) as the curtain comes down on Santa Anita Park for the 75th season April 22.
A field of 16 runners, led by five grade/group I winners, will enter the starting gate for the $250,000 Dubai City of Gold Sponsored by Skywards (UAE-IIT) at Meydan Racecourse March 10.
A six-time group/graded stakes winner and a veteran of 44 career starts, 10-year-old Musketier returns for yet another season when he opens up his 2012 campaign in the $150,000 Mac Diarmida Stakes (gr. IIT) Feb. 26.
The 1 3/4-mile Valedictory Stakes (Can-III) came down to just a head when distance-loving Eagle Poise outfought Harrods Creek in deep stretch to capture the $150,388 event on Woodbine's closing day Dec. 4.
Breeders' Cup Marathon (gr. II) winner Afleet Again is the headliner in the $150,000 Valedictory Stakes (Can-III) Dec. 4 at Woodbine, but for those looking for a better price there are reasons to look elsewhere.
Juniper Pass needed every yard of the San Juan Capistrano Handicap's 1 3/4-mile distance, getting up with a desperate lunge to defeat Imponente Purse by a head to drop the curtain on the 2010-11 Santa Anita season April 17.
With no standout for the $150,000 San Juan Capistrano Invitational Handicap (gr. IIT), 10 trainers are taking a shot in Santa Anita's traditional closing-day turf feature April 17.
A fast-closing fourth in the Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I), Soul Candy seeks his first graded stakes win in the $100,000 Tokyo City Cup (gr. III) at the marathon 1 1/2-mile distance March 26 at Santa Anita.
Game On Dude survived a 12-minute stewards' inquiry to win the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) by a nose over Setsuko March 5, making Chantal Sutherland the first female jockey to win the race in 74 renewals.
Who will win the 2011 Santa Anita Handicap? Will Twirling Candy keep on rolling? Will First Dude break through? Or will it be another Dude from Bob Baffert's barn? Predict the Order
Making his stakes debut for hot trainer John Sadler, little-known Gladding dictated an easy pace and refused to give way in the stretch to capture the $150,000 San Antonio Stakes (gr. II) at Santa Anita Feb. 6.
Aggie Engineer, a sharp stakes winner in his two most recent starts, looks for his fourth straight victory in the $150,000 San Antonio Stakes (gr. II), the featured race on Super Bowl Sunday at Santa Anita Feb. 6.
Bourbon Bay, the West Coast's premier turf marathoner for most of 2010, takes on last season's late-developing Champ Pegasus in the $150,000 San Marcos Stakes (gr. IIT) at Santa Anita on Martin Luther King Jr. Day Jan. 17.
The tactics differed but the results remained the same for favored Aggie Engineer, who used a stalking trip to capture the $150,000 San Pasqual Stakes (gr. II) Jan. 8 in his first start on Santa Anita's new dirt track.
Aggie Engineer, whose soft early pace set him up for the first graded win of his career last month, could get a similar scenario Jan. 8 when the Paddy Gallagher trainee faces five rivals in the $150,000 San Pasqual Stakes.
The Usual Q. T., in his first appearance since placing third in the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile (gr. IT), heads the field for the $150,000 San Gabriel Stakes (gr. IIT) on the second day of the Santa Anita season Dec. 27.
Imco Spirit, a 9-1 outsider, completed his rise from $12,500 claimer to stakes winner in three months with a track-record victory in the $218,000 Zia Park Distance Championship Dec. 5 in Hobbs, N.M.
Dakota Phone, the only California-based horse to win a Breeders' Cup race last month, will return Dec. 4 in the $100,000 Native Diver Handicap (gr. III) at Hollywood Park.
| Horse | Trainer | Breeder / Owner |
|---|---|---|
| Eagle Poise | H. Graham Motion |
|
| High Court Drama (IRE) | Doug F. O'Neill |
|
| Philatelist | Humberto Ascanio |
|
| Quindici Man | Craig Anthony Lewis |
|
| Rendezvous | Jerry Hollendorfer |
|
| Snowmaster | H. Graham Motion |
|
| Tap It Light | Mike R. Mitchell |
|
| Unusual Suspect | Barry Abrams |
|
| Race | Track | Date |
|---|---|---|
| OBS Sprint S. | OTC | |
| OBS Sprint S. | OTC | |
| OBS Championship S. | OTC | |
| OBS Championship S. | OTC | |
| Marshua S. | LRL |
