With most of the major training over for the Nov. 6-7 Breeders' Cup World Championships completed, the work tab at Santa Anita Nov. 3 was pretty light.
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
What could be more specialized than horses that like to sprint on the turf? Yet all manner of runners make up the 22 pre-entries in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, which drew the largest field of all 14 Breeders' Cup races.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Favored California Flag led nearly all the way to win the $100,000 Morvich Handicap (gr. IIIT) on opening day of the Oak Tree Racing Association meet at Santa Anita Park Sept. 30, earning a repeat victory in the hillside turf course event over runner-up Get Funky and a berth in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Fittingly featuring 2008 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint champion Desert Code, the Sept. 30 Morvich Handicap (gr. IIIT) heads Oak Tree's 31-day season at Santa Anita, one that will be highlighted by the two-day, $25.5-million Breeders' Cup World Championships on Nov. 6 and 7.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Front-running Mr Gruff won his stakes debut in style, turning back a brief challenge in the lane to win the $100,000 San Simeon Handicap (gr. IIIT) on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita April 18.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Hillside turf course specialist Desert Code makes a quick turnaround for trainer David Hofmans as the 122-pound high weight in the $100,000 San Simeon Handicap (gr. IIIT) on Santa Anita's penultimate day for the 2008-09 racing season April 18.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Dixie Chatter slid through an opening on the rail mid-stretch and kicked clear to win the $150,000 Arcadia Handicap (gr. IIT) at Santa Anita Park April 4 for his first graded stakes win since capturing the 2007 Norfolk Stakes (gr. I).
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Millionaire Desert Code, winner of both last fall's Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint and the Daytona Handicap (gr. IIIT) six weeks ago on the hillside turf course, will attempt to stretch out to a mile in the Arcadia Handicap (gr. IIT) at Santa Anita April 4.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
If you saw Desert Code's dramatic come-from-behind win in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint last fall, this victory was nothing like that one. Instead, Desert Code took the lead shortly after the start of the $100,000 Daytona Handicap (gr. IIIT) Feb. 15 on the same hillside turf course at Santa Anita and was never threatened.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Desert Code, 35-1 upset winner of the inaugural Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint last fall, makes his 5-year-old debut in the $100,000 Daytona Handicap (gr. IIIT) at Santa Anita Park Feb. 15, regardless of whether the race remains on the hillside turf course.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
One of the most popular victories in this year's Breeders' Cup was the dramatic score by Richie Migliore, aboard Desert Code, in the inaugural Turf sprint. It was Migliore's first Breeders' Cup or Classic win after so many years of frustration.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
It took hillside course specialist Desert Code, the longest shot on the board at odds of 36-1, to crack the inaugural $1-million Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Oct. 25.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The biggest head-scratcher of the two-day Breeders' Cup World Championships could well be the inaugural running of the $1-million Turf Sprint Oct. 25.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
The return of the Breeders' Cup World Championships to Santa Anita Park Oct. 24-25 will usher in a trio of races new for the event's 25th edition.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Defending champion Get Funky, seeking an assured Breeders' Cup berth, heads 12 entrants in the $100,000 Morvich Handicap as the Oak Tree Racing Association launches its 40th season at Santa Anita Sept. 24.
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Hoping to earn a place among the nation's elite sprinters, the seven runners lining up for the $300,000 Triple Bend Handicap (gr. I) will all have something to prove at Hollywood Park on July 5.
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
The 2008 running of the $150,000 Berkeley Stakes (gr. III) went much better than last year's for McCann's Mojave, who seized the lead from favored Desert Code at the three-sixteenth pole and rolled to a driving 3 1/2-length win at Golden Gate Fields May 26.
Monday, May 26, 2008
Stakes veteran McCann's Mojave, a grade III winner on Golden Gate Fields' Tapeta Footings surface last November for trainer Steve Specht, tries to do it again in the $150,000 Berkeley Stakes (gr. III) on Memorial Day, May 26, at the Albany track.
Friday, May 23, 2008
Multiple grade II winner Surf Cat teamed with Alex Solis to win the $150,000 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap (gr. II) for the second time in the past three years April 26 at Hollywood Park.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Surf Cat, winner of the 2006 Mervyn LeRoy Handicap (gr. II) for trainer Bruce Headley, will attempt to do it again on the stretch-out April 26 at Hollywood Park.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
A federal bankruptcy judge has signed an order to convert the Chapter 11 business reorganization of ClassicStar LLC to Chapter 7 liquidation, paving the way for creditors to pursue whatever assets they can find linked to the former broodmare-lease operator.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Grade II winner Notional, runner-up in last year's Florida Derby (gr. I) but sidelined by a fractured ankle soon after, begins his 4-year-old campaign on Santa Anita's hillside turf course in the $75,000 Daytona Handicap Feb. 17.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Outsider Unusual Suspect found a gaping hole mid-stretch and exploited it for his first graded stakes win in the $150,000 Hollywood Turf Express Handicap (gr. IIIT) Nov. 24.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Trainer Christophe Clement hopes to get his Turf Festival weekend off to a good start at Hollywood Park on Nov. 24 when he sends the consistent Quietly Mine against nine rivals in the $150,000 Turf Express Handicap (gr. IIIT).
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Jerry and Ann Moss' Tiago, guided through a narrow opening at the rail mid-stretch by jockey Mike Smith, went to victory as the even-money choice in the $368,250 Swaps Breeders' Cup (gr. II) for 3-year-olds at Hollywood Park Saturday.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Tiago, winner of the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) and third in the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), heads a field of six in Saturday's $350,000 Swaps Breeders' Cup Stakes (gr. II) at Hollywood Park.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Yes, there are 3-year-olds west of the Mississippi this year. Which one, or ones, will earn the right to take on the big guns back east will be decided in Saturday's $350,000 Swaps Stakes (gr. II), where Tiago will make his first start in California since winning the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I).
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Desert Code, beaten in photo finishes in his last two starts, left nothing to chance this time, scooting to a front-running 1 3/4-length victory under jockey Richard Migliore in Sunday's $106,600 Affirmed Handicap (gr. III) for 3-year-olds at Hollywood Park.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Awesome Gambler, impressive winner of his last two starts, faces his toughest challenge to date when he aims for his first graded stakes win in Sunday's $100,000 Affirmed Handicap (gr. III) at Hollywood Park.
Friday, June 15, 2007
Jockey David Flores registered his 3,000th North American win Sunday when his substitute mount Time to Get Even rallied on the outside to catch favored Principle Secret in the final couple of strides and win the $109,700 Lazaro Barrera Memorial (gr. III) by a neck at Hollywood Park.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Principle Secret, one of the country's most heralded 2-year-olds in 2006, will try to turn the tables on unbeaten Try To Fly as he makes his second 2007 start in Sunday's contentious Lazaro S. Barrera Memorial Stakes (gr. III) for 3-year-olds at Hollywood Park.
Friday, May 18, 2007
Golden Balls, an Irish-bred import whose name celebrates the soccer accomplishments of British superstar David Beckham, rallied furiously Saturday to nail odds-on favorite Desert Code in the final strides of Santa Anita's $108,300 La Puente Stakes for 3-year-olds at one mile on turf.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Tarabilla Farms' Desert Code kicked clear in the stretch after a smart rally under Richard Migliore to capture the $106,600 Baldwin Stakes (gr. IIIT) for 3-year-olds on the downhill turf course at Santa Anita Saturday.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Tarabilla Farms' Desert Code is the 117-pound highweight for the $100,000 Baldwin Stakes (gr. IIIT) at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf for 3-year-olds.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Zayat Stables' odds-on choice E Z Warrior, making his first appearance in more than six months, remained unbeaten in three starts for trainer Bob Baffert with a measured front-running victory in the $80,000 San Miguel for 3-year-olds at Santa Anita Park on Sunday.
Sunday, January 07, 2007
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