- SANTA ANITA FETES FOOTMAN EDDIE LOGAN
- STERLING QUEST LIKELY FOR BLUE NORTHER
- BETTING OPTIONS ABOUND AT SANTA ANITA
- EUARDO INDA PASSES AT 78
- SHAM NOMINEES WORK FOR O’NEILL, BAFFERT
- POST TIME FOR A NINE-RACE CARD TOMORROW AT 12 NOON
EDDIE LOGAN STAKES HONORS LATE LEGEND
Eddie Logan, whose home away from home was Santa Anita for nearly three-quarters of a century, will be honored Friday Dec. 31 with the running of the $100,000 Eddie Logan Stakes for two-year-olds at a mile on turf.
Logan, known affectionately as “The Footman,” operated his shoeshine stand outside the Santa Anita Racing Office from the track’s opening on Christmas Day 1934 until shortly before his death at 98 on Jan. 31, 2009.
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, a loyal ally and ardent admirer, has fond memories of Logan who played for the Kansas City Monarchs of the Negro League in the 1920s and early 1930’s, but whose lack of a formal education did not diminish his acuity.
“He was a good friend and I looked forward to going to the race track and not only getting a shoe shine, but talking with him and listening to what he had to say,” Mandella said.
“The stories he told just made you feel better.”
STERLING CREST LIKELY FOR BLUE NORTHER
Richard Baltas has three horses nominated to this Friday’s $100,000 Blue Norther Stakes–all maidens–but is likely to enter only one, Sterling Crest, in the race for two-year-old filles scheduled for a mile on turf.
Owned by Calvin Nguyen and Joey Tran, the Irish-bred daughter of the Scat Daddy stallion No Nay Never was an eventful fourth in the restricted Surfer Girl at Santa Anita going a mile on turf Oct. 3, and closed to be second in a maiden race at one mile on grass Nov. 27 at Del Mar.
Carroll Girl and Lucky Girl are the other two Baltas nominees among the 20 nominated to the race.
GRADE I RACES, PROMOTIONS ON OPENING DAY
Santa Anita presents six graded stakes on a blockbuster debut program today, three of them Grade I’s.
Also, the storied track is serving up a variety of events and promotions including the popular Craft Beer and Cider Festival.
Available to those 21 and older, the Craft Beer and Cider Festival will include LA’s best food vendors and food trucks, both trackside and near Santa Anita’s Kingsbury Fountain on the west end of the Paddock Gardens,
In addition to the Grade I Runhappy Malibu Stakes, the Grade I American Oaks and the Grade I La Brea Stakes, the card is amply and ably supported by the San Antonio Stakes, the Santa Anita Mathis Mile and the San Gabriel Stakes, each a Grade II event.
Per the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Mega Event Guidelines, fans 12 and older must provide proof of vaccination status prior to entering Santa Anita Park.
Alternatively, fans can show proof of a negative test result (taken within 72 hours from date of event).
For more information on safety protocols, please visit santaanita.com/health.
MANY WAGERING OPTIONS AT SANTA ANITA MEET
Santa Anita’s winter/spring meet offers players a plethora of wagering options, including the popular 20-cent Single Ticket Rainbow Pick Six Jackpot and a North American-low takeout of 15.43 percent on all $2 win, place and show wagers and the 50-cent Early Pick 5 which features a low 14 percent takeout, as well as the 50-cent Late Pick 5.
With the Jackpot provision in place, the 20-cent Single Ticket Rainbow Pick Six requires a perfect single ticket for a potentially life-changing payoff. Providing there is no single ticket winner, consolation tickets with the highest number of winners receive a payoff of 70 percent of the pool. The remaining 30 percent is carried over to a Jackpot pool which will accrue until there is a single ticket winner or a designate mandatory payoff day.
The $1 Stronach Five will be offered each Friday consisting of a series of five races from Santa Anita, Gulfstream Park, Laurel Park and Golden Gate Fields. The Stronach Five has a low takeout of 12 percent.
Players using the wagering app 1ST BET or Xpresssbet will receive a bonus of $10,000 in “splits,” for example, a “split” on a $5,000 prize pool will be evenly distributed among all players making winning bets. If four winning players are to share the split, each would receive $1,250.
For further wagering information, please visit santaanita.com or call 626 574-RACE.
Santa Anita’s 78-day Winter/Spring meet concludes June 19.
CHILEAN-BORN TRAINER EDUARDO INDA PASSES AT AGE 78
Eduardo Inda, best known as Ron McAnally’s primary assistant through his glory years with John Henry in the 1980s, passed away on Dec. 22 at age 78, according to family.
Born Jan. 3, 1943 in Santiago, Chile, Inda also did well for a time when training his own public stable. Credited with the resurgence of Aaron and Marie Jones’ Brazilian-bred mare Riboletta, who won six consecutive races, four of them Grade I’s (making for a total of five Grade I’s on the year), as a 5-year-old in 2000, Riboletta would be voted that year’s Eclipse Champion Older Filly or Mare.
Inda, who resided locally, is survived by his wife Monica, daughters Monica Cowell and Lisa Isaguirre and four grandchildren.
-Mike Willman
FINISH LINES: Mackinnon, third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf for Doug O’Neill, worked five furlongs Sunday in 59.60, while Grade III Nashua winner Rockefeller went the same distance in the identical time for Bob Baffert. Each colt is among the 12 nominees to Saturday’s Grade III Sham Stakes for three-year-olds at one mile. In all there were 132 recorded workouts this morning . . . Born to run department–of the 20 horses nominated to the Eddie Logan Stakes this Friday, five are bluebloods trained by Bob Baffert: Doppekganger (sire Into Mischief), Montebello (Curlin), Newgrange (Violence), Pinehurst (Twirling Candy) and Rockefeller (Medaglia d’Oro). Not to be outdone, Richard Baltas has five of the 20 nominees to Friday’s Blue Norther Stakes, Carroll Girl, Gimmee Mo Baby, Glenall, Lucky Girl and Sterling Crest, in addition to four of 15 nominees in Friday’s Robert J. Frankel Stakes, Bodhicitta, Disappearing Act, Luck and Tournesol. Post time for a nine- race card Monday will be at 12 noon PST.
LATEST CONTENT FROM XBTV:
FEATURES:
Eddie Olczyk’s Hat Trick for December 26th, 2021
Preview of the San Gabriel Stakes
Preview of the San Antonio Stakes
Preview of the Mathis Mile
Preview of the La Brea Stakes
Preview of the Runhappy Malibu
Preview of the American Oaks
WORKOUTS:
Elusive Treat (Outside) and Con on the Run (Mullins) 12-22-21
Wharton (Outside) and Distractedprincess (Baffert) 12-22-21
Comedic (Callaghan) 12-22-21
Migration (Outside) and Extra Hope (Mandella) 12-21-21
As Time Goes By (Outside) and Beautiful Gift (Baffert) 12-21-21
Run Snappy (Sadler) 12-21-21
Dr. Schivel (Glatt) 12-20-21
Express Train (Outside) and Parnelli (Shirreffs) 12-20-21
Kalypso (Baffert) 12-20-21
Via Egnatia (Baltas) 12-20-21
Midcourt (Outside) and England’s Rose (Shirreffs) 12-20-21
Rockefeller (Outside) and Bronn (Baffert) 12-20-21
Flightline (Sadler) 12-19-21
Beyond Brilliant (Shirreffs) 12-19-21
Missy P. (Outside) and Q B One (Mandella) 12-19-21
Hot Rod Charlie (Outside) and Nothngoodcomseasy (O’Neill) 12-19-21
Kiss Today Goodbye (Kruljac) 12-19-21
Bob and Jackie (Baltas) 12-19-21
Say The Word (D’Amato) 12-19-21
Friar’s Road (Outside) and Law Professor (McCarthy) 12-19-21
Hit the Road (Outside) and Quick Finish (Blacker) 12-19-21
Shaaz (Outside) and Triple Tap (Baffert) 12-19-21
Going Global (Outside) and Bacchanalia (D’Amato) 12-19-21
Majestic Eagle (Drysdale) 12-19-21
Team Merchants (Outside) and I’ll Stand Taller (O’Neill) 12-19-21
