- FORBIDDEN KINGDOM SET FOR SANTA ANITA DERBY
- FESTIVE ANNUAL SPRING CARNIVAL ON APRIL 2-17
- CLOSING REMARKS EYES LAST WORD IN SANTA ANA
- ADVANCE WAGERING TODAY ON DUBAI WORLD CUP
- FORMER CHRB CHAIRMAN CHUCK WINNER PASSES
‘KINGDOM’ WORKS FOR RUNHAPPY SANTA ANITA DERBY
Forbidden Kingdom did not collect $200 but he did pass Go Thursday for the Grade I Runhappy Santa Anita Derby on April 9.
The son of 2015 Triple Crown champion American Pharoah worked six furlongs in 1:14 flat yesterday and was proclaimed back on course for the race that, when the recent disqualification of Medina Spirit is factored in, has produced 19 Kentucky Derby winners, the most recent being 2018 Triple Crown king Justify.
The West Coast’s top contender for the May 7 Run for the Roses, Forbidden Kingdom had missed a scheduled work March 18 for the Santa Anita Derby due to an elevated temperature, but Richard Mandella could barely contain his enthusiasm after Thursday’s breeze under former jockey Nestor Capitaine, calling the 60-year-old exercise rider “one of the greatest the world has ever seen.”
While Santa Anita’s clockers gave Forbidden Kingdom a time of 1:14, the Hall of Fame trainer said, “He worked five-eighths in 1:01 and galloped out three-quarters in 1:13 and change, hardly pulled up. It was very good. He went great.
“This was the first work (since capturing his initial two-turn effort in the 1 1/16-mile San Felipe Stakes on March 5),” Mandella added. “He went the first eighth in 13 (seconds) and finished in 24 sittin’ easy, so it couldn’t be better.”
A chestnut colt owned by MyRacehorse and Spendthrift Farm LLC, Forbidden Kingdom earned 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points winning the San Felipe, and is in prime pouncing position to give Mandella his first win in the Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles in this, its 85th edition.
(Note: The race was run at 1 1/16 miles from 1935 through 1937 and at 1 ¼ miles in 1947).
The $750,000 purse awards $450,000 to the winner and also offers him 100 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, 40 to the runner-up, 20 to the third-place finisher and 10 to the fourth.
ANNUAL SPRING CARNIVAL APRIL 2 THROUGH APRIL 17
While the Grade I Runhappy Santa Anita Derby will be the centerpiece of a seven-stakes racing bonanza April 9, five of them graded, attending fans can avail themselves of a myriad of other activities at Santa Anita’s annual Spring Carnival all weekends from April 2 through April 17.
It includes a Winner’s Circle BBQ Championship (April 2 & 3), a Ferris Wheel, Zipper, Train Ride and much more, namely carnival games and snacks, and the San Gabriel Valley’s largest Easter Egg Hunt on April 17.
For additional Spring Carnival information, please visit santaanita.com or call 626 574-RACE.
SANTA ANA CONDITIONS SUIT CLOSING REMARKS
Save for one troubled race and another moved to an unfamiliar surface at the 11th hour, Closing Remarks has been a gem of consistency in her 13-race career, compiling a 3-4-2 mark with earnings of $371,320 for owner/breeder Harris Farms.
Carla Gaines is optimistic the four-year-old California-bred daughter of noted turf sire Vronsky will give another good account of herself in Saturday’s Grade III Santa Ana Stakes for older fillies and mares at 1 ¼ miles on the hillside turf course.
“She didn’t handle that very well,” the trainer said, alluding to the Grade I American Oaks, when eased in the 1 ¼-mile race by Joe Bravo after it was moved from turf to dirt last Dec. 26.
“When she didn’t respond, he just sort of wrapped up on her,” Gaines added. “It was kind of a non-race.”
Otherwise, the late-running chestnut has been consistent.
“Hopefully, we can win this one,” Gaines said. “We’ve had so many close ones.” If so, it would be Closing Remark’s first graded stakes triumph to go along with a win versus statebreds in Santa Anita’s California Cup Oaks at a mile on turf Jan. 16.
“She has a running style that’s suitable to this race, and some of her best efforts have been at a mile and an eighth, so we’re hoping the mile and a quarter will fit her,” Gaines said.
“We’ll find out.”
The Santa Ana, race seven of nine with a 1 p.m. first post time: Charges Dropped, Mario Gutierrez, 20-1; Quiet Secretary, Tyler Baze, 20-1; Closing Remarks, Joe Bravo, 5-2; Keyflower, Abel Cedillo, 6-1; Queen Goddess, Victor Espinoza, 6-1; Neige Blanche, Juan Hernandez, 7-2; Going to Vegas, Umberto Rispoli, 9-5; and Carpe Vinum, Ryan Curatolo, 12-1. Disappearing Act was scratched.
ADVANCE WAGERING TODAY ON DUBAI WORLD CUP
The eyes of the racing will be focused Saturday on the Dubai World Cup, which offers the winner $7.2 million. The entire World Cup program airs on TVG starting at 4:30 a.m. Pacific Time, with Advanced Wagering offered today at Santa Anita.
There will be a strong sense of The Great Race Place when the $12 million Dubai World Cup is run at Meydan Racecourse.
The two favorites for the 26th edition of the Group 1 classic at about 1 1/8 miles, Hot Rod Charlie and Life Is Good, both have an intrinsic connection to Santa Anita, Hot Rod Charlie being based here, while Life Is Good won the Sham Stakes and the San Felipe Stakes as a three-year-old here last year when trained by Bob Baffert. Life Is Good is now conditioned by Todd Pletcher.
The Dubai World Cup field, with approximate odds: Life Is Good, Irad Ortiz Jr., 10-11; Aero Trem, Vagner Leal, 66-1; Chuwa Wizard, Yuga Kawada, 33-1; Grocer Jack, Tom Marquand, 66-1; Country Grammer, Frankie Dettori, 10-1; Real World, Christophe Soumillon, 25-1; Hot Rod Charlie, Flavien Prat, 7-2; Midnight Bourdbon, Jose Ortiz, 12-1; Magny Cours, William Buick, 25-1; Hypothetical, Mickael Barzalona, 25-1; and Remorse, Tadhg O’Shea, 50-1.
Approximate World Cup post time is 9:30 a.m. Pacific Time.
WINNER, FORMER RACING COMMISSIONER, DIES AT 81
Chuck Winner, an internationally recognized expert in public affairs, crisis communications, and campaign management, who served on the California Horse Racing Board from 2012 to 2019, five of those years as chairman, passed away Thursday morning (March 24) from natural causes at the age of 81.
Winner guided the CHRB through difficult times, striving for improved safety measures to protect horses and riders, resulting in greater equine health and welfare throughout California.
After advising Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office that he would not be seeking reappointment after he completed his second term as a racing commissioner on July 26, 2019, Winner said, “It’s been a challenging yet fulfilling seven years. My colleagues and I have faced some challenging and critical issues. I hope that we have made a positive difference.”
Winner is survived by his wife, Annie, and four children: Justyn, Ethan, Nicole, and Zach. Private funeral arrangements are pending.
FINISH LINES: While Flavien Prat continues to hold commanding leads over runner-up Juan Hernandez and third-place John Velazquez (70, 44, 29, respectively) among Santa Anita’s jockeys, there is a three-way tie for fourth at 23 between Abel Cedillo, apprentice Diego Herrera and Tyler Baze. Phil D’Amato, Bob Baffert and Doug O’Neill are the top three in the trainers’ standings with 28, 25 and 23 wins, respectively . . . Grade I Shoemaker Mile winner Smooth Like Strait worked five furlongs in 1:01.60 Friday for Michael McCarthy. It was one of 69 recorded drills on the main track. There were 23 on the training track . . .Jockey Joe Bravo will receive the coveted George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award this Sunday in a Winner’s Circle ceremony following race six… … Trainer Jeff Metz and horseplayer Len Hanson, winner of the $500 XB/SA Tournament last Saturday, will be host Tom Quigley’s respective guests today and on Saturday, 11:50 a.m., in the East Paddock Gardens.
LATEST CONTENT FROM XBTV:
FEATURES:
Stronach Pick 5 All-Star Ticket
Preview of Race 5
Preview of Race 6
Preview of Race 7
Preview of The Santa Ana Stakes
WORKOUTS:
Forbidden Kingdom (Chestnut) and Charlito (Dark Bay) (Mandella) 3-24-22
Chipper (Glatt) 3-24-22
Lookin So Lucky (Barba) 3-24-22
Floral Essence (Mullins) 3-24-22
Luvluv (Outside) and Kalon (Sadler) 3-24-22
Algeria (Knapp) 3-23-22
Micro Share (Outside) and Troubadour (Mandella) 3-23-22
