Press Releases

ARCADIA, Calif. (Jan. 3, 2013)—After a seven year hiatus, retired Hall of Fame jockey Gary Stevens, 49, and a winner of three Kentucky Derbies, announced Thursday on HRTV that he would return to the saddle this Sunday in Santa Anita’s 6th race.

“My knees probably didn’t feel this good the last five years that I rode,” said Stevens in making the announcement. “I’ve been getting on horses for the past eight weeks and there’s been a lot of speculation about me coming back. I’ve worked some exciting horses over the past couple of weeks. A couple in particular that kinda made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, and I said ‘Man, I missed this,’ just the feeling of that straight power and speed underneath you.

“I spent the last couple of months…I was up in the great Northwest, up in Seattle going through kind of a boot camp type program just getting healthy and fit and getting on some horses and I said ‘You know what, I haven’t felt like this since probably 10 years before I retired.’”

Entries were taken Thursday morning for Sunday’s races and Stevens is named to ride Jebrica, a 4-year-old gelding in the 6th race. Jebrica is trained by veteran conditioner Jim Penney, for whom Stevens rode early in his career at the now-shuttered Longacres Racetrack in Renton, Washington.

“He’s a horse that’s been training well and (this) gives me a chance to stretch my legs and get my timing back a little bit,” said Stevens. “I haven’t been this comfortable working horses in the mornings. Sometimes the morning work was harder on me than the afternoon. You’re doing different things, you’re on young horses that are jumping sideways, doing this or that, that would tweak your knee. I was able to get on yearlings that are now 2-year-olds up in Seattle and it’s done me a lot of good.”

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 31, 2012)—In her first lifetime try on turf, Stanwyck, a 3-year-old half sister to 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo, was an impressive first-condition allowance winner under Garrett Gomez Monday at Santa Anita, defeating 10 other fillies and mares by 1 ¼ lengths while covering 1 1/8 miles on a “good” turf in 1:48.16.

“We have been wanting to try her on the turf and we thought this was a good opportunity,” said Dottie Ingordo Shirreffs, wife of winning trainer John Shirreffs and racing manager for owner/breeders Ann and Jerry Moss. “We always wanted to try her family on the turf as well…but when they’re running and winning so well on the dirt, you hate to try something new. We thought this would be the time to try the turf, early in her career and it looks favorable that we’ll keep her there.”

Dispatched as the 5-2 favorite Stanwyck sat mid-pack behind fractions of 23.36, 47.41, 1:11.51 and 1:35.67.

Although she hugged the temporary rail (set at 15 feet from the permanent barrier) into and around the far turn, Gomez didn’t intend to have his mount positioned quite that way.

“She’s so big and I really didn’t want to be inside with her,” said Gomez, who turns 41 on New Year’s Day. “A horse came to my hip as we went to the far turn, so I wasn’t able to get out. It worked out though, because Gutierrez (Mario, rider of eventual fourth-place finisher Ghost of a Chance) went through an opening and I was able to follow him.”

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 30, 2012)—In a finish that the race’s namesake would have relished, English-bred Qaraaba came running from dead last in a field of nine fillies and mares to take Sunday’s Grade III, $150,000 Robert J. Frankel Stakes at Santa Anita, covering 1 1/8 miles on a rain-soaked turf in 1:49.20, while winning in-hand by 1 ¼ lengths under Julien Leparoux.

Last going to the far turn, Qaraaba, trained by Simon Callaghan, sat well off splits of 24.41, 49.69, 1:13.85 and 1:37.66, and was taken four-wide by Leparoux entering the stretch. At that point the race was, for all intents and purposes, over as the 5-year-old mare motored to her first graded stakes victory.

“Simon told me to ride her with a lot of confidence and I did,” said the two-time Eclipse Award-winning Leparoux. “She’s a very handy filly and she relaxed perfectly. As you could see, she won pretty easily and she had a lot left.”

A five-time minor stakes winner in England, Qaraaba was an impressive winner in her U.S. debut, taking a second-condition allowance going 1 1/16 miles on turf at Betfair Hollywood Park on Nov. 15 at odds of 4-5.

“We thought the world of this filly from Day One,” said Callaghan. “She’s special. She’ll get better as she goes further. You need to take her back and get her to relax, no matter what the pace is. Julien did a good job.

The second choice at 5-2 in Sunday’s Frankel, Qaraaba paid $7.20, $4.00 and $2.80. Owned by Michael Tabor and Alice Bamford, Qaraaba banked $90,000 on Sunday and extended her bankroll to $171,119. Her record now stands at 15-7-2-1.

Tiz Flirtatious, one of two California-breds in the Frankel, for fillies and mares three years old and up, ran second with Rafael Bejarano as the 7-5 favorite, 1 ¼ lengths in front More Chocolate and Garrett Gomez.

CLASSY TEDDY’S PROMISE WINS $75,000 KALOOKAN QUEEN; EDDIE LOGAN, FOR 2-YEAR-OLDS, TAKEN BY RICK PITINO’S AVARE

ARCADIA, Calif. (Dec. 29, 2012)—Sent from the gate through blistering fractions of 21.78, 44.16, 1:08.25 and coming home 6 ½ furlongs on a wet-fast main track in 1:14.55, 1 ¾ lengths in front of Clubhouse Ride and Aaron Gryder, Comma to the Top, with replacement rider Edwin Maldonado aloft, became racing’s newest millionaire in winning the Grade III, $100,000 Daytona Stakes Saturday at Santa Anita.

With the winner’s share of $60,000, Comma to the Top, who is owned by Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Kevin Tsujihara, passed the magical million dollar mark, running his earnings to $1,027,696. He has an enviable overall record of 25-11-2-1.

“Words can’t describe a horse like this,” said winning trainer Peter Miller, who has had the horse throughout his entire career. He’s gone through so much, but he wants to beat you. He’s just an iron horse. He’s a $22,000 gelding and you wish you had a barnful of them. He makes training easy. He tries every time. He just wants to please you.”

Comma to the Top, who was purchased out of an Ocala, Florida 2-year-old in training sale for just $22,000, again displayed ample gameness and versatility in winning the Daytona, which was originally scheduled to be run at 6 ½ furlongs down the hillside turf course.