Stakes Advances

ARCADIA, Calif. (April 1, 2009) – Saturday’s anxiously anticipated Santa Anita Derby showdown unfolded with perceived underdog The Pamplemousse being installed as a narrow choice over high flying Pioneerof the Nile among 10 entrants in the 72nd running of Santa Anita’s Grade I, $750,000 event for 3-year-olds at 1 1/8 miles.

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 26, 2009) – Medzendeekron strives for his third straight win as the 119-pound high weight in Sunday’s $125,000 Sensational Star Handicap at Santa Anita while Beltene will attempt to ignite another winning streak in the Grade III, $100,000 Santa Paula Stakes.

The only commonality between the co-features is the 6 ½-furlong distance and that the likely favorites were both sired by California stallion-sensation, Unusual Heat.

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 25, 2009) – Big Booster, an 8-year-old gelding who came within less than a length of winning the Breeders’ Cup Marathon in his last start, heads a field of seven long-fused runners in Saturday’s 53rd running of the Grade III, $100,000 Tokyo City Cup at 1 ½ miles over Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride synthetic surface.

The high weight at 119 pounds, Big Booster finished third, three-quarters of a length behind victorious Niagara Causeway, in last year’s Tokyo City when attempting a marathon distance for the first time.

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 19, 2009) – Bobby Frankel, who has saddled eight of the last 17 winners of Santa Anita’s Grade II, $150,000 Santa Ana Handicap including the last two, is expected to expand his domination with British-bred Vista in Sunday’s 42nd running of the mile-and-one-eighth turf event for older fillies and mares.

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 18, 2009) – Venerable grass marathoners Artiste Royal and Spring House, separated by less than two lengths in their only previous meeting, will share high weight of 118 pounds Saturday among seven entrants in Santa Anita’s 58th running of the Grade II, $150,000 San Luis Rey Handicap at 1½ miles on turf.

JOCKEY QUOTES

MICHAEL BAZE, CHRISTIANA’S HEAT, WINNER: “Six to six and a half furlongs on grass really is her game. When she goes long, she doesn’t have the same punch. The way it worked out today, I was able to just sit on her and when I looked back, I could see nobody was coming and that was good. I wanted to make sure we had a target and we were able to just sit chilly until the last sixteenth. When I asked her to run, she had plenty left.”

TRAINER QUOTES

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 12, 2009) – Jockey Garrett Gomez, the national leader in purse earnings and Eclipse Award winner the last two years, could reach the Santa Anita meet record for stakes victories with his mounts in Sunday’s pair of stakes races.

Gomez will ride probable favorite Bel Air Sizzle among nine entrants in the $125,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares at 6 ½ furlongs on turf, and he will be aboard contender Hype among 13 entrants in the $75,000 Pasadena Stakes for 3-year-olds at one mile on turf.

ARCADIA, Calif. (March 11, 2009) – Six ambitious 3-year-olds were named to take on Pioneerof the Nile Saturday when the West Coast’s leading Kentucky Derby candidate continues his journey down the Triple Crown trail in Santa Anita’s Grade II, $200,000 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles.

The 72nd running of the San Felipe, joined on the program by the Grade I, $300,000 Santa Margarita Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles, will serve as the final stepping-stone to the Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Derby at 1 1/8 miles on April 4.

ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 26, 2009) – Brother Keith, who has chased leading 3-year-olds Pioneerof the Nile and The Pamplemousse while routing in his last two starts, moves into more comfortable surroundings when facing seven other sophomores in Sunday’s Grade III, $100,000 Baldwin Stakes at 6 ½ furlongs over Santa Anita’s downhill turf course.

ARCADIA, Calif. (Feb. 25, 2009) – Aiming for his first Kentucky Derby victory after three seconds in 15 career rides, 44-year-old Alex Solis attempts to move a notch closer on Saturday in Santa Anita’s Grade III, $200,000 Sham Stakes while riding heavily favored The Pamplemousse, a 3-year-old co-owned and selected at sale by his son, Alex II.