Cornucopian Blazes To First Stakes Win In Sunday’s Grade III San Carlos Stakes Going 7 Furlongs At Santa Anita

CORNUCOPIAN BLAZES TO FIRST STAKES WIN IN SUNDAY’S GRADE III SAN CARLOS STAKES GOING 7 FURLONGS AT SANTA ANITA

ARCADIA, CA (March 29, 2026)—Cornucopian, returning to the stakes ranks after a brief try on last year’s Kentucky Derby trail, blazed to a 2 ¾-length victory in the Grade III, $100,000 San Carlos Stakes going seven furlongs at Santa Anita.

Sent off the heavy 1-5 favorite, Cornucopian broke in front but jockey Juan Hernandez was content to let Bartholdy (11-1) set the pace from the inside with Listenupshance (12-1) tracking that leader. Approaching the quarter pole, Listenupshance passed Bartholdy, but his lead would only last until mid-stretch. Rolling on the outside was Cornucopian, who surged ahead of a hard-trying Listenupshance with a furlong remaining and then extended his lead to the finish line to win by 2 ¾ lengths.

Trained by Bob Baffert, Cornucopian won in a time of 1:20.71, which followed fast fractions of 22.16, 44.03 and 1:07.93 for six furlongs. The winning time was just off the stakes record of 1:20 1/5 set by Flying Paster in 1981. It is the fastest San Carlos since 2012 when The Factor won in 1:20.56.

“My horse is really good out of the gate, he’s fast, but I knew the inside horse (Bartholdy) had a lot of speed and, breaking from the inside, I knew they were going to try to go,” Hernandez said. “My horse, he settled really well. He was smart and he listened to me. I was in the clear to the outside and was just tracking until the quarter pole. Once I asked him to pick it up, he broke again passing the quarter pole. He ran really fast today. He’s getting better every race.”

Listenupshance, with Emisael Jaramillo up for trainer Doug O’Neill, finished second by 4 ½ lengths over Bartholdy. Grade I winner Subsanador, who was returning from a lengthy layoff for trainer Richard Mandella, ran on to be fourth after being far back in last early.

Cornucopian is 4-year-old colt by Into Mischief. Owned by an extensive ownership group that includes SF Racing, Starlight Racing and Madaket Stables, he was purchased for $1.1 million at auction in his yearling. Prior to the San Carlos Cornucopian returned from a nine-month layoff on Jan. 31 with an impressive allowance win going 6 ½ furlongs at Santa Anita.

“He’s full of energy and now he looks like he’s ready for something really big,” Baffert said. “This race really tightened him up. Now we can put him on the road and aim a little higher. I was hoping that he wouldn’t have to go that fast, but he is a good horse, he’s a beautiful horse. I’m just happy to have a good horse like him.”

Cornucopian last year first served notice in his debut sprinting 6 ½ furlongs in February at Santa Anita. That day he rolled to a 5 ¾-length victory while earning a lofty 101 Beyer Speed Figure. Cornucopian was then sent directly into the deep waters of the GI Arkansas Derby going 1 1/8 miles. He dueled on the lead through fast fractions before weakening to fourth. After a subsequent allowance start, Cornucopian was sent to the sidelines until his recent allowance win.

“He’s making a good comeback,” Baffert said. “We should have a good summer and fall with him.”
Cornucopian paid $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10. Listenupchance returned $7.00 and $3.40. Bartholdy, with Tyler Baze up for Steve Knapp, paid $3.00.

Live racing resumes Thursday with an eight-race card starting at 1 p.m.

GRADE III, SAN CARLOS STAKES QUOTES

JOCKEY QUOTES

JUAN HERNANDEZ, CORNUCOPIAN, WINNER: “My horse is really good out of the gate, he’s fast. But I knew the inside horse had a lot of speed and breaking from the inside, I knew they are going to try to go. When I saw them I just kind of let them go. My horse, he settled really well, he was smart and he listened to me. I was in the clear to the outside and I was just tracking all the race until the quarter pole. Once I asked him to pick it up, he broke again passing the quarter pole. He ran really fast today. He’s getting better every race. I just rode him with confidence, and I trusted my horse and in Bob. My horse did it all on his own. He was the best horse. “I knew we were going fast because I could feel it underneath me when my horse took off at the quarter pole. I couldn’t see the time. When I came back and saw the time I saw 1:20 and it was unbelievable. He’s doing good and moving forward. Hopefully he will come back good and be ready for the next one.”

TRAINER QUOTES

BOB BAFFERT, CORNUCOPIAN, WINNER: “He was nice to saddle. He sort of came to life in the paddock a little bit. Once the rider got on him he was fine. He’s full of energy and now he looks like he’s ready for something really big. This race really tightened him up now so we can put him on the road and aim a little higher. I was hoping that he wouldn’t have to go that fast, but he is a good horse, he’s a beautiful horse, and I’m just happy to have a good horse like him. He’s come back and he’s making a good comeback. We should have a good summer and fall with him.”

NOTES: The winning owner are SF Racing, LLC, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stables, LLC, Stonestreet Stables, LLC, Bashor Racing, LLC, Determined Stables, Robert E., Masterson, Tom J., Ryan, Waves Edge Capital, LLC, Catherine Donovan, and Hill 'n' Dale Equine Holdings-Lessee.