Santa Anita Stable Notes Friday, May 1, 2026

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN FRIDAY, MAY 1, 2026

- DOUBLE CARRYOVER: $1 MILLION PICK 6 POOL PROJECTED; FREE PPS - BIG 11-RACE CARD AND KENTUCKY DERBY SIMULCAST ON SATURDAY - WORKS: GI WINNER SEISMIC BEAUTY RAMPING UP FOR COMEBACK - JOCKEY GONZALEZ WINS 3 RACES THURSDAY; 4th IN STANDINGS

DOUBLE CARRYOVER: $1 MILLION PICK 6 POOL PROJECTED; FREE PPS After no one successfully selected all six winners in Thursday’s $2 Pick 6, the second consecutive race day the wager went unsolved, Friday’s Pick 6 will start with double carryover of $157,176 in the pool. Track officials estimate the total Pick 6 pool will reach $1 million.

First post Friday is 3:15 p.m. for an eight-race card. The Pick Six begins with the third race at 4:20 p.m. The competitive sequence averages 9.1 starters per race before scratches. To help make informed selections, Santa Anita and Daily Racing Form have joined forces to provide free past performances for Friday’s full card. They can be accessed at https://promos.drf.com/santaanita25. Additionally on Friday, the $1 Sunset Pick 6—which links the final three races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park—has a double carryover of $14,789. The sequence starts at 12:53 p.m. PT with the sixth race from Gulfstream.

On Thursday, the double carryover in the $2 Pick 6 was clinched in the ninth and final race when longshot Kintrigue won under Kazushi Kimura for trainer Phil D’Amato and paid $37.80. The consolation payout for tickets with 5-of-6 winners was $3,727.

The winning horses in Thursday’s Pick 6 starting with the fourth race were #6 Harney Lane ($9.80), #6 Deep Blue ($8), #3 Courtside Action ($28.80), #4 Sareeha ($13), #6 Betty Pack ($6.60) and #2 Kintrigue ($37.80).

BIG 11-RACE CARD AND KENTUCKY DERBY SIMULCAST ON SATURDAY Santa Anita on Saturday will run 11 lives races led by the Grade II Charles Whittingham Stakes and also offer full-card simulcast wagering on the 152nd Kentucky Derby program at Churchill Downs. It’s all part of the Biggest Derby Party West of Kentucky at The Great Race Place.

First post at Churchill Downs Saturday is at 8 a.m. PT. Fans can enter Santa Anita starting at 7:30 a.m. through the East Gate. First post for Santa Anita’s live racing program is at 1 p.m. Post time for the Kentucky Derby is 3:57 p.m.

This year’s Run for the Roses has five horses who are based at Santa Anita in the field. They are GI Santa Anita Derby winner So Happy and second-place finisher Potente; plus the trio of Intrepido, Pavlovian and Robusta. Last year’s Santa Anita Derby winner, Journalism, finished second in the Kentucky Derby before going on to win the Preakness Stakes two weeks later.

In early Kentucky Derby wagering, So Happy as of Friday morning was surprisingly bet down to the second choice in the field at 6-1. Trained by Mark Glatt, So Happy will have the services of Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, a two-time winner of the Kentucky Derby. At the age of 59, Smith would be the oldest jockey ever to win the Kentucky Derby if he and So Happy were to prevail.

To show your support local support for So Happy, fans can purchase a ticket package that includes admission and a So Happy T-Shirt.

Santa Anita’s Charles Whittingham Stakes, which is for older horses at 1 ¼ miles on turf, will be run soon after the Kentucky Derby at 4:15 p.m. Post time for Santa Anita’s 11th and final race is 6:15 p.m.

For more information on Kentucky Derby day at Santa Anita, please visit santanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

WORKS: GI WINNER SEISMIC BEAUTY RAMPING UP FOR COMEBACK

Grade I winner Seismic Beauty, off since the Breeders’ Cup Distaff on Nov. 1, continued to ramp up for trainer Bob Baffert with a five-furlong work in 59.8 seconds Friday at Santa Anita. It was the sixth work since March 19 for the 5-year-old mare by Uncle Mo.

Seismic Beauty was the 6-5 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. After bobbling at the start, she was hustled up into stalking a position, but then weakened late and was eased across the wire. Prior to the Breeders’ Cup, Seismic Beauty won the GI Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar and GII Santa Margarita at Santa Anita. This year’s Santa Margarita is in four weeks on May 30.

Also working for Baffert was graded stakes winner Desert Gate. The 3-year-old Omaha Beach colt drilled five furlongs in 1:00.2. Desert Gate most recently won the Hot Springs Stakes going a mile at Oaklawn on March 26. He previously was fourth in the GII Robert B. Lewis at Santa Anita.

Graded stakes winner Mi Hermano Ramon worked five furlongs in 59.8 seconds for trainer Mark Glatt. The 6-year-old gelding by Creative Cause is 0-for-2 this year following a lengthy layoff, which includes a fifth-place finish in the GII Frank E. Kilroe Mile in March. Mi Hermano Ramo is a candidate to run in the GI Shoemaker Mile on May 25.

Start the Ride and Cee Drew, both California-bred stakes winners for trainer Dan Blacker, each worked five furlongs. Start the Ride, most recently fifth in the GI Santa Anita Derby April 4, worked five furlongs on the main track in 1:02.8. The colt by Upstart won the California Cup Derby in January prior to testing the Kentucky Derby trail.

Cee Drew worked five furlongs on the synthetic training track in 1:00.6. By Cistron, Cee Drew won the California Cup Oaks in January.

JOCKEY GONZALEZ WINS 3 RACES THURSDAY; 4th IN STANDINGS

Jockey Ricky Gonzalez won three races Friday on a nine-card with all three winners returning double-digit payouts for a $2 wager.

Gonzalez won the third race with Money Makes Money ($10.40) for trainer Mark Glatt, the sixth race with first-time starter Courtside Action ($28.80) for trainer Andy Mathis and the seventh race with Sareeha ($13) for Glatt. Through the first seven days of the Hollywood Meet, Gonzalez is 6-for-27 (22 percent) and tied for fourth in the jockeys’ standings.

Gonzalez is a 30-year-old native of Los Mochis, Sinaloa, Mexico. He is married to Jessica Pyfer, who in 2021 won the Eclipse Award as outstanding apprentice jockey. Pyfer is currently part of the Santa Anita on-air simulcast team. Earlier this year, Gonzalez and Pyfer had their first child, daughter Gracie.

Gonzalez won his first race in February 2013 at Turf Paradise. After a successful stint riding in Northern California, Gonzalez moved his tack to the Southern California circuit full-time in the summer of 2020. Through Thursday, Gonzalez had won 1,097 races with purse earnings of more than $30.3 million.

Gonzalez is represented by agent Brandon O’Bryan.

FINISH LINES: Friday’s $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 starts at 1:23 p.m. with the seventh race from Gulfstream Park…On Sunday, Santa Anita has a nine-race card starting at 1 p.m. PT. The feature is the Santa Barbara Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 ½ miles on turf. It goes as the fourth race at approximately 2:30 p.m…Santa Anita announcer Frank Mirahmadi will be host Tom Quigley’s handicapping guest Saturday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 11:50 a.m.