Santa Anita Stable Notes Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN SATURDAY, DEC. 28, 2024

Photo:Ernie Belmonte

• WORKS: TOP 2-YEAR-OLDS LEAD SATURDAY’S TAB • PAIR OF NOTABLE MAIDENS EARN DIPLOMAS FRIDAY • FRIDAY’S PICK 6 PAYS $61K TO 1 WINNING TICKET • MEMORIAL SERVICE FOR MEL AND ANNABELLE STUTE JAN. 11 • SPECIAL 9-RACE NEW YEAR’S DAY CARD SET FOR WEDNESDAY

WORKS: TOP 2-YEAR-OLDS LEAD SATURDAY’S TAB Citizen Bull and Gaming, the one-two finishers in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, highly regarded Eagles Flight and unbeaten Grade III winner Bullard were among several notable 2-year-olds to record timed workouts Saturday morning at Santa Anita.

Citizen Bull drilled five furlongs in 59.40 seconds, which was the second-fastest of 59 works at the distance. Gaming worked five furlongs in 1:02.60.

Citizen Bull and Gaming are both trained by Bob Baffert. For Citizen Bull, this was his third work since beating his stablemate by 1 ½ lengths in the Juvenile on Nov. 1 at Del Mar. Gaming followed his Juvenile runner-up finish with a third-place finish in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 14. He returned to the tab with a five-furlong move in 1:02.60.

Also working for Baffert was Pleasant, who finished third in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint when making her second start off a 13-month layoff. The 4-year-old Munnings filly, who is nominated to run in next Saturday’s GIII Las Flores going six furlongs at Santa Anita, worked five furlongs from the gate in 1:00.00.

Eagles Flight, the promising half brother to 2022 Horse of the Year Flightline, fired a bullet for trainer John Sadler. The Curlin colt blitzed five furlongs in 59.0 seconds, which was the fastest of 59 moves at the distance. In his debut May 27 at Santa Anita, Eagles Flight rolled to a an impressive 2 ¾-length victory going six furlongs.

Grade III Bob Hope winner Bullard, a perfect 2-for-2 for trainer Michael McCarthy, worked five furlongs in 1:00.80. The Gun runner colt is nominated to run in next Saturday’s GII San Vicente Stakes going seven furlongs at Santa Anita.

Also working for McCarthy was Grade I Hollywood Derby winner Formidable Man. The City of Light colt worked four furlongs on the main track in 47.60 seconds, which was the second fastest of 53 moves at the distance.

Trainer Tim Yakteen worked both McKinzie Street and Practical Dream, a filly. McKinzie Street, who has hit the board in a trio of graded stakes including both the GI Del Mar Futurity and GI American Pharoah, drilled four furlongs in 51.40 seconds. The McKinzie colt most recently was third in the Bob Hope.

Practical Dream, winner of last month’s Desi Arnaz at Del Mar, worked four furlongs in 47.80. It was the third-fastest of 54 moves at the distance. Practical Dream, by Practical Joke, most recently finished sixth in GII Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos when making her two-turn debut Dec. 7.

In all, there were a combined 175 timed workouts between the main track and training track.

PAIR OF NOTABLE MAIDENS EARN DIPLOMAS FRIDAY March of Time, a 3-year-old Justify colt co-owned by Major League baseball players Walker Buehler and Alex Bregman, and 2-year-old filly Our Moonlight each earned impressive maiden wins Friday at Santa Anita.

March of Time, who was making his first start since his debut last December, sat off the early pace in second and took over in the stretch to win going away by 2 ¼ lengths under Juan Hernandez. He completed six furlongs in a sharp 1:09.03, which earned a 94 Beyer Speed Figure according to Daily Racing Form. He is trained by Bob Baffert, whose wife Jill Baffert is also a co-owner.

In his only previous start 12 ½ months ago at Los Alamitos, March of Time was second by a half-length going six furlongs when owned by Mrs. John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. He is a half brother to Grade I winner Bodemeister, who in 2012 finished second in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.

Our Moonlight, a $325,000 daughter of Tapit, ran down Baffert-trained, odds-on favorite Cooey in the stretch and kicked clear to win impressively by 2 ¾ lengths under Tiago Periera. She is trained by Dean Pederson and owned by Lawrence T. Jett and Ann Jett. The Jett’s also own Carmelita’s Man, a three-time California-bred stakes winner who has banked $626,556. Our Moonlight was purchased by the Jett’s at the 2023 Keeneland September yearling sale.

FRIDAY’S PICK 6 PAYS $61,860 TO 1 WINNING TICKET There was a pool scoop of the $2 Pick 6 Friday at Santa Anita. The lone winning ticket, purchased for $640 through Xpressbet, paid a cool $61,861.20.

There were two winning favorite in Friday’s Pick 6 sequence. In the fourth race, the opening leg, #3 March of Time won under Juan Hernandez for trainer Bob Baffert and paid $4.60. Then in the fifth race, #7 Eternal Reign, scored with Flavien Prat aboard and paid $3.80. Eternal Reign is trained by Phil D’Amato.

Beginning with the fourth race, the winning horses in Friday’s sequence were #3 March of Time, #7 Eternal Reign, #7 Impossible Task ($24.60), #3 Mrs. Astor ($13), #4 Our Moonlight ($18.60) and #3 Don’t Fight the Fed ($8).

Friday’s consolation payout was $473.80 for tickets with 5-of-6 winners.

On Saturday, the Pick 6 begins with the fifth race at approximately 1:30 p.m. PT. The competitive sequence averages 8.7 starters per race before scratches.

FINISH LINES: A combined memorial service for late trainer Mel Stute and his wife Annabelle will be held Jan. 11 at Hope Lutheran Church in Glendora beginning at 11 a.m…Santa Anita will host a special New Year’s Day card Wednesday. First post for a nine-race program is at 12 p.m. PT…Mystik Dan’s stay at Santa Anita will continue a little longer. Connections are now hoping to catch a flight to Oaklawn Park next weekend at the earliest…Saturday’s $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 with 15 percent takeout begins at 12:48 p.m. PT with the eighth race from Gulfstream Park..Sunday’s feature at Santa Anita is the Eddie Logan Stake s for 2-year-olds going a mile on turf. It goes as the seventh race at approximately 3:06 p.m. PT…First post Sunday for a nine-race card is 12 p.m…The road to both the GI Santa Anita Derby and GII Santa Anita Oaks kicks off next weekend with the GII San Vicente going seven furlongs on Saturday and the Santa Ynez Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs on Sunday. Entries for both cards will be taken on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.