Santa Anita Stable Notes Sunday, June 7, 2026

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2026

• SATURDAY HAT TRICK MOVES AYUSO CLOSER TO 1st SA RIDING TITLE
• WORKS: GOLD PHOENIX LEADS GIII SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO NOMS
• $8K CARRYOVER IN $1 SUNSET PICK 6; STARTS AT 1:45 P.M. PT
• AFFIRMED, DESERT STORMER LEAD 9-RACE CARD ON THURSDAY

SATURDAY HAT TRICK MOVES AYUSO CLOSER TO 1st SA RIDING TITLE

Jockey Armando Ayuso gained separation in the race for leading rider at the Hollywood Meet Saturday when bagging three wins on a 10-race program. With five days remaining in the stand, Ayuso tops the jockeys’ standings with 27 wins from 144 mounts (19%). Antonio Fresu, his closest pursuer and the leading rider at last year’s Hollywood Meet, has 24 wins from 146 mounts (16 percent) entering Sunday.

Ayuso is seeking his first jockey’s title at Santa Anita. On Saturday, the 32-year-old Panamanian won the second race aboard Ottis Betts ($8.40) for trainer Ron Ellis, the fifth race with Confidence Man ($4.20) for trainer Brian Koriner and the seventh race on Windribbon ($6.60) for trainer Jose Hernandez.

Ayuso is a product of Panama’s Laffit Pincay Jr. Technical Training Academy. He began his riding career in 2012 on the east coast of the U.S. His first win came in May of that year at Monmouth Park. After taking a hiatus from riding from 2016 to 2020, Ayuso returned to action in the fall of 2020 in Northern California. He quickly became one of that circuit’s top jockeys and in the summer of 2023 made the move full-time to Southern California. Entering Sunday, Ayuso had won 694 races in his career and tallied purse earnings of $23,080,658.

Ayuso has five mounts booked on Sunday’s 10-race card. None are favored on the morning line. Fresu is back at Santa Anita on Sunday after riding the Belmont Stakes program at Saratoga on Saturday. He has seven mounts scheduled, also none of which are favored on the morning line.

WORKS: GOLD PHOENIX LEADS GIII SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO NOMS

Gold Phoenix was among seven horses nominated to next Sunday’s GIII San Juan Capistrano that recorded timed workouts Sunday at Santa Anita.

Gold Phoenix, trained by Phil D’Amato, drilled five furlongs on the synthetic training track in 1:00.2 The Grade I-winning multi-millionaire most recently finished seventh in the GI Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard May 2.

A returning face to Santa Anita, Goldeneye, also worked towards a potential start in the San Juan Capistrano, which is contested at about 1 ¾-miles on turf. Goldeneye, a 7-year-old gelding by Hard Spun, drilled four furlongs on the main track in 48.4 seconds. Goldeneye was recently transferred back to trainer Peter Eurton after spending all of 2025 and the first half of this year in the east with trainer Ken McPeek. Eurton previously trained Goldeneye from 2022 through 2024.

Other San Juan Capistrano noms working Sunday were American Hope (5f, 1:00.2) for trainer Brian Koriner; Grogu (5f, 1:00.8) for trainer Leonard Powell; Mythical Reel (4f, 49.4) for D’Amato; Rimprotector (6f, 1:15.4) for trainer Tim McCanna; and Smooth Salute (6f, 1:14.2) for trainer Alfredo Marquez.

Several horses nominated to Saturday’s GIII Daytona Stakes on the hillside turf course also worked. They included Later Than Planned (5f, 1:01) for D’Amato, Sorrento Sky (4f, 50.4) for D’Amato, Modus Bestia (4f, 47.2) for trainer Richard Baltas, Nesso’s Lasthurrah (4f, 47.8) for trainer Jeff Bonde and Zio Jo (5f, 1:00.2) for trainer Doug O’Neill.

Working towards a potential start in Friday’s Possibly Perfect Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 ¼ miles on turf was Cailin Dana. Trained by Neil Dysdale, Cailin Dana drilled four furlongs on the training track in 49.0 seconds.

The Possibly Perfect Stakes and the rest of Friday’s card will be drawn later Sunday.

Also on Sunday, Revera---who is entered in Thursday’s Desert Stormer and also nominated to the GIII Summertime Oaks on Saturday—worked four furlongs in 48.0 seconds for trainer John Sadler.

$8K CARRYOVER IN $1 SUNSET PICK 6; STARTS AT 1:45 P.M. PT

There is an $8,200 carryover in the $1 Sunset Pick 6 Sunday. The wager starts at 1:45 p.m. PT with the eighth race from Gulfstream Park.

The Sunset Pick 6 links the final three races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park. It features a low 15 percent takeout and is open to retail players only.

The $2 Pick 6 at Santa Anita starts at 3:06 p.m. with the fifth race. The deep and competitive sequence averages 10.3 starters per race before scratches.

AFFIRMED, DESERT STORMER LEAD 9-RACE CARD ON THURSDAY

Kicking off closing week of the Hollywood Meet is a special nine-race card on Thursday. First post is 1 p.m. PT. Featured on the program are the Affirmed Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles and the Desert Stormer Stakes for fillies and mares going six furlongs.

Headlining the Affirmed is Secured Freedom. Trained by Tim Yakteen, Secured Freedom most recently finished fourth in the GII Pat Day Mile at Churchill Downs on the Kentucky Derby undercard on May 2. Also in the field is Decisive Win, who earned a field high 90 Beyer Speed Figure when rolling to a 5 ½-length maiden win going one mile on May 22 at Santa Anita. Trained by Doug O’Neill, the Nyquist colt was purchased for $600,000 at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale.

The Affirmed goes as the eighth race on the card at approximately 4:30 p.m. The field in post position order: One More Freud, Mike Smith; Mo Koko, Armando Ayuso; Secured Freedom, Joel Rosario; Decisive Win, Antonio Fresu; Constitution Andi, Victor Espinoza; Court of Appeal, Juan Hernandez.

The Desert Stormer features the return of graded stakes winner Nooni for trainer Bob Baffert following a lengthy layoff. The 4-year-old filly by Win Win Win hasn’t started since December 2024 when finishing fifth in the GII Starlet at Los Alamitos.

Also in the lineup is Magnificat, who returns to dirt for trainer Richard Mandella following a second-level allowance win on turf on May 15. In her only previous stakes try, Magnificat finished fifth in the GIII Las Flores going six furlongs on the main track in January.

The Desert Stormer goes as the second race at approximately 1:30 p.m. The field in post position order: Antifona, Tiago Pereira; Nooni, Juan Hernandez; Revera, Joel Rosario; Magnificat, Antonio Fresu; Syntax, Kyle Frey.

FINISH LINES: Trainer Phil D’Amato collected his fifth stakes win of the Hollywood Meet Saturday when Darya ($14.40) edged stablemate Inbox to lead a D’Amato-trained exacta. D’Amato now has five stakes wins at the stand to tie with Michael McCarthy for the most by a trainer. D’Amato also leads the overall trainer’s standings with 16 victories, which is three more than runner-up John Sadler…Sunday’s $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 begins at 2:19 p.m. PT with the ninth race from Gulfstream Park…Next Sunday is closing day of the Hollywood Meet. There will mandatory payouts in all pari-mutuel pools.