Santa Anita Stable Notes Sunday, May 3, 2026

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN SUNDAY, MAY 3, 2026

- GIII SENORITA, SIREN LURE HIGHLGHT NEXT WEEK’S ACTION - MONDEGO CAPS BIG DAY FOR MCCARTHY BARN SATURDAY - $37K CARRYOVER IN $1 SUNSET PICK 6; FREE PPS AVAILABLE - WORKS: NYSOS, KRISTOFFERSON, SIMPLY JOKING AMONG NOTABLES - KIMURA WINS 4 RACE SATURDAY, NOW TIED FOR 3rd IN JOCKEYS’ RACE

GIII SENORITA, SIREN LURE HIGHLIGHT NEXT WEEK’S ACTION The stakes action next weekend includes the Grade III Senorita on Saturday for 3-year-old fillies at about 6 ½ furlongs on the hillside turf course and the Siren Lure for older horses at six furlongs on turf on Sunday.

The Senorita attracted 17 nominations, among that group is Light Won Up, trained by Doug O’Neill, who in February won the Sweet Life Stakes going the same trip on the hillside turf course. O’Neill also nominated multiple stakes-placed Hypergamy, who would be returning to turf after testing the GII Santa Anita Oaks and being eased to the wire.

Trainer Richard Baltas nominated both Wild Like the West and Will Happen. Wild Like the West most recently finished second by a nose in the Providencia Stakes going 1 1/8 miles on turf April 5. On Sunday, Wild Like the West worked five furlongs on the synthetic training track in 1:00.2. Will Happen most recently was second by a half length sprinting down the hill in a second-level allowance.

Trainer Phil D’Amato leads all trainers with five fillies nominated to the Senorita, four of which worked on Sunday. Leading that quartet was stakes-winner Dreaming of Alys, who hasn’t started since October when fifth in the GIII Surfer Girl at Santa Anita. Dreaming of Alys worked five furlongs on the training track in 1:00.6. Prior to the Surfer Girl, she won the Del Mar Juvenile Fillies Turf going one mile.

The Siren Lure has 15 nominees. Grade III winner Artislas is a candidate to make his return for Jeff Mullins. The 4-year-old Catalina Cruiser colt hasn’t started since August when finishing third in the La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar. In 2024, Artislas won both the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf and Eddie Logan at Santa Anita. He was also disqualified from a victory in the GIII Zuma Beach at Santa Anita due to bumping near the wire.

D’Amato’s nominees include Sorrento Sky and Unconquerable Keen. Sorrento Sky most recently was fourth in the GIII San Simeon sprinting on the hillside turf course. Unconquerable Keen hasn’t started since Jan. 24 at Gulfstream Park when in the Turf Sprint on Pegasus World Cup day, Unconquerable Keen clipped heels in the stretch and did not finish.

Trainer Dan Blacker nominated Virat, who on Sunday had a sizzling four-furlong workout on the training track timed in 45.0 seconds.

The Senorita card will be drawn on Monday and the Siren Lure program will be drawn on Tuesday.

MONDEGO CAPS BIG DAY FOR MCCARTHY BARN SATURDAY Mondego’s win in Saturday’s GII Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita capped what was a huge Saturday for the Michael McCarthy barn.

Mondego won the 1 ¼-mile Whittingham on turf by half length under Emisael Jaramillo. It was the second graded stakes win in the last three starts for the 6-year-old gelding by Lope de Vega.

Earlier in the day, on the Kentucky Derby program at Churchill Downs, McCarthy won both the GI American Turf Stakes with Santa Anita-based Stark Contrast and the GII Turf Sprint with Yellow Card.

Through Saturday, McCarthy has won 28 races this year and banked more than $3.5 million. Notably, of those 28 wins, 11 have come in stakes races.

McCarthy has two horses entered Sunday at Sana Anita. They are Ulysses Rose, the 5-2 third choice in the Santa Barbara Stakes; and Lord Bullingdon, the 3-1 morning line favorite in the ninth and final race. The Santa Barbara goes as the third race at 2:02 p.m. PT.

$37K CARRYOVER IN $1 SUNSET PICK 6; FREE PPS AVAILABLE There is a four-day carryover of $37,227 in the $1 Sunset Pick 6 Sunday. The multi-race wager, which combines the final three races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, starts at 1:04 p.m. PT with the seventh race from Gulfstream.

Through a partnership with Daily Racing Form, free past performances for the sequence are available for horseplayers. They can be accessed at https://promos.drf.com/sunset-pick6.

The Sunset Pick 6 features a low 15 percent takeout and is open to retail customers only.

WORKS: NYSOS, KRISTOFFERSON, SIMPLY JOKING AMONG NOTABLES Grade I winner Nysos and Kristofferson, sidelined since the GI American Pharoah in October, were among trainer Bob Baffert’s workers Sunday at Santa Anita. Other notables on the tab included GIII Santa Maria winner Simply Joking and Lovesick Blues, the latter of which worked for the first time since a two-race excursion in the Middle East.

Nysos worked four furlongs in 49.4 seconds. It was his sixth work since finishing second in the GI Saudi Cup on Feb. 14 in Riyadh. Kristofferson drilled four furlongs in 47.8 seconds. It was his third work in the last 13 days. By Nyquist, Kristofferson was a debut winner at Del Mar in August and then finished sixth in the American Pharoah.

Simply Joking, trained by Michael McCarthy, drilled four furlongs in 49.8 seconds. It was Simply Joking’s first work since earning her first graded stakes victory in the 1 1/6-mile Santa Maria on April 19.

Lovesick Blues worked four furlongs in 49.2 seconds for trainer Librado Barocio. Winner of last year’s GI Bing Crosby at Del Mar, Lovesick Blue in two starts this year was fifth in the GII Riyadh Dirt Sprint in Saudi Arabia and eighth in the GI Dubai Golden Shaheen in the United Arab Emirates.

KIMURA WINS 4 RACES SATURDAY, NOW TIED FOR 3rd IN JOCKEY’S RACE Jockey Kazushi Kimura won four races on Saturday’s 11-race card and vaulted to a tie for third place in the race for leading rider at the Hollywood Meet.

Kimura won the second race aboard Irish Royalty ($7.80) for trainer Doug O’Neill and the sixth race on Donttellmewhattodo ($11.80) for trainer George Papaprodromou, then swept the late Daily Double when scoring with Big City Lights ($3.80) for trainer Richard Mandella and Melismatic ($10.40) for trainer Phil D’Amato.

Kimura is now 8-for-44 (18 percent) through the first nine days of the Hollywood Meet. He is tied with Juan Hernandez in the jockey’s standings. Armando Ayuso currently leads the meet with 12 wins and Antonio Fresu is second with nine wins.

Kimura, a 26-year-old native of Hokkaido, Japan, has five mounts on Sunday’s nine-race card. They include the Santa Barbara Stakes aboard Ulysses Rose, the 5-2 third choice on the morning line, for trainer Michael McCarthy.

Kimura has been riding in North America since 2018. Through Saturday, he had won 1,072 races with purse earnings of more than $49.3 million.

FINISH LINES: Graded-stakes winning California-bred Big City Lights returned a winner in Saturday’s 10th race, a high-level allowance going seven furlongs. Trained by Richard Mandella, 7-year-old Big City Lights had been off since Nov. 30…Sunday’s $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 starts at 1:35 p.m. PT with the eighth race from Gulfstream Park…Jockey Armando Ayuso won two races Saturday to extend his lead in the jockeys’ standings. Ayuso won the fourth race aboard Novinophina ($11) for trainer Bill McLean and the fifth race with Donttellmewhattodo ($11.80) for trainer George Papaprodromou. Ayuso now has 12 wins at the stand, which is three clear of runner-up Antonio Fresu in the race for leading rider.