Santa Anita Stable Notes Thursday, April 30, 2026

STABLE NOTES BY VICTOR RYAN

THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 2026

• GII WHITTINGHAM: FLASHIEST LOOKS TO SPRING UPSET FOR POWELL • CARRYOVERS INCLUDE $44K IN $2 PICK 6; FREE PP’S AVAILABLE • WORKS: GI WINNER AG BULLET GEARING UP FOR BALTAS • FRIDAY: SPECIAL FIRST POST TIME OF 3:15 P.M. FOR 8-RACE CARD

GII WHITTINGHAM: FLASHIEST LOOKS TO SPRING UPSET FOR POWELL Among those looking to upend heavy favorite The Padre in Saturday’s GII Charles Whittingham Stakes at Santa Anita is Flashiest, a veteran gelding trained by Leonard Powell. In his four most recent starts, all graded stakes, Flashiest has finished runner-up three times including last month in the GIII San Luis Rey. Overall, the 8-year-old son of Mizzen Mast has finished second eight times in 38 starts.

“He’s been with us since a 3-year-old,” Powell said. “We had an excursion back east a couple of years ago that didn’t really pan out. He didn’t like it out there. But since he’s been back in California after a freshening, he’s been very solid.”

Flashiest is owned by Wachtel Stable, Gary Barber, Nicolas G. Drion and Mathilde Powell, the trainer’s daughter. In the San Luis Rey going 1 ½ miles on March 21, Flashiest set the pace under Armando Ayuso before being overtaken late by multi-millionaire Gold Phoenix. Gold Phoenix was also entered in the 1 ¼-mile Whittingham but was scratched by trainer Phil D’Amato in favor of the GI Old Forester Turf Classic at Churchill Downs on Saturday.

Flashiest will again have Ayuso aboard in the Whittingham. He is 12-1 on the morning line.

“He’s always been dismissed on the morning line,” Powell noted. “He’s kind of trip dependent. Last time we were on the lead, but he doesn’t need to be up there in front. Hopefully he can outrun his odds.”

The Padre, who goes for D’Amato, is installed at even money on the morning line. This will be The Padre’s second start following a seven-month layoff. On April 3, the 4-year Irish-bred colt by Ghaiyyath returned in a high-level allowance going 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita. He was a bit rank down the backstretch that day before finishing second by three-quarters of a length. Prior to the layoff, The Padre last summer won the GII Del Mar Derby and La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar. D’Amato is at Churchill Downs this week and was unavailable for comment Thursday morning.

The Whittingham goes as the seventh race on an 11-race card Saturday. Post time is 4:15 p.m. PT. The field in post position order: Hiding in Honduras, Kazushi Kimura (9-2); Flashiest, Armando Ayuso (12-1); Seal Team, Ricky Gonzalez (5-1); Gold Phoenix (SCR); Mondego, Emisael Jaramillo (3-1); Balladeer, Kent Desormeaux (10-1); The Padre, Antonio Fresu (1-1).

CARRYOVERS INCLUDE $44K IN $2 PICK 6; FREE PPS AVAILABLE On Thursday there is a $44,113 carryover in the $2 Pick Six, $68,707 carryover in the $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 and a $7,387 carryover in the $2 Sunset Pick 6. Free Daily Racing Form past performances for Thursday’s full card at Santa Anita are available at https://promos.drf.com/santaanita25.

In the $2 Pick 6, track officials estimate a total pool of $300,000. The wager starts at 2:39 p.m. PT with Santa Anita’s fourth race.

The $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5, which includes select races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park, starts at 12:54 p.m. with the seventh race from Gulfstream Park. The $1 Sunset Pick 6 starts at 12:23 p.m. with the sixth race from Gulfstream Park. The Sunset Pick 6 links the final three races from Santa Anita and Gulfstream. Both the Coast-to-Coast and Sunset 6 feature a low 15 percent takeout and are open to retail players only.

WORKS: GI WINNER AG BULLET GEARING UP FOR BALTAS Grade I winner Ag Bullet is gearing up for her return to action. On Thursday, the 6-year-old daughter of Twirling Candy worked four furlongs on the synthetic training track in 47.8 seconds. It was her third work since April 3.

Trained by Richard Baltas, Ag Bullet hasn’t started since Nov. 30 when third in the GI Matriarch at Del Mar. Prior to that effort, she won both the GI Jaipur at Saratoga and GII Ladies Turf Sprint at Kentucky Downs before a runner-up effort in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint. Owned by Calvin Nguyen and Joey C. Tran, Ag Bullet is 17: 8-1-3 with $2,977,228 in earnings. Last year, she was entered in the Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Fall Mixed Sale but failed to meet her reserve following a final bid of $2.9 million.

Also working toward a seasonal bow was graded stakes winner Artislas. Trained by Jeff Mullins, Artislas drilled five furlongs on the main track in 1:02.0. It was his eighth work since March 9. A 4-year-old colt by Catalina Cruiser, Artislas hasn’t started since August when finishing third in the La Jolla Handicap at Del Mar. As a 2-year-old Artislas won both the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf and Eddie Logan at Santa Anita.

Working on the comeback trail for Bob Baffert was graded stakes winner Nooni. The 4-year-old daughter Win Win Win went four furlongs in 47.8 seconds. Nooni hasn’t started since December of 2024 when finishing fifth in the GII Starlet at Los Alamitos. Prior to that, Nooni as a 2-year-old won the GIII Sorrento at Del Mar, was second in the GII Oak Leaf at Santa Anita and sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Del Mar.

FINISH LINES: First post on Friday is at 3:15 p.m. PT for an eight-race card. The later start aligns the Santa Anita card with the Kentucky Oaks program at Churchill Downs. Post time for the Kentucky Oaks is 5:40 p.m. The final Santa Anita race goes off around 7 p.m…On Saturday, first post at Santa Anita is 1 p.m. for an 11-race card. Post time for the Kentucky Derby Saturday is 3:57 p.m. Set to represent California in the 152nd Kentucky Derby are GI Santa Anita Derby winner So Happy and fellow Santa Anita-based colts Potente, Pavlovian and Intrepido…Santa Anita simulcast host Millie Ball will be host Tom Quigley’s handicapping guest Friday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 2 p.m. PT.