The $400,000 Grade I Santa Anita Handicap, which attracted a pair of out-of-state contenders, and the $300,000 Grade II San Felipe Stakes, loaded with top Santa Anita Derby hopefuls, highlight an 11-race card Saturday at Santa Anita that includes five stakes races.
Post positions were drawn Wednesday for Big ‘Cap day, which will begin at noon with the $100,000 China Doll Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the grass. The other four stakes on the card are graded, including the $400,000 Grade I Frank E. Kilroe Mile for older turf horses.
Maxfield, whose career has been derailed twice because of a chipped bone in his right front ankle and then a condylar fracture of his right front, drew the No. 2 post for the 84th running of the nation’s first $100,000 race and will be ridden by Florent Geroux.
The 4-year-old Street Sense colt, unbeaten in five starts, was one of the favorites for the 2019 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita before the bone chip was discovered just days before the race and he was scratched. The fracture last year was discovered following a workout and took him off the 2020 Triple Crown trail.
Maxfield comes in off a 3 1/4-length victory in the Grade III Mineshaft Stakes on Feb. 13 at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans and will carry high weight of 124 pounds. His trainer, Brendan Walsh, will be looking for his second career Grade I victory after Maxfield’s win in the Grade I Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland in 2019.
“There aren’t a lot of Grade I’s for older horses this time of year,” Walsh told Mike Willman of Santa Anita before Wednesday’s draw. “The timing is good for the horse, the mile and a quarter will be a good test. There were options at home (Fair Grounds), but this seemed like a good time to ship.”
Another shipper, the Dale Romans-trained Coastal Defense, drew post position No. 4 and will be ridden by John Velazquez. The 5-year-old son of Curlin is unplaced in three graded stakes efforts, including a sixth-place finish in the Grade I Pegasus World Cup Invitational on Jan. 23 at Gulfstream Park.
Overall, the Big ‘Cap drew a field of eight, including the Michael McCarthy-trained Independence Hall, fresh off a third-place showing in the Pegasus, and impressive San Pasqual Stakes winner Express Train.
The Big ‘Cap will go as the 10th race, four races after the San Felipe, which is by far the toughest Santa Anita Derby prep race of the year to date.
The San Felipe, a 1 1/16-mile race, drew the Bob Baffert-trained tandem of Life Is Good and Medina Spirit, impressive first-out winner Dream Shake, The Great One and Roman Centurian as part of a seven-horse lineup.
The Great One, named after former hockey standout Wayne Gretzky, broke his maiden by 14 lengths in his most recent start at Santa Anita on Jan. 23, and Roman Centurian came up just a neck short of Medina Spirit in the Grade III Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Jan. 30 at Santa Anita.
Authentic won last year’s San Felipe en route to giving Baffert his record-tying sixth Kentucky Derby win and earning Horse of the Year honors. Baffert will be looking for his record eighth victory in the San Felipe.
The Kilroe Mile, named after the fabled handicapper and racing secretary, will be run as the ninth race and drew a field of 10 turf specialists, including six shippers — the Chad Brown duo of Spirit Animal and Flavius, Social Paranoia (Todd Pletcher), Casa Creed (William Mott), Ride a Comet (Mark Casse) and Flying Scotsman (Jack Sisterson).
THE BIG ‘CAP
Lineup for Saturday’s $400,000 Grade I Santa Anita Handicap, including post positions and jockeys:
1. Independence Hall, Flavien Prat
2. Maxfield, Florent Geroux
3. Kiss Today Goodbye, Mike Smith
4. Coastal Defense, John Velazquez
5. Express Train, Juan Hernandez
6. Idol, Joel Rosario
7. Tizamagician, Drayden Van Dyke
8. King Guillermo, Abel Cedillo
Note: The 84th Big ‘Cap is scheduled to go postward at about 4:30 p.m.
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