SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Thursday)
JOCKEYS / WINS
Juan Hernandez / 26
Umberto Rispoli / 25
Joel Rosario / 23
Abel Cedillo / 19
Flavien Prat / 19
TRAINERS / WINS
Bob Baffert / 12
Doug O’Neill / 12
Peter Miller / 11
Philip D’Amato / 10
John Sadler / 10
WEEKEND STAKES AT SANTA ANITA
Saturday
• $200,000 Grade II Santa Monica Stakes, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, 7 furlongs
Sunday
• $100,000 Grade III Sweet Life Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 6 furlongs (turf)
DOWN THE STRETCH
• Flavien Prat has fired longtime agent Derek Lawson, who has been handling his business since he started riding fulltime in the U.S. after leaving his native France in 2014. The story was first reported by Steve Andersen of the Daily Racing Form. Prat told Andersen: “I felt like it was time to make a change.” Lawson, contacted by the Southern California News Group, said, “I didn’t think the numbers, the amount of victories and the amount of money that we earned, (would cause) me to lose my job.” The 28-year-old Prat has won numerous SoCal riding titles while working with Lawson and and he’s currently fourth in the Santa Anita standings with 19 victories. Veteran agent Brad Pegram will take over Prat’s book Feb. 26.
• The Bob Baffert-trained Life Is Good, winner of the Grade III Sham Stakes at Santa Anita, and Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner and 2-year-old champion Essential Quality are the co-individual favorites at 8-1 in Pool 3 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager that begins at 9 a.m. Friday and concludes at 3 p.m. Sunday. “All Other 3-Year-Olds” was installed as the 7-2 favorite by veteran morning-line oddsmaker Mike Battaglia in the field of 24 betting interests. Life Is Good is scheduled to make his next start in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita on March 6 and Essential Quality’s 3-year-old debut in the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park has been pushed back to Feb. 20 because of inclement weather in Arkansas.
• Santa Anita and Del Mar announced this week the “Wild West Bonus,” which will award a $1 million bonus to the connections of any horse that sweeps Southern California’s three major Grade I stakes – the $400,000 Santa Anita Handicap on March 6, the $300,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on May 31 and the $750,000 Pacific Classic at Del Mar on Aug. 21. Including the $1 million bonus, the connections for any horse sweeping the three races would bank $1,870,000. All three races are run at the North American classic distance of 1 1/4 miles. The Big ‘Cap is for horses ages 4 and up and the Gold Cup and Pacific Classic are open to horses 3 and up.
— Art Wilson
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