Leading the Santa Anita contingent is Straight No Chaser seeking a repeat victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Works: Baffert Quartet Among 10 BC Candidates on Tab
Stable Notes By Victor Ryan
ARCADIA, Calif.—Santa Anita will be well-represented at the 42nd Breeders’ Cup next week at Del Mar as 43 horses who call The Great Race Place home were pre-entered in 14 races. Leading the Santa Anita contingent is Straight No Chaser, who’ll seek a repeat victory in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint for trainer Dan Blacker; and Full Serrano, the 2024 Dirt Mile winner who’ll look to do the same this year for trainer John Sadler.
Also trying to win a Breeders’ Cup race for the second year in a row will be Citizen Bull. Trained by Bob Baffert. Citizen Bull last year won the Juvenile to clinch the Eclipse Award as North America’s champion 2-year-old male. Citizen Bull this year is pre-entered in the Dirt Mile.
The two-day Breeders’ Cup extravaganza starts next Friday with five races for 2-year-olds. On Saturday nine races will be run highlighted by the $7 million Classic. The announcement Wednesday of the pre-entries is the first step in determining the fields for all 14 races. Final entries will be taken on Monday. Post positions will then be drawn that afternoon in the Del Mar paddock starting at 4 p.m. PT.
Horses could be pre-entered in two Breeders’ Cup races while noting which race was first preference. Below is a list of all Santa Anita-based horses that were pre-entered with trainer noted in parentheses. A (2) next to a horse’s name means that race is second preference. The races are listed in the order they will be run.
Friday, Oct. 31
Juvenile Turf Sprint: Later Than Planned (AE) (D’Amato)
Juvenile Fillies: Bottle of Rouge (Baffert); Explora (Baffert); Meaning (McCarthy); La Ville Lumiere (2) (McCarthy); La Wally (Glatt); Super Corredora (Sadler).
Juvenile Fillies Turf: Brave Deb (Mandella); La Ville Lumiere (AE) (McCarthy).
Juvenile: Brant (Baffert); Desert Gate (Baffert); Litmus Test (Baffert); Civil Liberty (O’Neill); Intrepido (Mullins); Mr. A.P. (Cerin).
Juvenile Turf: Hey Nay Nay (Sadler); Stark Contrast (McCarthy); Third Beer (AE) (Yakteen); Caro Buono (AE) (Powell).
Saturday, Nov. 1
Filly & Mare Sprint: Hope Road (Baffert); Richi (Baffert); Splendora (Baffert); Sweet Azteca (Baltas); Tamara (Mandella); Kopion (Mandella).
Turf Sprint: Ag Bullet (Baltas); Motorious (Baffert); Yellow Card (AE) (McCarthy); Incanto (AE) (Eurton).
Sprint: Dr. Venkman (Glatt); Imagination (Baffert); Lovesick Blues (Barocio); Straight No Chaser (Blacker); Tamara (2) (Mandella); Kopion (2); Big City Lights (AE) (Mandella).
Distaff: Seismic Beauty (Baffert).
Turf: Gold Phoenix (D’Amato)
Classic: Journalism (McCarthy); Nevada Beach (Baffert); Baeza (Shirreffs).
Mile: Johannes (Yakteen); Formidable Man (McCarthy); Almendares (D’Amato).
Dirt Mile: Full Serrano (Sadler); Citizen Bull (Baffert); Goal Oriented (Baffert); Nysos (Baffert); Touch of Destiny (McCarthy); Dr. Venkman (2) (Glatt).
Filly & Mare Turf: La Kika (O’Neill).
Works: Baffert Quartet Among 10 BC Candidates on Tab
Brant, Imagination, Hope Road and Richi, all trained by Bob Baffert, were among 11 pre-entrants for next week’s Breeders’ Cup working Friday at Santa Anita. All of the works will be available for viewing on 1/ST.TV on the Breeders’ Cup Portal page.
Brant, pre-entered in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, drilled six furlongs in 1:12.60. By Gun Runner, Brant is a perfect 2-for-2 including a win in the GI Del Mar Futurity going seven furlongs Sept. 27. The 1 1/16-mile Juvenile will be his first time racing around two turns.
HOPE ROAD (outside) and IMAGINATION (inside) working in tandem at Santa Anita for trainer Bob Baffert preparing for the @BreedersCup. pic.twitter.com/c5Nnue7HYL
— FanDuel Racing (@FanDuel_Racing) October 24, 2025
Hope Road and Richi are both pre-entered in the Filly & Mare Sprint. Hope Road, winner of the GI Ballerina last out on Aug. 23 at Saratoga, sizzled five furlongs in 57.80 seconds. Richi went the same distance in 58.20 seconds. In the seven-furlong Filly & Mare Sprint, Richi will be cutting back in distance following a runner-up effort in the GII Zenyatta at 1 1/16 miles on Sept. 28 at Santa Anita.
Imagination, pre-entered in the Sprint, also worked five furlongs in 57.80 seconds. He and Hope Road shared the bullet for the distance.
Trainer John Sadler worked Hey Nay Nay (Juvenile Turf) and Super Corredora (Juvenile Fillies). Hey Nay Nay worked five furlongs in 1:00.40. By No Nay Never, Hey Nay Nay is a perfect 3-for-3 with wins in the Tyro Stakes at Monmouth Park and GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf most recently on Sept. 7.
Super Corredora returned to the tab following an eye-catching debut win at one mile on Oct. 11 at Santa Anita. The daughter of Gun Runner was clocked going four furlongs in 47.0 seconds, which was the second-fastest of 40 works at the distance.
GI American Pharoah winner Intrepido, pre-entered in the Juvenile, worked five furlongs in 1:04.0 for trainer Jeff Mullins. By Maximus Mischief, Intepido won the 1 1/16-mile American Pharoah by three-quarters of a lengths when facing winners for the first time.
Incanto, who is on the also-eligible list for the Turf Sprint, worked four furlongs in 48.60 seconds for trainer Peter Eurton. A 3-year-old gelding by Mehmas, Incanto most recently shipped to Remington Park and checked in sixth in the Great West Turf Sprint on Sept. 28.
Brave Deb, pre-entered in the Juvenile Fillies Turf for trainer Richard Mandella, worked six furlongs in 1:14.60. By Authentic, Brave Deb improved to 2-for-2 when winning the GIII Surfer Girl at one mile on turf Oct. 5 at Santa Anita.
Caro Buono, who is on the also-eligible list for the Juvenile Turf, worked four furlongs on the training track in 47.60 seconds. Trained by Leonard Powell, Caro Buono was imported from his native France this summer. In two U.S. starts the colt by Zelzal finished fourth in both the GIII Del Mar Juvenile Turf and GIII Zuma Beach at Santa Anita most recently on Oct. 5.
Third Beer, who is also on the also-eligible for the Juvenile Turf, worked five furlongs in 1:01.60. Trained by Tim Yakteen, the colt by Mendelssohn most recently finished second in the Zuma Beach following a debut win going one mile on turf Aug. 29 at Del Mar.
FINISH LINES … … …. …..
Sunday is closing day of the Autumn Meet. Highlighting a 10-race card is the GIII Autumn Miss for 3-year-old fillies at one mile on turf. First post is 1 p.m. PT and the Autumn Miss goes as the eighth race at approximately 4:30 p.m…
All pools on Sunday will have mandatory payouts…
Friday’s $1 Sunset Pick Six starts at 1:35 p.m. with the eighth race from Gulfstream Park…
The $1 Coast-to-Coast Pick 5 starts at 2:07 p.m. with the ninth race from Gulfstream…
Phil D’Amato holds a two-win advantage over Bob Baffert in the trainer’s standings with three days remaining. D’Amato (11 wins) has seven horses entered in six races to close out the meet while Baffert has nine horses entered in five races…Clocker Toby Turrell (The Winner’s Card) will be host Tom Quigley’s handicapping guest Saturday on the Santa Anita simulcast feed starting at 11:50 a.m.
