Johannes. (Ernie Belmonte/Past The Wire)
Next Thursday On Opening Day Of Santa Anita Park’s 90th Anniversary Season
Santa Anita Press Box
ARCADIA, Calif.—Grade I winner and Breeders’ Cup Mile runner-up Johannes headlines a field of nine entered in the Grade II, $200,000 San Gabriel Stakes going 1 1/8 miles on turf next Thursday at Santa Anita. The San Gabriel is one of six graded stakes on opening day of Santa Anita’s 90th anniversary season.
Trained by Tim Yakteen, Johannes was beaten just three-quarters of a length in the Breeders’ Cup Mile by More Than Looks. It’s his only loss in five starts this year. Johannes, who is a perfect 6-for-6 at Santa Anita, earlier this year won the GIII American, GI Shoemaker Mile and GII City of Hope Mile at Santa Anita and the GII Eddie Read at Del Mar.
Owned by CUYATHY LLC, Johannes enters with an overall record of 12: 7-1-1 and $1,033,859 in earnings. The 4-year-old Nyquist colt will have regular rider Umberto Rispoli in the irons.
Johannes’s rivals include the previous two winners of the San Gabriel, Easter (2023) for trainer Phil D’Amato and Dicey Mo Chara (2022) for trainer Leonard Powell.
Easter has gone winless in five starts since his victory in last year’s San Gabriel. Most recently he was fourth, beaten one length in the GII Seabiscuit at Del Mar on Nov. 30. The winner of the Seabiscuit, Mi Hermano Ramon, and third-place finisher Astronomer also return in the San Gabriel.
Owned by Madaket Stables, Easter has a record of 24: 7-4-3 with $649,910 in earnings. The 6-year-old gelding by Exosphere will be ridden by Antonio Fresu, who has been aboard for his previous seven starts.
Dicey Mo Chara exits an eighth-place finish in the GII Hollywood Turf Cup going 1 ½ miles at Del Mar on Nov. 29. This summer at Del Mar, the 6-year-old gelding was second to Johannes in the GII Eddie Read and also second in the GII Del Mar Handicap.
Dicey Mo Chara is owned by Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal. He is 27 4-7-4 with $654,277 in earnings. He will be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez.
Mi Hermano Ramon earned his first stakes win when scoring at 11-1 in the Seabiscuit, which was his third start following a 13 ½ month layoff. Trained by Mark Glatt, Mi Hermano Ramon returned from the sidelines in August and finished off the board in a classified allowance going 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar. Sandwiched between that comeback effort and his Seabiscuit win was a close-up second in the restricted Lure Stakes going a mile on turf Oct. 19 at Santa Anita.
Like Dicey Mo Chara, Mi Hermano Ramon is also owned by Red Baron’s Barn and Rancho Temescal. The 4-year-old gelding by Creative Cause is 9: 4-1-1 with $321,480 in earnings. He will be ridden by Hector Berrios, who was aboard for the first time in the Seabiscuit win.
The San Gabriel is one of six graded stakes on a blockbuster opening day program at Santa Anita. First post is at 11 a.m. PT with admission gates set to open at 9 a.m.
