Leading jockey Juan Hernandez (left) and leading trainer Phil D’Amato (right) (Benoit Photo)
Santa Anita’s 28-Day Hollywood Meet Draws To A Close, All Sights Set On Hosting Record 11th Breeders’ Cup World Championships Nov. 3 & 4
Track Officials Encouraged By Racing Trends Dating Back To Dec. 26 Classic Meet Opener
Mike Willman/Santa Anita
ARCADIA, Calif.—Santa Anita’s 28-day Hollywood Meeting ended on a high note on Sunday, as a robust on-track crowd of 18,633 Father’s Day attendees contributed to an all-sources pari-mutuel handle of $17,104,124. With a mandatory payout in place in the 20 cent Rainbow Pick Six, $3,742,427 in new money was wagered, creating a total Rainbow Six pool of $4,088,561 by seventh race post time.
There were 286 Rainbow Six tickets with six winners, each returning $11,217.60.
The Hollywood Meet, which began on April 21, came on the heels of Santa Anita’s 43-day Classic Meet, which began on Dec. 26 and concluded on April 9. With Santa Anita poised to host the Breeders’ Cup World Championships for a record 11th time on Nov. 3 & 4, track officials are encouraged by improvements made in several facets of daily Thoroughbred operations and look forward to the beginning of Santa Anita’s 2023 Autumn Meet on Sept. 29 with renewed optimism.
“We certainly want to thank our horseplayers, owners, trainers, jockeys, backstretch workers and the thousands of people that help us put on the show that is live racing,” said Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager Nate Newby. “We are extremely proud of our safety record this year and we want to acknowledge this progress is the result of a true team effort from all stakeholders.
“Looking ahead to the fall, it is indeed a great honor to be able to host the Breeders’ Cup for an 11th time and preparations will begin tomorrow. We’ll be offering our on-track fans a number of improvements, including a pair of brand-new high resolution big screen televisions in the paddock which among many other things, will help to ensure The Great Race Place continues to look spectacular.”
With three wins on closing day, Juan Hernandez continued his reign of dominance, taking his third consecutive Santa Anita riding title with 42 wins, including three on closing day. He also once again led by stakes-won, with 10 added money victories, five more than Hector Berrios.
In the trainer’s division, Phil D’Amato topped his competitors with 17 wins, two clear of Doug O’Neill’s 15 and three more than Mark Glatt, who finished with 14. D’Amato also led all conditioners at this year’s Classic Meet, giving him five overall training titles at Santa Anita. The native of San Pedro, CA also led the Hollywood Meet by stakes-won, with five victories, one better than Richard Mandella and Bob Baffert.
Among owners, it was Paul and Zillah Reddam’s Reddam Racing, LLC taking top honors, with seven wins from 38 starters—two better than Hronis Racing, LLC.
In terms of top performances at the Hollywood stand, three Grade I winners on Memorial Day, May 29, come to mind. Bob Baffert’s Defunded taking the Hollywood Gold Cup, providing Baffert, Santa Anita’s all time leading stakes winning trainer with his record eighth Hollywood Gold Cup, one better than the legendary Bald Eagle, Charlie Whittingham.
Also on Memorial Day, trainer Peter Eurton‘s vastly improved Exaulted took the Shoemaker Mile, giving Juan Hernandez a pair of Grade I tallies. And in the Gamely Stakes, it was D’Amato’s Brazilian-bred Macadamia, with Tiago Pereira up, winning by one length at 6-1.
A day earlier, a couple of tremendous performances by California-breds highlighted a 10-race program on Gold Rush Day.
Trainer Doug O’Neil‘s Ceiling Crusher remained unbeaten in her fourth start, taking the mile and one sixteenth Melair Stakes by 17 lengths under Hernandez and in another devastating performance, owner/trainer Eric Kruljac’s The Chosen Vron cruised to 5 ½ length score in the six furlong Thor’s Echo Stakes under Hector Berrios.
On closing day, trainer Leonard Powell’s French-bred Neige Blanche overcame a nine-month layoff to successfully defend her title in the Possibly Perfect Stakes at a mile and a quarter on turf, giving jockey Diego Herrera his first ever Thoroughbred stakes win.
And in Santa Anita’s traditional closing day feature, the 84th running of the Grade III San Juan Capistrano Stakes at 1-3/4 miles on turf, it was Richard Mandella’s Brazilian-bred Planetario rallying for an emphatic 4 ½ length win under Hector Berrios.
For additional information regarding Santa Anita’s 2023 Autumn Meet, as well as the 40th running of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Nov. 3 & 4, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.
