Meaning installed as the 3-5 ML Favorite, Benoit Photo
Santa Anita Park Press
ARCADIA, CA — Meaning, winner of the Las Virgenes Stakes in February, and recent GIII Santa Ysabel winner Forced Entry headline a field of seven 3-year-old fillies set to go in Saturday’s Grade II, $200,000 Santa Anita Oaks presented by Surfside at Santa Anita Park.
Meaning is trained by Michael McCarthy for owners Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners. In the one-mile Las Virgenes on Feb. 8, Meaning returned from a four-plus month layoff and scored comfortably by 1 ½ lengths. Finishing second that day was Explora, a three-time stakes winner who has since come back to win the GIII Honeybee at Oaklawn.
By Gun Runner, Meaning was purchased for $440,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale. In two starts as a 2-year-old, Meaning won her debut sprinting at Del Mar in September and then was fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Jockey Juan Hernandez will ride Meaning for the first time.
Forced Entry, trained by Bob Baffert, won the 1 1/16-mile Santa Ysabel on March 8 by 1 ¾ lengths over runner-up Bank Shot, who also returns in the Oaks. Previously, Forced Entry broke her maiden going one mile on Feb. 1 at Santa Anita. A $375,000 auction buy, the daughter of Charlatan is owned by Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.
Forced Entry will be ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith for the first time as Hernandez, her previous rider, opts for the mount on Meaning.
Bank Shot is trained by Ryan Hanson for owner WSS Racing. In the Santa Ysabel, Bank Shot pressed the pace and then chased Forced Entry valiantly in the stretch but could not get to the winner. The daughter of Game Winner, a $160,000 auction buy last year, previously was third in the Las Virgenes behind Meaning and Explora. Bank Shot will have regular rider Adrian Escobedo aboard.
Also looming for Baffert is French Blue, who was third in the Santa Ysabel behind Forced Entry and Bank Shot. A homebred daughter of Gun Runner for Three Chimneys Farm, French Blue has every right to improve as the Santa Ysabel was just her third start and first around two turns. French Blue previously broke her maiden going six furlongs in January at Santa Anita. Jockey Florent Geroux, who rode French Blue in the Santa Ysabel, will again be in the irons.
THE GRADE II SANTA ANITA OAKS WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER
Race 6 of 12 – Approximate post time 2:30 p.m. PT
- Forced Entry—Mike Smith—124
- Bank Shot—Adrian Escobedo—124
- French Blue—Florent Geroux—124
- Hypergamy—Emisael Jaramillo—124
- Meaning—Juan Hernandez—124
- Red Cherry—Armando Ayuso—124
- Brooklyn Blonde—Kazushi Kimura—124
First post Saturday is 12 p.m. PT.
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