Meaning stormed to the front and did not look back, Benoit Photo
Santa Anita Park Press
ARCADIA, CA —Odds-on favorite Meaning bested stablemate Brooklyn Blonde to lead a Michael McCarthy-trained exacta Saturday in the Grade II, $200,000 Santa Anita Oaks presented by Surfside going 1 1/16 miles Saturday at Santa Anita Park.
Meaning and jockey Juan Hernandez prevailed by two lengths over Brooklyn Blonde, a 10-1 shot who was making her stakes debut following a maiden win last month at Santa Anita. It was another 13 ¾ lengths back to Bank Shot (17-1) in third. She was followed across the finish line by Red Cherry (28-1) and French Blue (5-1).
The top five finishers all earned qualifying points (100-50-25-15-10) to next month’s Kentucky Oaks at Churchill Downs. Forced Entry, winner of last month’s GIII Santa Ysabel and 5-2 second choice for trainer Bob Baffert, was eased by jockey Mike Smith shortly after the start and did not finish.
Going to the lead in the 87th running of the Santa Anita Oaks was French Blue and jockey Florent Geroux. Meaning and Brooklyn Blonde were content to track the leader in mid-pack with Meaning on the inside saving ground. Brooklyn Blonde, who earned her diploma last month when stretched out to a mile, was the first to move on the leader with a three-wide move entering the second turn. Meaning continued to race behind horses while awaiting racing room.
Near the quarter pole, with Brooklyn Blonde now on the lead, Meaning was shifted to the outside for racing room and given her cue from Hernandez. Meaning ranged up with a four-wide entering the stretch, ran by her stablemate with a furlong remaining and continued to edge away to win for the third time in four starts.
“She was rather game today,” said Hernandez, who was riding Meaning for the first time. “She broke so sharp. I saw the horse on the outside and the one that was on the lead (French Blue), so I decided to keep her back. When she came back to me, that’s when she started traveling beautifully. I was saving ground inside, and when something opened up on the outside, we made our move.”
Meaning won in a time of 1:43.99 following fractions of 22.88, 46.55, 1:11.15 and 1:37.58.
“I’m proud of both of these fillies,” McCarthy said. ”I felt good in the stretch, but I felt a lot better after crossing the line.”
By Gun Runner, Meaning previously won the Las Virgenes Stakes going one mile on Feb. 8 at Santa Anita. As a 2-year-old, Meaning was a debut winner sprinting at Los Alamitos in September and then came back to finish fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. Owned by Bridlewood Farm and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, she was purchased for $440,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale.
“We’ll get them both to Churchill and prepare from there,” McCarthy said. “(Meaning) put herself in the game at the eighth pole and went on from there. This sets her up well for Churchill.”
Brooklyn Blonde, who was ridden by Kazushi Kimura, is also a daughter of Gun Runner. A $510,000 auction purchase, she is owned by Sun-Kissed Stables and celebrity chef Bobby Flay.
As for Forced Entry, Smith said he thinks she hit the gate at the start.
“She broke really well, but she must have hit herself leaving the gate. She was real choppy and didn’t feel comfortable,” he said. “I would rather not take any chances, so I wanted to pull her up.”
Added Baffert: “We checked her out and she seemed fine. She must have hit herself leaving the gate.”
Meaning paid $3.80, $3.00 and $2.10. Brooklyn Blonde returned $6.00 and $4.40. Bank Shot, ridden by Edwin Maldonado for trainer Ryan Hanson, paid $3.80.
JOCKEY QUOTES
JUAN HERNANDEZ, MEANING, WINNER: “She was rather game. She broke so sharp and good. I saw the horse on the outside and the one that was on the lead (French Blue), so I decided to keep her back. When she came back to me, that’s when she started traveling beautifully. I was saving ground inside, and when something opened up on the outside, we made our move. Every race she’s getting better and more professional.”
MIKE SMITH, FORCED ENTRY, DID NOT FINISH:“She broke really well, but she must have hit herself leaving the gate. She was real choppy and didn’t feel comfortable. I would rather not take any chances, so I wanted to pull her up.”
TRAINER QUOTES
MIKE MCCARTHY, MEANING & BROOKLYN BLONDE, WINNER & SECOND: “I’m proud of both of these fillies. I felt good in the stretch, but I felt a lot better after crossing the line. I was thinking about the demanding side of this track today. We’ll get them both to Churchill and prepare from there. (Meaning) put herself in the game at the eighth pole and went on from there. This sets her up well for Churchill.”
BOB BAFFERT, FORCED ENTRY, DID NOT FINISH: “We checked her out and she seemed fine. She must have hit herself leaving the gate.”
OWNER QUOTES
ARON WELLMAN, ECLIPSE THOROUGHBRED PARTNERS, MEANING, WINNER:“Really pleased with her effort. She learned a lot today. She broke sharp and wanted to be up in the vanguard. Juan rode a beautiful race, was patient and she took dirt. She waited had to check a little bit at the five-sixteenths pole and go around. Then her class and stamina took over. But credit to Bobby Flay and Brooklyn Blonde (2nd), she really gave Meaning a run for her money. It was a hell of a throwdown there.
“We asked a lot of her, off her maiden win at Los Al sprinting, to go to the Breeders’ Cup. We gave her a little bit of tome to go in the Las Virgenes and she delivered that day. You just always want to walk that fine line between having an Oaks prospect ready enough for these preps to qualify on points. Obviously these are prestigious races in their own right. The Santa Anita Oaks is The Santa Anita Oaks, but you know that the major goal is still a month away. Hopefully this program, the space in between races, sets her up for the first Friday in May.
“Juan has worked her the last month and got to know her. I think that was an integral part in today’s success. He rode her with a lot of confidence today and he is a top class rider. He wins just about every title here in Southern Californian and maybe he can take his talents to Kentucky now.”
NOTES: The winning owners are Bridlewood Farms and Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners.
