Big program at Santa Anita, two Japanese Grade 1's top weekend horse racing

Thousand Words, shown training at Pimlico for this year's Preakness Stakes, returns in Saturday's Grade I Malibu at Santa Anita. Photo courtesy of Maryland Jockey Club

Dec. 24 (UPI) -- Boxing Day, the day after Christmas, long has been a red-letter day for Santa Anita racing fans, and this year's edition won't do anything to hurt that tradition with some really tremendous matchups.

There's other action, too, including the Tropical Park Derby and Oaks at Gulfstream Park and another clutch of stakes at Laurel Park. What better to usher out 2020 than a weekend full of top-quality, tough racing?

And as the horses move around to settle in for the remainder of the winter, handicapping gets even harder. For an inside look at what to expect, check out Jude Feld's perspective at popejude.com.

Jude spent many years training on the Southern California circuit before shifting his tack to Kentucky -- and knows whereof he speaks.

On the international front, hopefuls for next year's Japanese Classics strut their stuff on Saturday in the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes at Nakayama Racecourse with the best of the older horses on display the next day over the same course in the Arima Kinen.

Also see "News and Notes" for a look -- a quick one because it's about time to start the Christmas shopping -- at the legislation passed by Congress this week that will give a new national organization authority to set medication and safety guidelines for racing and set fees for enforcement.

That is, if the outgoing president doesn't make good on his threat to veto it.

Ho, ho, ho. Away we go.

Santa Anita-Saturday

The $300,000 Grade I RUNHAPPY Malibu Stakes for 3-year-olds: This 7-furlong sprint features two from this year's Triple Crown crop -- Charlatan and Thousand Words -- against accomplished sprinter Collusion Illusion and one of the most promising newcomers in this division, Nashville.

Charlatan and Thousand Words are trainer Bob Baffert's Triple Crown leftovers, no slight intended.

Charlatan, a Speightstown colt, won his first two starts early in the year at Santa Anita, and then finished first in a division of the Arkansas Derby. He was knocked off the Kentucky Derby trail with an injury, then lost the Oaklawn crown when a drug test came back positive.

Thousand Words won the 2019 Los Alamitos Futurity and has been in and out since then, most recently finishing eighth in the Preakness.

Collusion Illusion has won three graded stakes on the West Coast but most recently was 12th in the Breeders' Cup Sprint at Keeneland.

Nashville is the promise of the future, all things considered. Another Speightstown offspring, he won his first two starts so impressively that he would have been among the favorites in the Breeders' Cup Sprint.

Instead, trainer Steve Asmussen entered him in the Perryville Stakes on the undercard at Keeneland, where he won again for fun. Even geared down through the final sixteenth, he established a track record while finishing 6 furlongs in 1:07.89.

This will be a sterner test for Nashville, owned by China Horse Club and WinStar Farm. Nonetheless, he's the 6-5 favorite on the morning line -- an assessment hard to fault based on his performance Nov. 7 in Kentucky.

Express Train and Independence Hall complete the six-horse field.

The $200,000 Grade II Mathis Brothers Mile: Smooth Like Strait just missed in the Grade I Hollywood Derby at Del Mar in his last start and won the Grade II Twilight Derby at Santa Anita in the start before that. He is the 8-5 favorite on the morning line and should be a handful in this shorter turf test.

The seven-horse field also includes Kentucky shipper Field Pass, last seen winning the Grade III Ontario Derby at Woodbine, and last year's 45-1 upset winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, Storm the Court, who has not won in seven intervening starts.

The $200,000 Grade II San Antonio: Mucho Gusto returns in this 1 1/16-miles event on the dirt. The 4-year-old Mucho Macho Man colt has not raced since finishing fourth in the $20 million Saudi Cup on Feb. 29, beaten just 2 3/4 lengths by some of the best horses in the world after leading into the stretch.

Before that, he won the Grade I Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park. He has been training smartly for Bob Baffert and a good effort her might see him back in Florida in a month and Riyadh in two.

Sharp Samurai comes to the San Antonio off a good third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile at Keeneland. Extra Hope, Midcourt and Combatant return after running 1-2-3 in the Grade III Native Diver.

A newcomer to these ranks, Idol, makes just his fourth start. The Curlin colt won his last two easily at Churchill Downs and gets the sink-or-swim challenge against these rivals.

The $300,000 Grade I La Brea for 3-year-old fillies:

Finite, Merneith and Motivated Seller look tough in the 7-furlongs La Brea.

Finite, the narrow favorite, invades from New Orleans after another trip produced victory Nov. 21 in the Grade II Chilukki Stakes against older rivals at Churchill Downs. Merneith and Motivated Seller were the first two past the judge in the Fort Springs at Keeneland on Nov. 7 on the Breeders' Cup undercard.

Several others are worth a look in the Le Brea, which has the faint odor of an upset waiting to happen.

The $300,000 Grade I American Oaks

Sharing is 3-1 on the morning line for this 1 1/4-miles race on the turf -- a price that seems generous given the Speightstown filly won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf last year over the Santa Anita greensward, finished second in the Group 1 Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, and won the Grade II Edgewood at Churchill Downs in September.

She was beaten less than 1 length while fourth in the Grade I Matriarch at Del Mar in her last start while facing older rivals.

Sharing does tackle the distance for the first time and has flown back and forth from the East Coast since her last start. If she's not up to the task, a few potential beneficiaries are Red Lark, who won the Grade I Del Mar Oaks in August, and the lightly raced Chad Brown charge Capital Structure, who comes across the continent for a class test.

Santa Anita - Sunday

The fun continues Sunday at the Great Race Place with the $100,000 Grade III Robert J. Frankel Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on the turf as the feature.

The great, late conditioner, who lent his name to one of Europe's all-time great horses and would seem worthy of more than a Grade III race. But the field's not bad, so ...

Mucho Unusual has been a consistent performer at the Southern California tracks and won the Grade I Rodeo Drive two starts back. The 4-year-old then finished 12th in the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf in her last outing but won't meet that caliber of opposition here.

Rideforthecause was a Grade II winner at Woodbine in September and fourth in the Grade I E.P. Taylor a month later while moving out of the allowance ranks. Chad Brown sends Miss Teheran west after the French import failed to make much impact in two starts on the East Coast.

Altea, another formerly raced in France, also comes cross-country in an effort to get a graded win. Zee Drop has been knocking on the door.

Also on Sunday's program, the $75,000 Eddie Logan for 2-year-olds drew a field of seven to tackle 1 mile on the turf.

Beer Can Man brings three straight wins, two at Indiana Grand and the most recent the Grade III Cecil B. DeMille at Del Mar, where he went to the post at odds of nearly 20-1 while facing many of the same rivals he'll encounter Sunday. He's by Can the Man out of the Dynaformer mare Cheesecake.

Fair Grounds

The Boxing Day card in the Big Easy has a trio of $75,000 stakes.

The Pago Hop has 11 3-year-old fillies tackling 1 mile on the turf. It looks pretty much a tossup with the 7-2 favorite, Evil Lynne, drawing the outside gate. Solve the puzzle, get the prize.

The handicapping puzzle is no easier in the Woodchopper, which has 3-year-old colts and geldings going the same trip.

Here, though, there are 13 entries to sort through. Bodecream is the 7-2 pick on the morning line but this is a good one for the hatpin through the program selection process. Does anyone still use hatpins?

The Joseph E. Spanky Broussard Memorial for fillies and mares at 1 mile and 70 yards on the grass drew a field of six with Whoa Nellie and Beautiful Trauma catching the oddsmaker's eye. Whoa Nellie, an Orb filly, makes her second start after a long break.

Gulfstream Park

There are three $75,000 turf stakes on Saturday's South Florida card, too.

The H. Allen Jerkens Stakes has 11 entries to go 2 miles on the grass. It could be called the Snowbird Stakes given that most of the field recently arrived from the frozen north.

Tintoretto, a German-bred, raced in California a bit ago. Sir Anthony, an Illinois-bred, is worth a look. Mostly, it's a balanced field of modestly talented steeds.

The Tropical Park Derby has 10 starters and the Tropical Park Oaks drew 13. Both are run at 1 1/16 miles on the green course.

The Derby has some potential turf stars of the future including Fancy Liquor and Don Juan Kitten. Sole Volante tries the green course after finishing sixth in the Belmont Stakes and 11th in the Kentucky Derby.

Around the world, around the clock:

Japan

Saturday's Grade 1 Hopeful at Nakayama features a bunch of undefeated 2-year-olds looking to make one last mark before their important third birthday.

Last year's winner, Contrail, went on to sweep this year's Triple Crown and was undefeated until he finished second to the great Almond Eye in the Japan Cup last month.

At least five likely starters in this year's edition have won both previous starts.

Danon the Kid's victories include the Grade 3 Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes. Orthoclase took the Ivy Stakes at Tokyo Racecourse in October for his second win.

Yoho Lake and Land of Liberty, both sons of Deep Impact, are both 2-for-2 with minor stakes victories to their credit. Admire Sage also has won both starts, including the Kigiku Sho at Hanshin.

The field is even deeper than that. Titleholder has won one and lost one but the loss was a second to Danon the Kid in the last start. Chevalier Rose, another by Deep Impact, is 2-for-3 and comes off a win in the Hagi Stakes at Kyoto.

The 2,000-meter Hopeful starts with a run past the Nakayama Racecourse grandstand and continues another full circuit of the inner turf.

On Sunday, Nakayama hosts the final Grade 1 event of the year, the Arima Kinen, the Grand Prix. This is a race in which fans vote for which horses they want to see run and this year they were pretty emphatic about asking for Chrono Genesis.

The 4-year-old filly logged a record 214,742 votes, largely on the basis of her victory earlier in the year in the Takarazuka Kinen, the other "fan voting" race on the Japanese calendar.

Five other horses from among the top 10 vote getters also are expected to face the starter -- Fierement, Lucky Lilac, Kiseki, World Premier and Blast Onepiece. All have solid credentials although Blast Onepiece, who won last year's Arima Kinen, has been off form in his last few races.

The Arima Kinen is run at 2,500 meters, and the final 200 meters includes a significant uphill climb. The purse of about $6 million is equaled in Japan only by that of the Japan Cup itself.

News and Notes

After many years of trying to get it passed, the Senate this week slipped the "Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act" into the massive omnibus spending and COVID relief bill sent to the president early this week.

He, however, threatened late Tuesday to veto the whole shebang -- pandemic relief, government operations funds and the money for fish management, as well as the horseracing language.

If he does sign the measure, it would create an independent authority, with majority membership by non-racing members, that would have sweeping power to set medication and safety standards for the industry.

Enforcement would be handled either by state regulatory bodies -- racing commissions -- or, as a default, by the authority through fees levied on industry participants.

Most industry groups signed onto the plan late in the game once Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., added his support. And there is no serious question that the racing industry needs help in making sure uniform rules are established and enforced.

Some horsemen continue to express reservations, principally about who will be assessed the cost of enforcement and how much they will have to pay. There also is concern that safety standards approved by non-industry people might prove difficult to meet in real-world settings.

A more immediate concern is that the legislation contains provisions to extend some critical aspects of the H-2B visa program, upon which horsemen rely for non-immigrant, guest worker backstretch help. The day-to-day care of horses depends on those folks and they're already in relatively scarce supply.

Let's see if the president signs it. If he does, let's see how state commissions react and who's appointed to the new body. Embrace change, but keep the powder dry.