How to bet the 2022 Dark Mirage Stakes

An excellent field of seven fillies and mares will run 1 1/8 miles on the Santa Anita lawn in Monday's $400000 Gamely S. (G1). One of a trio of major events on the fantastic holiday card attracts a talented and well-matched cast and promises to be a thrilling affair to the finish. Grade 1 heroine #3 Queen Goddess has evolved into a top turf mare…

In a thrilling finish, New Orleans-based shipper A Mo Reay was up to tag heavily favored local Fun to Dream by a head in Saturday's main event at Santa Anita, the Grade 1, $500000 Beholder Mile. Trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Flavien Prat, A Mo Reay got the mile in 1:36.25 over a main track listed as good. Attentive to the early pace set by…

A talented field of nine fillies and mares will run 1 1/4 miles on the Santa Anita turf course in Sunday's $100000 Santa Ana (G3). Conditioner Michael McCarthy has a pair of ladies in the cast, and I believe that both contenders will have a big say in the outcome of the grassy endeavor. I really liked the upset win posted by #5 Duvet Day in the…

A total of six fillies and mares will vie in Sunday's $200000 La Canada S. (G3) at Santa Anita. Conditioner Bob Baffert has the two main players in the field, and I expect the race to come down to that duo late. #3 Ganadora is the speed of the speed and gets the nod to take the group all the way on the front end with John Velazquez. By Quality…

Trainer Bob Baffert holds a strong hand when he sends out the favored pair of Ganadora and Under the Stars in a field of six older females in the Grade 3 La Canada Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita. Ganadora is the more lightly raced of the duo, but will likely be the post-time choice. The $1 million yearling purchase pushed a strong pace before…

Lovely Ride wins Saturday's Pippin Stakes at Oaklawn Park Coady Photography, courtesy of Oaklawn Park Jan. 9 (UPI) -- Trainer Bob Baffert saddled the first three finishers in Sunday's $100000 Grade III Sham Stakes at Santa Anita, a "Road to the Kentucky Derby" race, while the other weekend qualifier went to a colt who might find the Derby distance…

Monday, December 26, 2022 at 6:14 pm |Back to: Top News Fun to Dream (inside) holds off Awake at Midnyte | Benoit Jill Baffert and Connie Pageler's Fun to Dream, beaten just once now in six trips to the post, scored her first graded victory with a determined win in the GI La Brea S. at Santa Anita Monday. Fun to Dream shadowed the pacesetters three…

While much of the country is suffering through extreme cold and winter storms, officials at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif., are preparing for their traditional day-after-Christmas opening on Monday, Dec. 26. Temperatures are expected in the upper 70s and there is no rain in the forecast for Monday, though a storm is expected to roll into…

Three-year-old dirt fillies get one last chance to compete at the top level against their own age and sex in the $300000 La Brea Stakes (G1), which runs Monday, December 26 at Santa Anita! The race drew a field of eight, four of whom are already graded winners and four who seek those honors for the first time in their career. The field is led by…

A field of eight three-year-old fillies will travel seven-eighths on the Santa Anita main strip in Monday's $300000 La Brea S. (G1). The affair features a quartet of lasses from the shedrow of Bob Baffert, and it seems likely to me that the silver-haired conditioner will saddle a ninth winner in the event. #3 Ganadora (4-1) is unbeaten from a pair…

Taiba, who fared best of the three-year-olds in last month's Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) after capturing the Pennsylvania Derby (G1) and Santa Anita Derby (G1) earlier this season, will attempt to sway a few extra Eclipse Award votes his way Monday if he can win the $300000 Malibu (G1) at Santa Anita. Trained by Bob Baffert, Taiba finished a distant…

Derma Sotogake (4) wins the Zen-Nippon Nisai Yushun on Wednesday -- the second leg of the "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby." Photo courtesy of Katsumi Saito Dec. 15 (UPI) -- Candidates for next year's Kentucky Derby take center stage again in a weekend horse racing schedule that also includes the first "Win and You're In" race for the 2023…

Mike Willman/Santa Anita Press Releae ARCADIA, Calif. - With an Eclipse Award for top 3-year-old male potentially at stake on opening day, Monday, Dec. 26, nominations for Santa Anita's prestigious Grade I, $300000 Runhappy Malibu Stakes and five other graded offerings closed Monday with a total of 104 horses nominated for the Malibu, Grade I La…

A talented and sizable field of 11 sophomore fillies will travel 1 1/16 miles on the Churchill Downs green in Friday's $300000 Mrs. Revere S. (G2). I am not sold on any single contender in the field and will dabble with a few runners in my exotics wagers. #4 Bubble Rock is my tepid top selection for conditioner Brad Cox. By More Than Ready, the…

A standout field of 12 fillies and mares will travel 1 3/16 miles on the Keeneland lawn in Saturday's $2 million Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1). The affair boasts a strong international contingent featuring a handful of European imports, and I believe that the shippers will be formidable on Saturday. Morning-line choice #3 Nashwa (5-2) is a…

Seven sophomore fillies will run seven panels on the Churchill Downs dirt in Saturday's $275000 Dogwood S. (G3). Conditioner Steve Asmussen has a formidable duo signed on for the affair, but I will be seeking an upset with another talented three-year-old filly in the heat. Two-time Grade-1 placed #4 Tarabi (4-1) has never run a bad race in her…

Two very different, but very interesting, stakes races will highlight the Sunday Labor Day Weekend card at Del Mar. The first test brings out 3-year-old fillies, seven of them in fact, for the 45th edition of the Torrey Pines Stakes, a Grade III offering that carries a purse of $125000 and goes at a mile on the main track. The second is for…

Two very different, but very interesting, stakes races will highlight the Sunday Labor Day Weekend card at Del Mar. The first test brings out 3-year-old fillies, seven of them in fact, for the 45th edition of the Torrey Pines Stakes, a Grade III offering that carries a purse of $125000 and goes at a mile on the main track. The second is for…

BALTIMORE - The Maryland Jockey Club is ready to kick off a scorching hot weekend Friday at Old Hilltop, culminating with the Preakness Stakes late Saturday afternoon. On tap Friday afternoon at Pimlico Race Course is the $250000, Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes. Friday's card will also include three Grade 3 races: the Miss Preakness, the DuPont…

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Emblem Road rallied with a wide, sweeping move on the outside to win the $20 million Saudi Cup at 99-1 odds Saturday, beating Bob Baffert-trained Country Grammar by a half-length. Ridden by Wiggy Ramos, Emblem Road ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.52 in the world's richest horse race at King Abdulaziz Racecourse in Riyadh. It was a…

Courvoisier, shown winning the Jerome Sakes, returns for Saturday's Grade III Withers at Aqueduct, a Kentucky Derby prep. Photo by Chelsey Durand, courtesy of New York Racing Association Feb. 4 (UPI) -- Three official Kentucky Derby prep races top the U.S. weekend horse racing schedule while Hot Rod Charlie, one of last year's Triple Crown…

Killer Ability wins the G1 Hopeful Stakes and becomes the early favorite for 2022 Japanese Derby. Photo courtesy of Japan Racing Association Dec. 31 (UPI) -- Not only is Saturday New Year's Day, but it also is the official birthday of Northern Hemisphere-bred horses. American tracks obligingly carded four races for the newly turned 3-year-olds Jan.…

As Time Goes By/Private Mission - Amazingly, for all his success in Breeders' Cup Championships as the winningest with 17 victories, Bob Baffert will be seeking his first victory in the $2 million Longines Breeders' Cup Distaff when he sends out two starters in the nine-furlong event this Saturday. Private Mission, a once-beaten sophomore, will be…

Bob Baffert has dominated Santa Anita's Grade 1, $300000 American Pharoah Stakes, winning it nine times. The trainer enters the race's 2021 edition with three of the seven entrants. Yet, this running comes with the caveat that none of Baffert's runners can earn qualifying points Friday toward the first Saturday in May. Baffert trains Corniche, 6-5…