Santa Anita Handicap 2023: Odds, preview, pace, more
Bob Baffert will not be taking part in any of the four Kentucky Derby 2023 preps Saturday due to his Churchill Downs suspension. But the trainer has the morning-line favorite in the biggest race of the day for older runners.
Defunded is the 7-2 favorite for the Grade 1, $500,000 Santa Anita Handicap. Post time from Arcadia, Calif., is 8:31 p.m. EST, with FanDuel TV showing the 1 1/4-mile race for runners aged 4 and up.
Baffert has won the Big ‘Cap four times. Misremembered took the 2010 running before Game on Dude scored in the 2011, ’13 and ’14 versions of this race.
Defunded carries the highweight of 125 pounds Saturday as he pursues his second Grade 1 win. His first came last October at Santa Anita in the Awesome Again Stakes (G1).
In his last start, Defunded was second to Art Collector on Jan. 28 at Gulfstream Park in the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1). Jockey Juan Hernandez will climb aboard the 5-year-old Dialed In gelding for owners Michael Pegram, Karl Watson and Paul Weitman.
Proxy (4-1) also exits the Pegasus, in which he finished fifth for trainer Michael Stidham. The winner of last November’s Clark Stakes (G1) at Churchill Downs heads west in pursuit of a second Grade 1 win.
Warrant (4-1) seeks his first graded win for trainer Bad Cox since the 2021 Oklahoma Derby (G3). He steps up in class after beating allowance foes in his last start Jan. 26 in Fair Grounds.
Stilleto Boy (5-1) was third in the Pegasus behind Art Collector and Defunded as a 46-1 long shot. Trained by Ed Moger Jr., the Grade 2 victor was third in last year’s Santa Anita Handicap.
Newgrange (6-1), a former Baffert runner, is racing now for trainer Phil D’Amato’s barn. He took the San Pasqual Stakes (G2) at 1 1/8 miles Jan. 28.
Here is a look at the field for the 2023 Santa Anita Handicap (trainers and jockeys in parentheses) with morning-line odds:
1. There Goes Harvard (Michael McCarthy, Kazushi Kimura), 12-1
2. Parnelli (John Shirreffs, Victor Espinoza), 20-1
3. Newgrange (Phil D’Amato, Frankie Dettori), 6-1
4. Stilleto Boy (Ed Moger Jr., Kent Desormeaux), 5-1
5. Defunded (Bob Baffert, Juan Hernandez), 7-2
6. Warrant (Brad Cox, Flavien Prat), 4-1
7. Heywoods Beach (John Sadler, Ramon Vazquez), 20-1
8. Hopper (Bob Baffert, Mike Smith), 8-1
9. Scarlet Fusion (Joe Sharp, Edwin Maldonado), 12-1
10. Tisquantum (Rolando Quinonez, Hector Berrios), 30-1
11. Proxy (Michael Stidham, John Velazquez), 4-1
TimeformUS pace projections show Hopper, who adds blinkers Saturday, going out to the lead under jockey Mike Smith and setting a fast pace. Favorite Defunded is projected to sit second.
Other Saturday stakes
Here is a look at other graded stakes outside of the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks trails Saturday across the U.S. All post times are EST.
1:27 p.m. – $150,000 The Very One Stakes (G3), 4-and-up fillies and mares, 1 3/8 miles (turf), Gulfstream Park, FanDuel TV
Virginia Joy (5-2) won this race in 2022 for trainer Chad Brown, then earned a pair of Grade 2 scores later in the year. Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. will ride the 6-year-old Soldier Hollow mare, who was eighth Nov. 5 at Keeneland in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf. Brendan Walsh trains Lady Rockstar (7-2), third-place finisher Jan. 28 in the local Pegasus World Cup Filly & Mare Turf Invitational (G3). The Brown-trained Higher Truth (5-1) returns for her first start since an allowance victory July 3 at Belmont Park.
2:29 p.m. – $150,000 Canadian Turf Stakes (G3), 4-and-up, 1 1/16 miles (turf), Gulfstream Park, FanDuel TV
Emmanuel (8-5), a Grade 2 winner for trainer Todd Pletcher, enters off a Tampa Bay Stakes (G3) win Feb. 4 to start his 4-year-old season. Jockey Javier Castellano gets the call on the More Than Ready colt. Pletcher also trains Steady On (6-1), fourth-place runner Jan. 28 in a handicap race over Gulfstream’s all-weather track. English Bee (6-1) is a Grade 3 winner for trainer Graham Motion and enters off a local allowance victory Jan. 13.
3:01 p.m. – $200,000 Herecomesthebride Stakes (G3), 3-year-old fillies, one mile (turf),Gulfstream Park, FanDuel TV
Cairo Consort (3-1) has won two stakes races in a row for Pletcher, including the local Sweetest Chant Stakes (G3) on Feb. 4. Ortiz will climb aboard the Cairo Prince filly. Mark Casse trains Papilio (5-1), who makes a U.S. debut after finishing sixth Sept. 11 at Curragh in the Moyglare Stud Stakes (G1). Anna Karenine (5-1) also makes a U.S. bow, hers coming for Brown off a fifth-place showing Aug. 20 in the Prix du Calvados (G2) at Deauville.
3:33 p.m. – $200,000 Gulfstream Park Mile Stakes (G2), 4-and-up,one mile,Gulfstream Park, FanDuel TV
Charge It (4-5) is odds-on for Pletcher after returning from a layoff of more than seven months with a local allowance win Feb. 5. Luis Saez will get a leg up on the 4-year-old Tapit colt, winner of Belmont’s Dwyer Stakes (G3) two starts back in July. Mike Maker trains Endorsed (4-1), who took Gulfstream’s Fred W. Hooper Stakes (G3) on Jan. 28 for his first graded win. The Antonio Sano-trained Simplification (8-1) took the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) on this weekend last year but was 10th Jan. 28 in the local Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1).
4:05 p.m. – $150,000 Honey Fox Stakes (G3), 4-and-up fillies and mares,one mile (turf),Gulfstream Park, FanDuel TV
Speak of the Devil (7-5) won the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile Stakes (G2) on last May’s Kentucky Derby card, then was fourth June 11 on the Belmont Stakes card in the Just a Game Stakes (G1). The 5-year-old Wootton Bassett mare returns for her first start since then Saturday for Brown and Ortiz. Bill Mott trains White Frost (7-2), a Grade 3 winner whose first start in more than 14 months was a Gulfstream allowance win Jan. 26. Another Brown entry, Faith in Humanity (5-1), last raced Sept. 18, winning the Pebbles Stakes (G3) at Aqueduct.
4:27 p.m. – $150,000 Tom Fool Handicap (G3), 4-and-up, six furlongs, Aqueduct, FS2
Runninsonofagun (5-2) made the grade two starts back in the local Bold Ruler Stakes (G3) in October, then was runner-up at Aqueduct on Nov. 26 in the Fall Highweight Handicap (G3). The Gun Runner gelding makes his 4-year-old bow Saturday under jockey Kendrick Carmouche for trainer John Toscano Jr. Wesley Ward trains Nakatomi (3-1), who wrapped up his 3-year-old season with a fourth-place run Dec. 26 at Santa Anita in the Malibu Stakes (G1). Eastern Bay (4-1) finally earned his first graded score last out in his 53rd career race, winning Laurel Park’s General George Stakes (G3) on Feb. 18 for trainer Norman Cash.
4:55 p.m. – $200,000 Buena Vista Stakes (G2), 4-and-up fillies and mares, one mile (turf), Santa Anita, FanDuel TV
Quattroelle (3-1) aims for back-to-back graded triumphs after winning the local Megahertz Stakes (G3) on Feb. 4 for trainer Jeff Mullins. Jockey Hector Berrios will pilot the 5-year-old Mehmas mare. Carla Gaines trains Closing Remarks (7-2), the third-place finisher in the Megahertz. Kitty Kitana (4-1) steps up off a Santa Anita allowance score Jan. 28 for trainer Phil D’Amato.
5:09 p.m. – $200,000 Mac Diarmida Stakes (G2), 4-and-up, 1 3/8 miles (turf),Gulfstream Park, FanDuel TV
Astronaut (5-2) is twice a Grade 2 winner and finished last season by winning the Red Smith Stakes (G2) on Nov. 26 at Aqueduct. Saez will be up on the 6-year-old son of Quality Road for trainer Tom Albertrani. Brown trains Highest Honors (3-1), who takes another shot at Astronaut after finishing as runner-up in the Red Smith, three lengths shy of the winner. Master Piece (5-1) was seventh Jan. 28 in the local Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational (G1) for trainer Saffie Joseph Jr.
8 p.m. – $500,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile Stakes (G1), 4-and-up, one mile (turf), Santa Anita, FanDuel TV
Hong Kong Harry (9-5) enters off back-to-back Grade 2 wins for D’Amato, including in the Seabiscuit Handicap on Nov. 26 at Del Mar. Jockey Flavien Prat will ride the 6-year-old Es Que Love gelding. Leonard Powell trains Grade 2 victor Air Force Red (4-1), third-place finisher Feb. 4 in the local Thunder Road Stakes (G3). Another D’Amato entry, Masteroffoxhounds (5-1), has won twice at the Grade 2 level and was runner-up Feb. 5 in Santa Anita’s San Marcos Stakes (G3).
