ULTIMATE EAGLE BIG CAP DAY

With defending champion Game On Dude a last-minute non-player, Ultimate Eagle swoops into the spotlight as the 5-2 morning line favorite among 13 entrants in Saturday’s 75th running of the Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap presented by San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino. The Big ’Cap will be run for the first time ever as the day’s last race and will follow the Las Virgenes Stakes and the Frank E. Kilroe Mile as the card concludes with three successive Grade I stakes.

The way Martin Pedroza, Ultimate Eagle’s 46-year-old jockey, sees it, Game On Dude’s absence simply removes a speed bump on his extraordinary mount’s rise to stardom. Trainer Bob Baffert announced just prior to Wednesday’s post position draw that Game On Dude would make his next start in the $10 million Dubai World Cup on March 31.
Pedroza, who has ridden more than 27,000 horses, already had the streaking winner of the Feb. 4 Strub Stakes at the top of his list. “Without a doubt, he is the best horse I’ve ever ridden,” said Pedroza, who won the 1989 Santa Anita Handicap aboard Martial Law. Only Triple Crown winner Affirmed ever recorded a faster winning time, 1:58 3/5 in 1979, than did 50-1 upsetter Martial Law, clocked in 1:58 4/5 for the mile-and-one-quarter distance.

Ultimate Eagle will be seeking his sixth win in seven starts, but it wasn’t until his 7 ¼-length rout in the history-rich Grade II Strub Stakes that he would generate such boundless enthusiasm. “He’s like a freak,” said the bedazzled Pedroza. “and, believe me, this horse is just learning how to run.”

Read Article at  http://www.santaanita.com/press/pressrelease/2012/02/ultimate-eagle-heads-grade-i-santa-anita-handicap-mr-commons-tops-grade-i




The complete field for the Santa Anita Handicap, with jockeys, weights and morning line odds in post position order: Uh Oh Bango, Mike Smith, 117, 6-1; Ultimate Eagle, Martin Pedroza, 120, 5-2; Ron the Greek, Jose Lezcano,116, 6-1; Boxeur de Rues, Mario Gutierrez, 112, 50-1; Thirtyfirststreet, Eswan Flores, 114, 30-1; Twice the Appeal, Christian Santiago Reyes, 114, 30-1; Fiddlers Afleet, Kevin Krigger, 110, 50-1; Gladding, Joel Rosario, 116, 12-1; Setsuko, Victor Espinoza, 116, 4-1; Norvsky, Joseph Talamo, 118, 6-1; Prayer for Relief, Martin Garcia, 117, 8-1; Holladay Road, Rafael Bejarano, 114, 8-1, and Victory Pete, Corey Nakatani, 114, 50-1.