NOTES

ARCADIA REMATCH LOOMS IN THE GRADE I KILROE
BAFFERT UPS ANTE FOR SMITH IN JOCKEYS’ GAME
MIDNIGHT STORM TO WORK MONDAY FOR BIG ‘CAP




BOLO AND WHAT A VIEW COULD MEET IN KILROE

Bolo and What a View, who treated fans to one of the most exciting races of the Winter

Meet Saturday when they finished a head apart in the Grade II Arcadia Stakes at one mile on turf, could return for an encore performance in the Grade I, $400,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on Santa Anita Handicap Day, March 11.

Both camps reported Sunday that their charges came out of the Arcadia in good order, trainer Carla Gaines speaking of Bolo and trainer Kenny Black of What a View.

Bolo, making his first start since last July 17 when he finished ninth in the Eddie Read at Del Mar, appeared beaten when fourth in the field of five at the three-sixteenths marker, but unleashed a furious late rally under Mike Smith to overtake pacesetting What a View who just failed to hold off Bolo.

It marked the second straight year Bolo has won the Arcadia, but stay tuned. What a View turned the tables on Bolo when they met again in the 2016 Kilroe.

Smith also guided Bob Baffert’s Argentine-bred Vale Dori to victory in yesterday’s Grade II Santa Maria and the trainer stated following the race that she’d be pointed to the Grade I Santa Margarita Stakes at a mile and one eighth on March 18.



SANTA ANITA VS. HOLY ANGELS CHARITY GAME FEB. 23

Competition drives the market and it’s no different when it comes to sponsoring a Santa Anita jockey in their annual charity basketball game against Holy Angels School on Feb. 23.

According to Nancy Dollase, co-chairman of the event along with Angie Stevens, West Point Thoroughbreds had already put up the minimum $250 to sponsor Mike Smith in the game, but when Bob Baffert learned of it, ever the sport, he wanted to sponsor Smith, the regular rider of Breeders’ Cup Classic and Pegasus World Cup winner Arrogate, trained by Baffert.

West Point and Baffert went round and round, and when the dust settled, Baffert had upped the ante to $750 to get Smith on board. West Point graciously settled on a most worthy alternative, Triple Crown-winning jockey Victor Espinoza.

Thanks mainly to the $7 million earned by Arrogate in the Pegasus, Baffert and Smith lead the nation in purse earnings through Feb. 9 with $7,591,928 and $7,769,535, respectively.

The 50th annual Santa Anita Jockeys vs. Holy Angels Elementary School game will be

played at La Salle High School in Pasadena, with proceeds to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund (PDJF), Holy Angels athletic program and the Eye on Jacob Foundation.

Given the historic nature of the game, individual jockey sponsors, representing a wide array of racing industry stakeholders, will lend financial support to this worthy cause. Tip off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m., with admission doors opening at 6:15 p.m.

Hall of Fame jockeys Kent Desormeaux, Laffit Pincay, Jr., Mike Smith, Alex Solis and Gary Stevens will all be available at center court for an autograph session at 6:30 p.m.

Tickets are $5 per person, and for every two tickets purchased, individuals receive one free admission ticket to Santa Anita.



FINISH LINES: Jockey Rafael Bejarano, unseated from Eaglemaker when the three-year-old colt suffered an injury nearing the sixteenth pole in Saturday’s ninth race, took off his scheduled six mounts today. “It’s just precautionary,” said his agent, Tora Yamaguchi. “He’s a little sore but X-rays and a chest scan were negative.” . . . Versatile Midnight Storm, a Grade I winner on turf and dirt, is scheduled to breeze for Phil D’Amato Monday with his goal the Santa Anita Handicap on March 11 . . . Trainer John Shirreffs is weighing two races for Jerry and Ann Moss‘s Triple Crown contenders, Gormley and Royal Mo, either the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park March 18 or the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita March 11 . . . Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer has two-time Eclipse champion Songbird galloping two miles a day as she prepares for her four-year-old debut . . . Mike Smith will be back aboard Megahertz winner Prize Exhibit for trainer Jim Cassidy in next Saturday’s Grade II Buena Vista Stakes at one mile on turf, while Kent Desormeaux has the mount on Mokat for Richard Baltas, who gave the Hall of Fame rider a leg up on the daughter of Uncle Mo for her victory in the Grade II San Clemente Handicap last July 23 . . . Agent Nelson Arroyo reports his brother, Norberto Jr., will resume riding at Santa Anita next Saturday, Feb. 18, after serving a six-day suspension. Norberto took the opportunity to spend time with family in Kentucky . . . Agent Tom Knust has Mario Gutierrez booked to ride California Cup Derby winner Ann Arbor Eddie for owner Reddam Racing and trainer Doug O’Neill in next Saturday’s El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields . . . Trainer Peter Miller could have as many as three runners in Dubai on World Cup Day March 25: Palos Verdes winner St. Joe Bay, Stormy Liberal and/or California Cup Sprint winner Richards Boy . . . Santa Anita offers Dollar Day on Presidents’ Day, Monday, Feb. 20. Enjoy draft beer, soda and hot dogs for just a buck. First post time will be 12:30 p.m. Admission gates open at 10:30 a.m. Santa Anita will be dark for live racing Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday that week. Live racing will resume Friday, Feb. 24 at 1 p.m. . . . On Saturday, March 11, when Santa Anita presents the Grade I, $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap, the Late Pick Four will have a guaranteed pool of $1 million, and the Pick Six pool will be guaranteed at $100,000 . . . The Voice of Santa Anita Michael Wrona correctly pronounces the last name of 10-pound apprentice rider from Puerto Rico Evin Roman. It’s not “Roman,” as in the Roman Empire, but “ro-MON,” as in “Jamaica, mon.”



SANTA ANITA STATISTICS
 
(Current Through Saturday, Feb. 11)
Jockey Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won
Flavien Prat 124 30 16 23 24% 56% $1,946,958
Tyler Baze 132 23 29 12 17% 48% $1,176,222
Rafael Bejarano 99 18 15 17 18% 51% $983,493
Kent Desormeaux 86 18 11 9 21% 44% $1,165,831
Stewart Elliott 84 11 10 15 13% 43% $479,688
Mike Smith 32 11 3 7 34% 66% $1,120,645
Joseph Talamo 82 9 5 15 11% 35% $327,413
Norberto Arroyo, Jr. 64 9 5 4 14% 28% $458,830
Martin Pedroza 66 8 12 12 12% 48% $376,373
Luis Contreras 71 8 10 18 11% 51% $406,129
Tiago Pereira 59 8 6 6 14% 34% $222,210
Santiago Gonzalez 72 7 10 7 10% 33% $352,016
Victor Espinoza 33 7 7 6 21% 61% $497,822
 
Trainer Mts 1st 2nd 3rd Win% ITM% Money Won
Richard Baltas 71 14 13 10 20% 52% $713,180
Peter Miller 58 14 13 6 24% 57% $864,555
Jerry Hollendorfer 75 14 9 16 19% 52% $1,143,445
Philip D’Amato 47 11 5 9 23% 53% $708,825
Doug O’Neill 84 9 19 15 11% 51% $813,588
Mark Glatt 42 9 6 5 21% 48% $316,550
Bob Baffert 33 8 4 5 24% 52% $803,716
William Spawr 19 8 1 2 42% 58% $215,831
Peter Eurton 32 7 3 3 22% 41% $378,814
J. Keith Desormeaux 29 7 2 5 24% 48% $434,225
John Sadler 34 6 8 9 18% 68% $419,294
Vladimir Cerin 26 6 5 5 23% 62% $192,654
Gary Sherlock 24 5 3 2 21% 42% $135,455