Express Train's San Pasqual win puts him on track for second try at Santa Anita Handicap

ARCADIA, Calif. – Express Train came within a half-length of winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap last March, a loss that still stings trainer John Shirreffs. Express Train led by two lengths with a furlong remaining, but was caught by Idol and finished second.

“He had a chance to win the race,” Shirreffs recalled on Sunday morning.

The narrow loss may be forgotten on March 5 if Express Train wins this year’s Santa Anita Handicap.

Express Train is in the best form of his career. Express Train won his second stakes of the winter in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Santa Anita on Saturday, stalking the pace before pulling clear by 3 1/4 lengths in the stretch as the 8-5 favorite.

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In last year’s San Pasqual, Express Train won the first stakes of his career, also by 3 1/4 lengths. He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 103 last year. Saturday, Express Train earned a comparable Beyer Speed Figure of 101.

Shirreffs is eager to try Express Train in the Big Cap, hoping another year of experience will make a difference for the 5-year-old horse, who races for Lee and Susan Searing.

“He’s a little more mature and he handles his training better than he did before,” Shirreffs said. “He’s not nervous about his racing.”

Express Train was third in the Grade 1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita in October and was scratched from the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar in November after he kicked a hock in the days before the race.

Since then, Express Train is unbeaten and bound for a return trip to Santa Anita’s biggest race of the year for older horses.