Garcia enjoys big day, with more to look forward to

ARCADIA, Calif. – Saturday was a successful day for jockey Martin Garcia at Santa Anita, both in the morning and afternoon.

Garcia worked two of trainer Bob Baffert’s hopes for the Kentucky Derby – Game Winner and Roadster in the morning. That afternoon, Garcia won the first race on Whoa Nessie, his first victory since September and the 1,500th of his career.

Garcia, 34, returned to riding in late March from a shoulder injury that forced him to the sidelines in November. Whoa Nessie was the 15th mount of his comeback.

“I’m happy to get it done,” Garcia said on Sunday.

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Garcia said recuperation from the shoulder injury took longer than expected and still continues.

Garcia is not booked to ride the Kentucky Derby on May 4. In recent years, he has typically worked leading horses for Baffert, but has not always ridden those horses in stakes.

Still, Garcia has had his greatest success with the Hall of Fame trainer. Garcia won the 2010 Preakness Stakes on Lookin at Lucky, the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic with Bayern, and the 2017 Pacific Classic with Collected, all trained by Baffert.

Saturday, Garcia is expected to ride Just a Smidge for Baffert in the Grade 2 Santa Margarita Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles.

“I want to win races,” he said. “I’m just coming back and hopefully I’ll pick up something.”

Paradise Woods, a two-time Grade 1 winner in 2017, is the leading contender for the $200,000 Santa Margarita Stakes for fillies and mares, the most prestigious of three stakes at Santa Anita next weekend. Trained by John Shirreffs since December, Paradise Woods is winless in two starts this year, a fifth in the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes on Feb. 16 and a third in the Grade 1 Beholder Mile on March 30.

Owned by Steve Sarkowsky and Marty and Pam Wygod, Paradise Woods won the Santa Anita Oaks and Zenyatta Stakes in 2017 and was third in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar in November of that year.

There are two $100,000 turf stakes at a mile this weekend – the Crystal Water for California-breds on Saturday and the Singletary Stakes for 3-year-olds on Sunday.

The first two finishers in the Beholder Mile – Secret Spice and Marley’s Freedom – are bound for Grade 1 stakes for fillies and mares at Churchill Downs in early May.

Secret Spice is a probable starter for the $500,000 La Troienne Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on May 3, while Marley’s Freedom is a leading contender for the $500,000 Humana Distaff at seven furlongs the following day on the undercard of the Kentucky Derby.

Sunday at Santa Anita, Marley’s Freedom worked five furlongs in 59.60 seconds, the fastest of 53 works at the distance.