Juveniles kick things off; McCarthy has first ride in race 2
ARCADIA, Calif. – The 2-year-old program is in great shape this spring at Santa Anita, while the jockey colony could use some help. Both matters are front and center Friday.
Santa Anita has run seven maiden races for 2-year-olds already, a pace that exceeds any recent season. With 575 juveniles on the grounds, no wonder racing secretary Chris Merz has filled all but one juvenile race offered, including the first race Friday.
Cal-bred fillies Munny Penny and Drizella top the opener, the eighth race of the meet for 2-year-olds.
“It’s very encouraging,” Merz said. “The two stakes at the end are really helping, and giving horses something to point for, which we normally don’t have.”
A pair of $100,000 stakes closing day June 20 – the Fasig-Tipton Juvenile and Fasig-Tipton Debutante – provide meet-end targets, and Merz expects the program to finish strong. In the final condition book covering June 4-20, a juvenile race is carded most every day.
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As for the riding colony, it is no secret the ranks have thinned. That is one reason East Coast-based Trevor McCarthy has relocated to California. His three mounts Friday in races 2, 3, and 6 will be his first at Santa Anita.
“I’m just hoping to find a really good horse,” McCarthy said early Monday morning on the Santa Anita backside. “I’m young, and I took a shot. There are some really great trainers and horses back here. Hopefully I can take my career to the next level.”
McCarthy is 27, has been a meet-leading rider in Maryland, and won 1,627 races. He and his wife, Katie, a jockey not currently riding, expect their first child later this year.
It did not take long for McCarthy and agent Derek Lawson to find good trainers and horses. McCarthy’s first mount Friday is for John Sadler in the second race; the first horse McCarthy worked Monday was graded winner Going to Vegas, a Richard Baltas trainee he is scheduled to ride Monday in the Grade 1 Gamely.
McCarthy arrived at a time when the racing schedule is limited and top mounts are hard to find due to a horse shortage. Friday begins a rare four-day race week through Memorial Day; Santa Anita typically runs three days a week.
On the other hand, McCarthy’s timing is opportune. As one horseman said, “There’s a desperate need for a fourth-leading rider here. After you get past Prat, Rispoli, and Hernandez, who is there?”
Flavien Prat, Juan Hernandez, and Umberto Rispoli are the three top journeymen. Jessica Pyfer is the top apprentice rider, ranked sixth behind fourth- and fifth-ranked journeymen Abel Cedillo and Tyler Baze.
Race 1 Friday is a showdown between a pair of 2-year-old maiden fillies who both ran well first out. Munny Penny finished second by seven lengths with a compromising trip May 7. Munny Penny was in tight quarters on the turn, and finished evenly. Walther Solis trains the filly, who will again be ridden by Prat.
Her chief rival is Drizella, who flashed speed before finishing a distant second in the meet’s first 2-year-old race April 30. Luis Mendez trains Drizella, whose rider is Hernandez. Mendez also entered Ko Olina, who would be wheeling back in one week. She finished third in her career debut May 21.
Race 2 is a $50,000 maiden-claiming mile. McCarthy rides Winzer, a special-weight dropper with marginal ability. Winzer could be competitive on the drop, but the most likely winner is the likely pacesetter.
Poseidon Wrath was claimed for $50,000 from a runner-up debut in a seven-furlong race at Keeneland, and is making his first start in California for trainer Mark Glatt and owner Bob Bone. Pyfer rides the front-running gelding, who could be long gone.
Race 3 Friday includes the most likely winner on the card. Sadler-trained Lalic figures to start at a short price in the turf sprint, a starter allowance restricted to non-winners of three races. It’s a condition that Lalic won early this month.
“She was technically over her head last time,” Sadler said. “But she was doing great and ready to run. So, we ran her one over” – above her eligibility – “with the idea to maybe stretch her out.” Lalic won a maiden turf sprint two back, followed by her recent win.
Sadler still believes Lalic will run long, but when the N3L came up, he opted to run her short again. Lalic is 4 and has made just three starts, all this year. She was purchased for Hronis Racing at a 2-year-old sale in France in 2019, and it took nearly two years to get her to the races.
“She got really sick when she got here, and had a couple things that stopped her from getting to the races, but nothing bad,” Sadler said. “With her European breeding, I think she wants to run long.”
Prat rides Lalic, whose race 3 rivals include Trouville and Roses and Candy.