Listenupshance holds off Maximum Bourbon in Santa Anita Sprint Championship

ARCADIA, Calif. - Listenupshance was expected to lead in Sunday’s Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship from an inside post.

A slightly slow start altered those plans.

A few strides from the gate, Listenupshance recovered quickly to reach the front in the opening 100 yards, but did so while racing off the rail against only two rivals. The change in strategy led to Listenupshance’s second consecutive major stakes win in a California sprint by a gelding who ran in a $20,000 claimer for maidens 14 months ago.

Ridden by Emisael Jaramillo, Listenupshance ($4.40) set a quick pace of 21.98 seconds for the opening quarter-mile and 43.86 for a half-mile. While Listenupchance raced in the two-path early, Jaramillo had moved his mount to the inside approaching the turn.

Listenupshance held off 7-10 favorite Maximum Bourbon to win by three-quarters of a length.

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The pair were first and second, separated by a nose, in the Grade 1 Bing Crosby Stakes at six furlongs at Del Mar on July 25 in one of the most exciting races of the summer in California.

There were a few intense moments for winning trainer Doug O’Neill in the stretch of the $184,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship when Maximum Bourbon launched a rally and reduced Listenupshance’s lead.

“When (Maximum Bourbon) came to him, I thought, uh-oh,” O’Neill said. Listenupshance “found another gear. It was definitely his most impressive race to date.”

Maximum Bourbon raced on the inside on the turn while chasing Listenupshance and moved to the outside of the pacesetter in the stretch.

Listenupshance, who races for Great Friends Stables and Run Fast Racing, ran six furlongs in 1:08.70.

Maximum Bourbon finished 2 1/4 lengths clear of 5-1 March of Time.

Ahrens and Imagination were scratched earlier on Sunday.

Ahrens won an allowance race at Del Mar on Aug. 1 in his last start. Imagination, who won the 2025 Santa Anita Sprint Championship and was second in the BC Sprint at Del Mar last November, has not raced since a ninth-place finish in the Grade 3 Hanshin Stakes at Churchill Downs on June 28.

The winner of the Santa Anita Sprint Championship received a fees-paid berth to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Keeneland on Oct. 31, but Listenupshance had already earned a fees-paid berth to the BC Sprint with the Bing Crosby win.

A Kentucky-bred by Shancealot, Listenupshance was recently supplemented to the Breeders’ Cup program for $100,000 after he was not nominated as a weanling in 2022.

Listenupshance was bought privately after a win in a $20,000 claimer for maidens. He has since won 4 of 10 starts. This year, he has earned $456,160.

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