The first three months of 2026 were a quiet stretch for trainer Andy Mathis. A little too quiet. From Dec. 28, 2025, the opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, through April 23, Mathis had one win from 31 runners, with eight second- and third-place finishers. A three-win day at Santa Anita on April 24 and another win on April 30 has revived the season. “Finally, things started to break the right way,” Mathis said on Thursday.  “I’ve been doing it long enough that when you’re rolling, you know it’s not going to last forever. When you’re not winning, it’s not going to last forever, even though it seems like forever at times.” Mathis, who has a stable of 30 horses, has one runner this weekend at Santa Anita, the 3-year-old filly Never in Doubt, a first-time starter in a maiden race at six furlongs on Saturday. :: Play Santa Anita racing with confidence. Get DRF Past Performances, Clocker Reports, and more. Mathis is taking a guarded approach to Never in Doubt’s appearance, thinking the experience will help her later this spring. “We’ve been high on her since she’s come in,” he said. “I think she’s a two-turn filly. We’d like to see her be competitive. “I would probably guess and say this the only time she will sprint.” Never in Doubt, owned by Michael Jawl, is part of a field of six led by Christina McAuliffe, who is winless in five starts but a game second by a half-length in a maiden race on turf on April 18. Mathis, 47, has trained since 2001, winning the first two races of his career at the Los Angeles county fair in Pomona. He trained in Northern California from the spring of 2022 until the end of 2024 when the circuit collapsed and racing in the state was consolidated to Southern California. Mathis had maintained a presence in Southern California, particularly Del Mar where he had a stable at the summer meeting since 2013. Mathis won a career-best 12 races at Del Mar in 2022. Last year, his first full year in Southern California, he had 2 wins from 22 runners at the Del Mar summer meeting with a stable of approximately 20 horses. In the last year, Mathis said he has made an effort to change his barn, buying higher quality stock to better compete in Southern California. The bulk of the runners in the current stable were not part of his team in Northern California in 2024.  Mathis insists he was not discouraged by the early season drought. “It wasn’t as if the horses were running bad,” he said. “We were running second and we had good trips and the winners were too good. “Sometimes you get in full fields and you run second best. I thought some of the horses were running winning races.” The three wins on April 24 are reflective of the current stable. Thank You India won an optional claiming race for maidens, Jaguar Jon won an allowance race for California-breds, and Clubhouse Bride won a $10,000 claimer. She was claimed by Ian Kruljac. On April 24, Mathis won a $50,000 claimer for maidens with Courtside Action. “I think we needed to get some wins for the owners and the barn, and get everyone excited about what’s coming up,” he said in reference to the summer. Mathis had one stakes win last year – Cornelia Fort in the Fran’s Valentine Stakes for California-bred fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita last May – and does not have any leading prospects for upcoming stakes. Instead, Mathis will have a barn active in overnight races, and trying to keep a meaningful role on the circuit. “I’ve been trying to upgrade horses – to claim better horses and buy better horses,” he said. “I’m not trying to claim a horse for $10,000 and run for $5,000. “The higher-level races are difficult to win.” Mathis finished seventh in the trainer’s standings at the 2023-2024 Golden Gate Fields with 22 wins. Five of the trainers ranked in front of him – Steve Sherman, Tim McCanna, Isidro Tamayo, Blaine Wright and Bill McLean – also have stables in Southern California now. Samuel Calvario left racing earlier this year. “That transition is really difficult,” Mathis said. “That’s not a one-, two- or three-month process. You’re competing with people who spend a lot of money on horses. You have to redo your barn, and that’s been our goal when we knew we were moving, to get better horses, trying to buy horses that will work at Santa Anita.  “I feel like the barn fits a lot better than it did a year ago. “A year from now, how can we get better and how can it look better and keep trying to get going in the direction?” The Santa Anita season ends on June 14, followed by a three-week meeting at Los Alamitos from June 19 to July 5before the Del Mar summer meeting begins on July 17. Mathis knows a successful Del Mar is vital, as is trying to avoid the quiet period from earlier this year. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first slump and it won’t be the last,” he said. “I’ve been going to Del Mar since 2013, trying to get better horses and meeting people. Maybe I had my foot in the door. “I think we’ve got some good horses to run in the last month at Santa Anita. I think we’re alive in a lot of categories.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.