California trainer Doug O’Neill is on the verge of a continental milestone as early as this weekend: his 3,000th career win in North America. O’Neill, annually among the leading trainers at Del Mar and Santa Anita, has 12 runners from Thursday through Sunday at Santa Anita, the final days of the track’s spring meeting. “I think we can get lucky with three of these 12,” O’Neill said on Thursday morning. Should O’Neill win three races this weekend, he will be rightfully honored in the winner’s circle for reaching 3,000 wins in the United States. :: Playing Santa Anita? Get the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances, Picks, and Clocker Reports available now. Overall, however, O’Neill won his 3,000th career race on March 14 when Blue Fowler won an allowance at Santa Anita. In his career, O’Neill has won 12 races in Dubai, most recently the Group 2 Godolphin Mile with Raging Torrent in April, and won once in Japan in 2003. O’Neill does not have any international racing on his immediate schedule. The focus is on California this weekend, with an eye on possibly sending a few runners to Churchill Downs later this month for stakes. On Thursday, O’Neill has two runners, including Crazy Cavalier, in the ninth race, a $50,000 claimer for maidens at 1 1/8 miles on turf. O’Neill has high hopes for Crazy Cavalier and Acknowledgemeplz, a 2-year-old first-time starter in Friday’s second race for maidens at five furlongs. Acknowledgemeplz, who has worked quickly in recent weeks, is part of a field of five that includes Desert Gate, a first-time starter trained by Bob Baffert with fast recent workouts. O’Neill won maiden races for 2-year-olds in May with the filly Light Won Up and colt Saul Elliott. Light Won Up may be sent to Churchill for the $225,000 Debutante Stakes at six furlongs on June 29. If Acknowledgemeplz runs well Friday, he could run in the $225,000 Bashford Manor Stakes at six furlongs on the same day at Churchill, O’Neill said. “There are no options here,” he said. “We wait for the Del Mar stakes or [are] considering [going] to Churchill Downs.” Del Mar opens its summer meeting on July 18. The first stakes opportunity for Light Won Up at Del Mar is the Grade 3 Sorrento Stakes, a $150,000 race at six furlongs on Aug. 10. The first stakes for open company that would fit Acknowledgemeplz is the Grade 3, $150,000 Best Pal Stakes at six furlongs on Aug. 9. Saul Elliott is a candidate for the $100,000 Graduation Stakes for statebreds at five furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 8. O’Neill thinks Saul Elliott may belong in an open company stakes. “He’s a Cal-bred, but he doesn’t act like your average Cal-bred,” he said. Last Saturday, O’Neill won his richest race of the year in the United States when Raging Torrent won the Group 1 Metropolitan Mile at Saratoga in his first start since the Godolphin Mile. Raging Torrent led throughout the $970,000 race. The Grade 2 Pat O’Brien Stakes at seven furlongs at Del Mar on Aug. 23 is a likely goal for Raging Torrent. In the longer term, Raging Torrent is considered a leading candidate for Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile at Del Mar on Nov. 1. There will be no Breeders’ Cup appearance this year for Mixto, who was second for O’Neill in the $12 million Dubai World Cup in his last start on April 5. Mixto has been sidelined with an ankle injury and is currently housed at Calumet Farm in Kentucky. Calumet owns Mixto, a 5-year-old horse who won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at Del Mar last August. “He came up with an ankle issue,” O’Neill said. “He’s getting some time. It will be at least 90 days. He’s been back there a few weeks. I would say the Breeders’ Cup is knocked out.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.