Skinner, Express Train may target Santa Anita Handicap

DEL MAR, Calif. - Between the Saturday stakes winner Skinner, and the soon-to-return stakes winner Express Train, owners Lee and Susan Searing and trainer John Shirreffs have two prominent runners for the major races of the winter for older horses at Santa Anita.

More than likely, the two will be on similar career paths toward the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 1.

Skinner, 4, won his first stakes in his 12th start in Saturday’s Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Del Mar. Ridden by Hector Berrios, Skinner closed from fifth on the backstretch to take a prominent position on the turn. He reached the front in the final furlong and won by a length.

“That was an excellent race,” Shirreffs reflected on Sunday morning at his stable.

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“He finished well. Hector did a good job on the turn. He was able to maintain and finish well.”

Skinner has been close in major races before. He was third by a half-length in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby in April 2023. A month later, he was withdrawn from the Kentucky Derby because of a reported elevated temperature.

Later in 2023, Skinner was second in the Native Diver Stakes in his final start of the year.

Skinner did not race again until he finished second in an allowance race at 6 1/2 furlongs at Del Mar on Nov. 1.

The next stakes for the division in Southern California is the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes at Santa Anita on Dec. 26. A $200,000 race run at 1 1/16 miles, the Pincay was formerly known as the San Antonio Stakes.

Express Train is nearing a return to racing for his first start since a third-place finish in the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at 1 1/16 miles at Del Mar in July. He is also a candidate for the Pincay.

Express Train, 7, has won 7 of 22 starts and earned $1,491,800. He was in peak form in the winter 2021-2022 season, winning three consecutive starts at Santa Anita – the San Antonio, Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/8 miles, and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap at 1 1/4 miles.

Express Train, who missed all of 2023, has started twice this year, beginning with a well-beaten third behind The Chosen Vron in the Grade 3 Kona Gold Stakes at Santa Anita in April.

Express Train has worked quickly in recent weeks, including five furlongs in 59.60 seconds last Friday.

“He’s really good,” Shirreffs said. “He’s an older horse but he hasn’t had a lot of hard campaigning. He runs a few times and has time off. He’s training well right now.”

Express Train is nominated for Saturday’s Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on turf at Del Mar, but is unlikely to start, Shirreffs said. The Seabiscuit is one of six turf stakes from Friday through Sunday, the final days of the track’s autumn meeting.

“He’s done so well on dirt,” Shirreffs said. “To switch to the turf, especially at the end of the meeting, is a little dodgy. The nice thing about Express Train is he’s a veteran.”

Express Train’s seven wins have ranged in distances from 6 1/2 furlongs to 1 1/4 miles.

Shirreffs has a leading contender in Saturday’s Grade 1 Hollywood Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf for 3-year-olds with Atitlan, who won the Grade 2 Twilight Derby at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita on Oct. 25.

Atitlan, owned and bred by John O’Conner, won for the second time in his fifth start in the Twilight Derby, closing from fourth of seven.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.