Stakes-rich weekend opens February

ARCADIA, Calif. – From champion sprinter Roy H to promising 3-year-olds, older horses, and turf marathoners, there is a wide array of stakes at Santa Anita on the first weekend of February.

Roy H, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Sprint at Del Mar in November, was named the champion sprinter of 2017 at the Eclipse Award ceremony in Florida on Thursday. Roy H will have his 2018 debut in the Grade 2 Palos Verdes Stakes at six furlongs at Santa Anita next Saturday.

Trainer Peter Miller considers the $200,000 Palos Verdes Stakes as a prep for the $2 million Golden Shaheen Stakes at six furlongs at Meydan Racecourse in Dubai on March 31.

“He’s sharper than a No. 2 pencil,” Miller said Friday morning. “His weight is good and his coat is good. It’s all positive.”

The Saturday program includes the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf, the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes at 1 1/16 miles, and the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles.

Itsinthepost, winner of the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on Jan. 6 and three other Grade 2 stakes in the last year, is the leading contender in the $200,000 San Marcos Stakes.

Hoppertunity, the multiple stakes-winning millionaire, is a candidate for the $200,000 San Pasqual Stakes, along with The Lieutenant, the winner of an allowance race at Los Alamitos last month.

The $150,000 Lewis Stakes is expected to include Shivermetimbers, who was fourth in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes on Jan. 6; the maiden race winner Peace; and Inscom, who was second in the Eddie Logan Stakes on turf Dec. 29.

The leading race on Feb. 4 is the Grade 2 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile, which may include the unbeaten Dream Tree, who won the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos last month, along with Allianna, Emboldened, and Steph Being Steph.