ARCADIA, Calif. - Mike Smith wishes he would have said the right thing at the right time, a quick comment from a normally cool dude.
Instead, he admits that in the split second when Zenyatta reached the finish line of an incredibly popular win in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic, Smith could only let out a combination of a jubilant scream and bark.
"It was just pure noise," he said Sunday. "I don't know if I said anything."
ARCADIA, Calif. - Despite losing the Breeders' Cup Juvenile by a head, Lookin at Lucky has emerged as the top 2-year-old in North America and will be widely considered the winter favorite for the Kentucky Derby.
"The consolation was, man, I have a serious horse," trainer Bob Baffert said the morning after a wide trip and slow pace foiled the previously unbeaten colt.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Zenyatta's performance winning the Breeders' Cup Classic not only elicited wild reactions from her thousands of admirers on hand at Santa Anita on Saturday but also praise from the connections of several of the horses she beat. Many of them believe the undefeated mare now deserves to be named Horse of the Year.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will be campaigned on dirt racetracks, primarily in the East, in 2010, trainer Chip Woolley said on Sunday.
Mine That Bird finished ninth in Saturday's $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita over a synthetic track. The BC Classic was Mine That Bird's third loss on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface, preceded by a 12th in the 2008 BC Juvenile and a sixth in the Grade 1 Goodwood Stakes last month.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Dancing in Silks was considered to be just a good California-bred sprinter until his upset win in Saturday's at Santa Anita.
Now, trainer Carla Gaines is ready for a busy travel schedule in 2010 for Dancing in Silks, and very few, if any, stakes for statebreds.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Conduit, who successfully defended his title in Saturday's at Santa Anita, will stand at stud at Big Red Farm in Hokkaido, Japan, when his racing career ends.
The deal was finalized last month, according to Miki Tsuge, who served as a liaison between Conduit's current owners, Ballymacoll Stud of Great Britain, and Okada Shigeyuki of Big Red Farm. The stallion career is likely to begin in 2010, Tsuge said.
Conduit could race one more time this year, in the Japan Cup on Nov. 29 or an international race in Hong Kong on Dec. 13.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Half a year later, the letdown of not getting to ride in the Kentucky Derby was about the furthest thing from his mind. Joe Talamo waved his whip excitedly when passing under the wire Saturday at Santa Anita in winning the aboard front-running California Flag, driving his Derby frustration into deeper recess.
"This definitely helps," Talamo said Sunday morning, still reveling in the greatest victory of his nascent career. "Something like the Derby, that was pretty heartbreaking. This definitely makes up a lot for that."
ARCADIA, Calif. - Trainer Mike Maker said Sunday he hasn't "thought that far ahead" regarding the immediate future of Furthest Land, the former claimer who pulled a 21-1 upset Saturday in the at Santa Anita.
"I don't know if we'll send him back out to California or not," Maker said shortly after returning Sunday to Louisville, Ky. "Obviously he likes the synthetics. We'll let this sink in and go from there."
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Zenyatta looked bright and alert Sunday morning here at Hollywood Park, one day after her popular victory in the across town at Santa Anita's Oak Tree meeting.
"It's like she's saying, 'Want to run again? Let's do it,'" said her trainer, John Shirreffs.
The Classic, though, was likely her last race, which Jerry Moss, who owns Zenyatta with his wife, Ann, alluded to at a postrace press conference Saturday night.
ARCADIA, Calif. - Turning what had seemed to be a deep and complex race into something entirely different, California Flag flaunted his superior speed Saturday in completely dominating the second running of the at Santa Anita.
Nineteen-year-old jockey Joe Talamo was able to get California Flag to settle into a smooth tempo in the run down the hill of the 6 1/2-furlong turf course, and after crossing the main track for the homestretch with an open lead, the 5-year-old gelding just cruised from there, prevailing by 1 3/4 lengths over Gotta Have Her.
