Zany, dominant winner of the Grade 2 Demoiselle, figures to be a short-priced favorite in what is likely to be a small field for the $125,000 Suncoast Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on Saturday.
Zany, a daughter of American Pharoah owned by Mike Repole and trained by Todd Pletcher, won a maiden sprint by 6 1/2 lengths at Gulfstream in November before galloping to an 8 1/2-length victory in the Demoiselle.
Confessional disappointed as the favorite in his 3-year-old debut, but perhaps that five-length loss to Nearly doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
Nearly bounced out of that Jan. 2 allowance win at Gulfstream Park to move near the top of many handicappers’ early Kentucky Derby contenders lists with a dominant 5 3/4-length victory in last Saturday’s Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream. Meanwhile, Confessional will look to jump on the Derby trail himself Saturday when he is scheduled to make his stakes debut in the $250,000 Sam F. Davis Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs.
ARCADIA, Calif. – There is a carryover of $52,044 in the $2 pick six on Friday at Santa Anita, and a carryover of $43,878 in the $1 Sunset Six, which links the final three races at Gulfstream Park and Santa Anita.
The Santa Anita pick six covers the fourth through ninth races on a program that begins at 12:30 p.m. Pacific. The carryover was clinched when Rizzleberry Rose ($14.20) won Sunday’s eighth race. Many tickets were eliminated when Little Tinker Elle ($37.80) won the seventh.
The pool of new money in the pick six should exceed $250,000.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Surfin’ U. S. A., a 3-year-old filly owned by the estate of the late racing handicapper and commentator Jeff Siegel and longtime Los Angeles Times sportswriter Eric Sondheimer, won a maiden race at 6 1/2 furlongs on turf Sunday.
A 3-year-old filly, Surfin’ U. S. A., trained by Leonard Powell, closed from sixth of eight to win by a head at 4-1. Sunday’s race was Surfin’ U. S. A.’s fifth start, and second of the year. She was a troubled fourth in a maiden race at six furlongs on turf Jan. 11.
Siegel died in October after a lengthy illness. He was 74.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Doug O’Neill capped a successful January with a victory by Princesa Moche in Saturday’s Grade 3 Megahertz Stakes for fillies and mares on turf at Santa Anita.
Princesa Moche, a 6-year-old Peruvian-bred mare, was O’Neill’s 15th win of the month. Through Sunday, he led the trainer standings at the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.
Princesa Moche was favored in the $102,000 Megahertz, a role that seemed far-fetched when she was imported from South America last summer.
ARCADIA, Calif. – Led by Nysos, winner of the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, six California-based runners are scheduled to start on the Saudi Cup program in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 14.
Nysos and Nevada Beach, first and second in the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes on Dec. 28 at Santa Anita for trainer Bob Baffert, will start in the $20 million Saudi Cup at 1 1/8 miles. The field is expected to include Forever Young, winner of the BC Classic at Del Mar last November and the champion older dirt male of 2025. Forever Young, based in Japan, won the 2025 Saudi Cup.
HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Trainer Brian Lynch has been running horses at Gulfstream Park for 20 years, but this winter is certain to go down as his best meet yet.
Through Sunday – day 40 of the 72-day winter season – Lynch has 18 wins from 48 starters, a .375 winning percentage that is tops among trainers who have made at least eight starts. His 18 wins are fourth best in that category. At the 2023-24 meet, Lynch won 22 races from 95 starters, so he figures to top his personal-best win total at Gulfstream.
Los Alamitos will not race on the weekend of Feb. 7-8 and will be closed for training from Feb. 5-9 to conduct track maintenance, according to a statement issued on Friday.
The track has conducted similar maintenance programs in early February in past years, most recently in 2023 when no racing was conducted on the second weekend of February. Los Alamitos does not race on Super Bowl Sunday, which this year is Feb. 8.
In the statement, the track described the forthcoming renovation as “a comprehensive refresh of the one-mile dirt oval.”
Alex Birzer, who won his 4,000th race earlier this month, and Julien Leparoux, who has won two Eclipse Awards, are among the five finalists for the George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award, Santa Anita announced earlier this month.
The other three finalists are Tyler Baze, who rides in California; Jareth Loveberry, who is currently riding at Fair Grounds in New Orleans; and Timothy Thornton, who is based at Delta Downs in Louisiana.
Baze, who through Thursday had 2,988 wins, was the champion apprentice of 2000.
British Isles, fifth in the Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park last Saturday, will be pointed to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 7, trainer Richard Baltas said on Friday.
British Isles was an 83-1 outsider in the $3 million Pegasus World Cup at 1 1/8 miles and finished 9 3/4 lengths behind race winner Skippylongstocking. Last fall, British Isles was second in the Grade 3 Native Diver Stakes at 1 1/8 miles at Del Mar, losing to Nevada Beach.
