ARCADIA, Calif. – Derby season has begun at Santa Anita, where a first-level allowance race Wednesday carries 2011 implications for Awesome Patriot and Anthony’s Cross.

Although six entered the mile race, including Grade 1-placed Riveting Reason, the future looks brightest for Awesome Patriot and Anthony’s Cross.

Awesome Patriot is trained by Bob Baffert, who believes the colt will appreciate two turns.

“I always had high hopes for him going long,” Baffert said.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The combination of poor weather on the Eastern Seaboard, one fewer race, and the switch of a stakes from the turf course to the main track led to a sizeable drop in all-sources handle on Sunday’s opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A day after two longstanding track records were broken on the debut of a newly installed sand-and-clay racetrack at Santa Anita, the horses who set the records emerged without mishap, and horsemen and track executives said they were pleased with the way the track performed.

While many trainers had expected the track to be quick, considering workout times from recent weeks, Sunday’s times on the opening day of the spring-summer meeting were surprisingly fast.

Trainers Bill Delia and Duane Offield sent out fillies that dead-heated for second in the Dec. 4 Corte Madera Stakes at Golden Gate Fields, and they will meet again there in Saturday’s $100,000 California Oaks, which also figures to attract the Corte Madera winner, Cathy’s Crunches.

OZONE PARK, N.Y. – Despite a winter storm that forced the New York Racing Association to cancel two days of training at its downstate facilities, racing was expected to return to Aqueduct on Wednesday as scheduled with a nine-race program. Racing has not been conducted at Aqueduct since Dec. 19 due to a regularly scheduled holiday break.

OLDSMAR, Fla. – Trainer Will Phipps has seen his stable grow and prosper over the last few years, and he has at least two 3-year-olds of 2011 who he thinks could make impacts in their divisions.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Attendance and handle fell compared to last year for Sunday’s opening day of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting, the first on the newly installed dirt track.

The track drew an ontrack crowd of 34,268, a decline of 4 percent over a Saturday opening in 2009, but an increase over the opening days in the three previous years. Track president George Haines said Sunday’s crowd was held down by early morning rains.

“Given what were facing in terms of the weather, we were very pleased,”said Haines. “It was a good day for Santa Anita.”

ARCADIA, Calif. - Twirling Candy broke Spectacular Bid’s 30-year-old track record for seven furlongs with a nose victory in Sunday’s $250,000 Malibu Stakes on the first card run on the new dirt track at Santa Anita.

Twirling Candy won the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes by the narrowest of margins over Smiling Tiger, finishing in 1:19.70. Spectacular Bid was timed in 1:20 when he won the same race in 1980.

Arcadian had no trouble validating his monster debut win as he easily captured Sunday’s $25,000 Lost in the Fog Stakes at Turf Paradise. Also Sunday, Los Lunas showed herself the real deal with a second straight stakes win while upsetting heavy favorite Hard Seven in the $25,000 Arizona Juvenile Fillies.

ARCADIA, Calif. - Dirt or no dirt, Sidney’s Candy loves Santa Anita.

The 3-year-old colt won his fourth stakes of the year at the track, and fifth of his career, in Sunday’s $150,000 Sir Beaufort Stakes. The race was originally scheduled for turf but was transferred to the dirt main track after three-quarters of an inch of rain fell late Saturday and early Sunday.