ARCADIA, Calif. – Small fields and short prices are recurring traits of the $85,000 Anoakia Stakes, a sprint for 2-year-old fillies that is run annually each fall at Santa Anita.
Only five runners are entered Sunday in the Anoakia. Unfortunately, that is normal. Average field size in the Anoakia is 5.25 since Santa Anita reinstalled dirt in late 2010. Another characteristic is the reliability of chalk. Anoakia favorites have won six of the last 10, including the last three.
Himika is likely to continue the trend. The only graded stakes winner in the field, Himika figures to start at a short price against three maiden winners and a first-time starter. The Anoakia is hidden early on the card in race 2. Santa Anita saves big fields for later on the card.
The five-runner Anoakia includes second-start maiden winner and likely second choice Revera, third-start maiden winner Umbralle, and a pair of outsiders – Stuffy Mist and first-timer Heavenly Princess. Based on the first two starts of her career, Himika stands out.
Bob Baffert trains Himika, who set the tone for the trainer’s 2025 juvenile program. Himika was Baffert’s first juvenile starter June 12 at Santa Anita. She won a maiden race by six lengths over Bottle of Rouge. Since then, Baffert 2-year-olds have won 15 more races, including five graded stakes.
But while the Baffert’s juvenile filly stakes winners Bottle of Rouge and Explora improved as the distances increased, Himika regressed. She won the six-furlong Grade 3 Sorrento at Del Mar in her second start, but her Beyer Speed Figure dropped nine points from her debut, 90 to 81.
Himika subsequently finished fourth in the seven-furlong Grade 1 Del Mar Debutante, followed by a fifth-place finish racing 1 1/16 miles in the Grade 2 Oak Leaf Stakes. She set the pace and cracked. Himika goes back to the drawing board Sunday, racing one turn in the Anoakia.
Juan Hernandez rides Himika, a Curlin filly drawn in post 4. A $900,000 juvenile purchase for the Baoma Corp. of Charles and Susan Chu, Himika is likely to win the Anoakia with a front-running or pace-pressing trip. Baffert has won the Anoakia seven times, including five of the last eight.
Revera and Umbralle are both trained by John Sadler. The runaway maiden win by Revera in her second start makes her the main threat in the Anoakia. Revera rallied wide from an outside post in her maiden win, but she is stuck on the rail Sunday.
Based on an Oct. 5 team work when Revera cut the corner inside two workmates before inching clear, she should handle the inside post. Revera is by first-crop sire Lexitonian. Sadler won the 2017 Anoakia with Artistic Diva, a last-out maiden winner.
Umbralle is an Into Mischief filly produced by two-time champion Unique Bella. Hector Berrios rides Umbralle, a modest maiden turf sprint winner last out in the third start of her career. She is expected to contest the pace.
:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.