ARCADIA, Calif. – Fire and rain are disrupting winter racing at Santa Anita.
Following the recent loss or postponement of one week because of the fires, Santa Anita faces another potential setback this weekend – inclement weather.
“The bulk of the rain looks like it is going to hit Saturday night into Sunday morning,” racing secretary Jason Egan said Friday. “Depending on the intensity and how long it lasts, the main track could be closed for training on Sunday, but we may be able to race on the dirt Sunday.”
The $100,000 Clockers’ Corner Stakes is one of four turf races scheduled. If the card proceeds as scheduled, the turf races could switch to dirt.
“Turf would seem doubtful, not going to rule it out entirely,” Egan said. “It’s going to be dependent on the timing and the amount of rain.”
A decision is not likely until Saturday, and an outright postponement of the card to Thursday is not desirable due to weekday handle. An all-dirt Sunday card would out-handle a Thursday card.
If the Clockers’ Corner moves to dirt, the seven-runner field would shrink. Grade 2 turf winner Air Force Red is uncertain on dirt, but Vlahos is a stakes-placed dirt specialist expected to run on either surface.
“I think we’re good either way,” trainer Doug O’Neill said. “But we wouldn’t cry if it came off grass and it was a three-horse field.”
Only three in the Clockers’ Corner have raced on dirt; only Vlahos and Mbagnick ran well. The field includes turf stakes winners Turn On The Jets and Unconquerable Keen, neither of whom is likely to run on dirt. Female turf stakes winner Hamwood Flier and Gaslight Dancer also are entered.
On dirt, Vlahos could be long gone in his first start since a misfire in the two-turn $300,000 Zia Park Derby. Vlahos is a talented sprinter when he is on his game. After an effortless workout last weekend, O’Neill supplemented him to the Clockers’ Corner.
“There was a first condition [allowance] toward the end of the month, six and a half on the dirt,” O’Neill said. “We bounced around the idea of trying him on the grass and saw the field was kind of short. There’s potential rain in the forecast, and I thought his last work was exceptional.”
Antonio Fresu is named to ride Vlahos, who earned a 98 Beyer in his debut last March at Santa Anita, and finished third after he set a blazing pace in the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile in May at Churchill Downs. Three subsequent misfires were due to pace and distance.
If the Clockers’ Corner stays on turf, Air Force Red is the one to beat. He won the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez Stakes in 2022, and in 2024 won an allowance and placed in two graded stakes.
His most recent start was a bad-trip debacle in the Hernandez. Air Force Red, trained by Leonard Powell, was tucked in third on the rail by Juan Hernandez, who expected pacesetter Code Duello to drift out. But he never did, and Air Force Red never found room. He finished seventh in an inconclusive performance.
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