ARCADIA, Calif. – Maiden races rarely overshadow Grade 2 stakes, but that could happen Saturday at Santa Anita.
The San Pasqual Stakes attracted a second-tier field of older horses racing for a modest $200,000 purse, while California’s top horses – including Stronghold and Mixto – are at Gulfstream Park on Saturday for the $3 million Pegasus World Cup.
One who stayed home was Imagination, the likely San Pasqual favorite.
“We were seriously looking at [the Pegasus], but there was a lot of speed signed up,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “I just didn’t feel confident sending him down there.”
This lack of confidence is understandable. A habitual bridesmaid (two wins, five seconds), Imagination is content to race alongside rivals rather than put them away. There also is the inconvenient truth that Imagination’s biggest win was in a Grade 2 (the San Felipe) with only four runners.
Despite such shortcomings, Imagination figures strongly in the San Pasqual. His race 8 rivals include front-runner Tarantino, claimed for $40,000 last summer; Grade 1 winner Express Train, an 8-year-old who has lost a step; and blinkers-off stakes winner Katonah. Midnight Mammoth, American Admiral, and Don’t Fight the Fed also are entered in the 1 1/8-mile race.
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The San Pasqual is a prep for the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap on March 1, a race likely to attract Grade 2 winner J B Strikes Back and the improving Mirahmadi.
While the San Pasqual came up weak, a pair of maiden sprints came up strong. The highly regarded Dr. Park, sibling to 2022 champion juvenile Forte, makes his long-postponed debut in race 3 for older maidens. If he runs like he trains, it’s lights out.
Race 4 is for the glamour division – winter 3-year-olds trying to become springtime Derby candidates. The maiden field includes likely winner San Saba, third in his debut, and Father Ted, a debut runner-up in the same race.
While the future is bright for the maidens, the focus is now for the veterans in the San Pasqual. The race centers on speedster Tarantino, runner-up in two recent graded stakes for trainer Peter Eurton. From the inside post, the assumption is that Tarantino and jockey Edwin Maldonado will set the pace.
“It’s a little more than an assumption – that is what we’re going to do,” Eurton declared.
That could leave Imagination ideally positioned, pressing the pace from the outside. Imagination breaks from post 5 and is stretching out from a creditable third in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs.
“We’ll see what he does going long. This is more of a ‘see-where-we-are’ with him,” Baffert said of his 4-year-old. “Is he one turn? Is he two turns? I think we’ll find answers.”
Imagination’s last-out 101 Beyer Speed Figure stands out. However, when Imagination is involved in a photo finish, he usually finishes on the wrong end – one win, four seconds.
Katonah, sixth as the favorite in the Grade 2 Laffit Pincay Jr. Stakes, merits an upset chance. Trainer Doug O’Neill equipped Katonah with blinkers for the Pincay, and it backfired.
“He got really worked up in the paddock and the post parade, just on the muscle,” O’Neill said. “It was completely blinker-induced. Hopefully, just a simple case of blinkers off will get us where we need to be. On his best day, he can be right there.”
Fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile two starts back and runner-up in a Grade 2 last summer, Katonah is good enough. Tiago Pereira rides Katonah, whose closing style would play well if front-runners Tarantino and Imagination do not stay the distance.
Express Train is the most accomplished in the seven-horse field, having won the Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in 2022 and four Grade 2 races, including the San Pasqual in 2021 and 2022. But Express Train has aged, and the 8-year-old’s speed figures have declined.
On the plus side, Express Train ran okay last out when fourth in the Pincay. It was his first start in five months for trainer John Shirreffs.
“I saw him pick it up and show an extra kick,” Shirreffs said. “That was a good indication for me.”
Shirreffs and owners Lee and Susan Searing have more to look forward to Saturday than Express Train. Their highly regarded 4-year-old Dr. Park makes his career debut in race 3, and his recent works have been impressive.
“We thought he was our best 2-year-old before we had to stop on him,” Shirreffs said. “He always works like that. I think he’s gonna be okay.”
Race 4 is for 3-year-old maidens and includes the most probable winner on the card. San Saba finished third in his debut for Baffert, who also has entered rail-drawn first-time starter Varney.
“I don’t like the post for” Varney, Baffert said. “He’s a talented horse. I think a race will do him some good. [San Saba] had a race; he needed it. He’s a big, heavy horse.”
With that third-place prep under his belt, San Saba should be tough to beat Saturday.
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