Many of the most popular horses in California are about to take off for Kentucky and a shot at millions of dollars in Breeders’ Cup purses Oct. 30-31 at Keeneland Race Course. Many, not all.
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Grand Slam Smile, below the class to compete in Breeders’ Cups but queen of the California-bred division, is poised to end an uncharacteristic losing streak when the 5-year-old faces as many as nine other fillies and mares on Sunday in the California Distaff Handicap for state-breds sprinting down the Santa Anita turf hillside.
After rewarding frequent heavy backing by bettors by recording 12 wins, six seconds and three thirds in her first 21 starts – that’s 100% in the money – Grand Slam Smile ran fifth behind Sweet Azteca in the Grade II Great Lady M. Stakes at Los Alamitos and fourth behind Fibonaccis Ride in the Solana Beach Stakes at Del Mar.
Trainer Sean McCarthy said Grand Slam Smile is ready to get back in the winner’s circle.
“She’s doing as well (in training) as she ever has,” said McCarthy, who has accounted for the mare’s past five stakes victories, all against Cal-breds, after now-retired Steve Specht was responsible for her first five, four in the Cal-bred ranks. “We’re optimistic for Sunday.”
In the Los Alamitos race, McCarthy said, a horse acting up in the starting gate next to Grand Slam Smile caused the habitual front-runner to miss the break.
“That’s a situation that’s hard to overcome,” McCarthy said.
At Del Mar, she was challenged for the early lead from the outside, and jockey Juan Hernandez took a firm grip.
“She’s kind of a free-running type filly, and when she was in a situation where they had a little bit of a hold on her, I don’t think she was happy about that,” the trainer said.
Grand Slam Smile will have Hernandez again in the California Distaff Handicap and has been assigned a career-high 128 pounds, seven more than top rival Bit’s Tiger Magic (Hector Berrios riding) and six more than Rosa Parks (Umberto Rispoli).
“That’s old-school. That’s some real weight,” said McCarthy, who said he doesn’t ordinarily consider weight a factor. “At the end of the day, I don’t think it should matter.”
On Sunday, the California Flag Handicap turf sprint for Cal-bred males has Big City Lights (Kazushi Kimura) carrying 126, two more than top rival Flyover (Emisael Jaramillo).
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Santa Anita has racing on the holiday Monday too, featuring the Swingtime Stakes, a turf mile for fillies and mares.
• These are the weeks when many Breeders’ Cup horse owners and trainers are deciding which race to target. The biggest questions: Will 2025 Horse of the Year Sovereignty make it to the Breeders’ Cup Classic after dealing with a foot abscess? And if he does, will Pacific Classic winner Knightsbridge avoid facing Godolphin stablemate Sovereignty in the Classic by moving to the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile? Pre-entries will be announced Oct. 21, with the fields set for Oct. 26.
• John Creager, the 1994 American Quarter Horse Association champion jockey and one of four riders to win 2,000 or more races at Los Alamitos, died Tuesday at 75, the Orange County track announced. Among Creager’s top horses was Sgt Pepper Feature, with whom he beat Denim N Diamonds in the 1982 Champion of Champions.
• Empressum, the 2022 AQHA world champion and two-time Champion of Champions winner, makes his 8-year-old season debut Saturday with jockey Rodrigo Sigala Vallejo in the Grade I Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Championship. Opponents include Favorite Jesshawk, Lethal Cowboy 123, Mask Mandate, Up For Everything and Norco.
• Safety watch: The death of the quarter-horse 2-year-old gelding Boi Sterrus, injured Saturday night at Los Alamitos while finishing sixth in a trial for the Golden State Million Futurity, is the 27th since Jan. 1 in racing and training at the three California racetracks, according to an unofficial count from California Horse Racing Board data. That’s above the average of 23.4 for this part of the year in 2021-25, but well below the 42 in 2020, the first year the CHRB posted fatalities. It was the 10th death at Los Al since Jan. 1. That’s in line with the average of 9.8 in 2021-25, but much better than the 24 in 2020.
Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at X.com/KevinModesti.
SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Emisael Jaramillo / 8
Juan Hernandez / 7
Umberto Rispoli / 6
Kazushi Kimura / 5
Joel Rosario / 5
Kyle Frey / 4
Hector Berrios / 3
Drayden Van Dyke / 3
Armando Ayuso / 3
Trainers / Wins
Jeff Mullins / 4
John Sadler / 4
George Papaprodromou / 4
Doug O’Neill / 4
Phil D’Amato / 4
Carla Gaines / 3
Richard Mandella / 3
Michael McCarthy / 3
(Six tied) / 3
UPCOMING STAKES
SANTA ANITA
Saturday
• $100,000 California Flag Handicap, Cal-bred 3-year-olds and up, about 6½ furlongs on turf
Sunday
• $100,000 California Distaff Handicap, Cal-bred fillies and mares, 3 and up, about 6½ furlongs on turf
Monday
• $80,000 Swingtime Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and up, 1 mile on turf
LOS ALAMITOS
Saturday
• $100,000, Grade I Robert Boniface Los Alamitos Championship, quarter horses 3 and up, 440 yards
Sunday
• $35,000, Grade III Sound Dash Handicap, quarter-horse fillies and mares, 3 and up, 350 yards
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