Santa Anita Derby

Bob Baffert and Wayne Lukas were sitting next to each other at a recent racing function when Baffert said to Lukas, "Everyone used to hate you. Now they hate me." It's as clear as a giant flowered hat, and just as ugly. At rowdy Churchill Downs today, the only thing more quietly despised than Bob Baffert will be a Breathalyzer. The 128th Kentucky Derby will feature 19 horses, 150,000 fans, and one villain. Baffert will saddle longshot War Emblem.

BALTIMORE -- The amazing story moved up to incredible. I'll Have Another ran true to his name. On a Saturday that brought blue skies, perfect temperatures and a record crowd of 121,309 here at venerable Pimlico racetrack, the horse who has never been favored in a race and has been mostly under-appreciated by the public, even the racing public, won the 137th Preakness. Now, it is I'll Have Another who will take a shot at history. The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed in 1978.

Holy Candy, the horse part-owned by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, was scratched Saturday morning from the Santa Anita Derby, a few hours before the 75th running of the $750,000 race that serves as a major prep for the Kentucky Derby. Holy Candy will instead run in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 14. Brees is one of 12 members of Donkey Island Racing, which owns Holy Candy along with breeder Craig Stables, headed by Jenny Craig. Alex Solis Jr., who manages Donkey Island Racing, said trainer John Sadler wanted to give Holy Candy an extra week off, plus he likes the horse's chances at Keeneland better.

Talk about promotional magic. Mark Verge, the new head man at Santa Anita, hit the jackpot with one of his brainstorms and took 32-year-old Greg Politano of Pasadena along with him. Verge came up with the idea of a "Derby Owner for a Day" for the Santa Anita Derby. Politano entered (entries were free), had his name drawn and got to go to the paddock and the winner's circle when I'll have Another won the race. Verge's promotion was that, not only did Politano get to act and feel like an owner for a day, but Santa Anita gave him $1,000 to bet on the Santa Anita Derby winner in the Kentucky Derby.

Morning-line favorite Premier Pegasus was scratched Thursday from Saturday's $1-million Santa Anita Derby with a hairline fracture in his left foreleg. Premier Pegasus, part of a six-horse stable of trainer Myung Kwon Cho, would have been at 8-5 when betting opened for the prestigious steppingstone race to the May 7 Kentucky Derby. Premier Pegasus had won the March 12 San Felipe Stakes by a surprising 7¾ lengths over Bob Baffert's Jaycito. Now, Jaycito will begin the day as the 2-1 favorite, followed by Silver Medallion, trained by Steve Asmussen and Scott Blasi at 7-2. Premier Pegasus had attracted a great deal of attention for this race because Cho could have become the first person to breed, train and own a winning horse in the 74 years of the Santa Anita Derby.

Perhaps the busiest man at Santa Anita in advance of Saturday's $1-million Santa Anita Derby was oddsmaker Jon White. That's usually not a good thing. On Thursday, White had to reshuffle the numbers of the 11-horse field for the 74th edition of the prestigious race, a main prep for the May 7 Kentucky Derby, when a hairline fracture was discovered in the left foreleg of race favorite Premier Pegasus and trainer Myung Cho scratched him. White made Bob Baffert's Jaycito, originally the 5-2 second choice, the 2-1 favorite.

Racing at Santa Anita could very well be at a crossroads with Saturday's 75th running of the Santa Anita Derby. A good turnout might mean the track literally is on the verge of a new era. A poor turnout would be another black mark on the sport. No one will be rooting harder for an attendance of around 40,000 than Santa Anita's new CEO, who, coincidentally, is named Mark Verge. The Santa Anita Derby, which has produced 15 Kentucky Derby winners, offers a good field, headed by 6-5 favorite Creative Cause.

Ten horses were entered in Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on Wednesday morning, including one partly owned by Drew Brees. Holy Candy, a surprise late entry, is owned by breeder Craig Stables, which is headed by Jenny Craig of weight-loss program fame, and Donkey Island Racing, a group that includes the New Orleans Saints quarterback. But indications later Wednesday were that Holy Candy's trainer, John Sadler, might choose to bypass Santa Anita's historic race and run the horse in the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on April 14. Holy Candy has raced only four times, winning once.

You all know what a successful horse trainer looks like--five-gallon hat, boots, string tie. Sleeps in a stable, plates his own horses, never talks above a whisper if he talks at all. Carries a clock with him but works his horse in the dark so nobody but he will know how fast the animal is. He spends his life shopping for a price. He answers to a name like "Plain Ben," or "Sunny Jim," or "Cactus Joe." And we all know what a Kentucky Derby horse is.

Colonel John was installed as the early 2-1 favorite in a field of 11 that was set Wednesday for Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Derby, a Grade I race at 1 1/8 miles that has produced 35 Triple Crown race winners, including 15 in the Kentucky Derby. If all 11 start in the 71st running of the Santa Anita Derby, the field size will match 2005 as the largest since 13 ran in 1981. Eoin Harty-trained Colonel John, to be ridden by Corey Nakatani, will start from post position No. 5.

Generally, post-race celebrations in the Winner's Circle at Santa Anita are fairly sedate, with maybe a dozen or so people posing for a photo with the victorious horse. But that certainly wasn't the case after I'll Have Another edged 9-10 favorite Creative Cause by a nose in Saturday's Santa Anita Derby before a crowd of 33,166 to establish himself as the West Coast's top representative in the Kentucky Derby on May 5. There were hundreds of rowdy people crammed together in the Winner's Circle.

Holy Candy, the horse part-owned by New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees, was scratched Saturday morning from the Santa Anita Derby, a few hours before the 75th running of the $750,000 race that serves as a major prep for the Kentucky Derby. Holy Candy will instead run in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland on April 14. Brees is one of 12 members of Donkey Island Racing, which owns Holy Candy along with breeder Craig Stables, headed by Jenny Craig. Alex Solis Jr., who manages Donkey Island Racing, said trainer John Sadler wanted to give Holy Candy an extra week off, plus he likes the horse's chances at Keeneland better.

Racing at Santa Anita could very well be at a crossroads with Saturday's 75th running of the Santa Anita Derby. A good turnout might mean the track literally is on the verge of a new era. A poor turnout would be another black mark on the sport. No one will be rooting harder for an attendance of around 40,000 than Santa Anita's new CEO, who, coincidentally, is named Mark Verge. The Santa Anita Derby, which has produced 15 Kentucky Derby winners, offers a good field, headed by 6-5 favorite Creative Cause.

Ten horses were entered in Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Derby on Wednesday morning, including one partly owned by Drew Brees. Holy Candy, a surprise late entry, is owned by breeder Craig Stables, which is headed by Jenny Craig of weight-loss program fame, and Donkey Island Racing, a group that includes the New Orleans Saints quarterback. But indications later Wednesday were that Holy Candy's trainer, John Sadler, might choose to bypass Santa Anita's historic race and run the horse in the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland in Lexington, Ky., on April 14. Holy Candy has raced only four times, winning once.

There were expressions of relief instead of elation in the Santa Anita winner's circle Saturday by 70-year-old trainer Mike Harrington even though his talented 3-year-old, Creative Cause, emerged victorious in the Grade II $300,000 San Felipe Stakes, beating Bodemeister by three-quarters of a length in the 1 1/16-mile race. That's because Harrington has much bigger prizes in his sights - the April 7 Santa Anita Derby and the May 5 Kentucky Derby. And Creative Cause, a son of Giant's Causeway, is very much in the upper echelon of Derby contenders.

Out of Bounds, one of the most promising 3-year-olds on the West Coast, suffered a fractured left ankle during a workout on Monday at Hollywood Park, taking him out of contention to run in the Kentucky Derby, the Daily Racing Form reported. Out of Bounds was scheduled to run on Saturday in the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, a final prep for the Santa Anita Derby. Out of Bounds won the Sham Stakes on Jan. 7. He's expected to undergo surgery. Trainer Eoin Harty said he noticed something wrong about 20 minutes into the colt's cooling out period following "an exceptional workout" at Hollywood Park.

Lion Heart, the once-beaten 3-year-old trained by Patrick Biancone for owners Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, may skip Saturday's $750,000 Santa Anita Derby in favor of the $750,000 Blue Grass Stakes a week later at Keeneland. Although an official decision isn't expected until after the Tale of the Cat colt works five furlongs this morning, his connections are leaning toward the race in Lexington as Lion Heart's final prep for the Kentucky Derby on May 1.

Tiago will be in a different role when he faces five other 3-year-olds in the $350,000 Swaps Stakes on Saturday at Hollywood Park. The half brother to 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo will be favored for the first time in his career in the Swaps, a Grade II at 1 1/8 miles.

It's a big weekend for racing at Hollywood Park, starting with the turf debut by Santa Anita Derby winner Midnight Interlude on Friday night in the $70,000 Tsunami Slew Stakes at one mile. On Saturday, the championship race for older females takes place. There's no Zenyatta, but the $250,000 Grade I Vanity Handicap features Blind Luck, Switch and St Trinians among a strong field of six fillies and mares entered to race at 11/8 miles. Midnight Interlude, trained by Bob Baffert, didn't do well on the dirt track at Churchill Downs, finishing 16th in the Kentucky Derby, then 13th in the Preakness at Pimlico.

The Kentucky Derby was once a horse race. Now, it has become a crapshoot. Saturday told it all. The two big preps for the May 7 classic, run under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs, were the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York and the Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita. They were supposed to make order out of the inevitable chaos of a Triple Crown season. Let's see. How did that turn out? In the Wood, the current three-year-old rock star, Uncle Mo, looked more like a lounge singer.