People at Santa Anita like to say California is the best place to get a horse ready for the Triple Crown races, mainly because the weather is so cooperative.
As if to prove the point, the rain has stopped and sunny, 72-degree conditions are forecast for Santa Anita’s first important race for 3-year-olds in 2026, the Grade II San Vicente Stakes on Saturday.
It will be the first graded stakes to be run on its scheduled date at the Santa Anita meet whose traditional Dec. 26 opening was delayed two days by storms.
Victories in the San Vicente, a 7-furlong sprint with a $200,000 purse, have been important for seven future Kentucky Derby winners, including Swaps (a $10.80 surprise in the 1955 San Vicente), Silver Charm ($7.20 in 1997) and most recently Nyquist ($2.80 in 2016). It was won the past two years by Muth and Barnes after being moved up to early January.
But it’s not a reliable Derby proving ground like the 1-mile Robert B. Lewis Stakes on Feb. 7, 1-1/16-mile San Felipe on March 7 and 1 1/8-mile Santa Anita Derby on April 4. The San Vicente doesn’t award qualifying points for the May 2 Kentucky Derby. The official Derby trail doesn’t include races of less than 1 mile.
If any of the five horses in Saturday’s race can win impressively enough to move up the Derby contender rankings, it might be Buetane, who’s 6-5 on the morning line to give jockey Juan Hernandez and trainer Bob Baffert their fourth consecutive San Vicente victory together.
A son of Tiz the Law who cost owner Zedan Racing Stables $1.15 million at a 2-year-old auction, Buetane won his debut at Del Mar and then was favored over Ted Noffey in the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga, only to run second by 8 1/2 lengths to the eventual Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner.
Buetane was the 101-1 31st choice of bettors in the most recent Kentucky Derby future wagering, with Baffert’s Boyd, Brant, Cherokee Nation, Provenance, Desert Gate and Litmus Test (before his Los Alamitos Futurity win) among the horses ahead of him.
Another Baffert horse, first-out maiden winner Greenwich Village (with Hector Berrios replacing Hernandez), drew the rail post position for the San Vicente. But the competition for Buetane is likely to come from Acknowledgemeplz (Kazushi Kimura), following a disappointing fourth in the Los Al Futurity for trainer Doug O’Neill, or So Happy (Mike Smith), a longshot winner in his debut for trainer Mark Glatt. O’Neill also has California-bred Thirsty Rebel (Abel Lezcano).
Baffert, who saddled three stakes winners on opening day, could add a double Saturday. He has three stakes-winning fillies in the Grade III Santa Ynez Stakes. Explora (Hernandez), the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up to Super Corredora; Bottle of Rouge (Smith), who upset Explora in the Del Mar Debutante, and Himika (Kimura) take on John Sadler-trained Revera (Berrios) and Glatt-trained La Wally (Umberto Rispoli).
Whatever potential the 3-year-olds show in both stakes, the weather should give handicappers a clear view.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR
After being able to race on only three of its first seven scheduled days, Santa Anita added cards on two Thursdays, Jan. 8 and 15. It created stakes doubleheaders this weekend by moving the Santa Ynez from last Saturday to this Saturday, and the Grade III Las Flores, a sprint for fillies and mares, from last Sunday to this Sunday.
Los Alamitos resumes racing this Saturday and Sunday after last weekend’s quarter-horse and thoroughbred cards were rained out. The Grade I Charger Bar Handicap, rescheduled for Sunday night, has 5-year-old Rockin With Energy going for a repeat of her upset win with jockey Henry Reynoso Lopez in the 2025 running of the 400-yard race,
DIFFICULT AS 1-2-3
Finalists for 2025 Eclipse Awards – more accurately the top three vote-getters in each category, since there’s only one round of balloting by racing journalists and executives – were announced this week and included some horses whose Breeders’ Cup victories put them in the running for more than one championship.
Nysos, the Dirt Mile winner at Del Mar who won from 7 furlongs to 1 1/16 miles last year, is top-three for champion older dirt-track male (along with Forever Young and Sierra Leone) and male sprinter (with Bentornato and Book’em Danno).
Splendora, like Nysos a product of Baffert’s barn at Santa Anita, won the Filly & Mare Sprint so convincingly that she’s up for champion older dirt female (with Thorpedo Anna and Scylla) as well as female sprinter (with Shisospicy and Kopion).
And Shisospicy’s fast Turf Sprint win over males earned her support for champion female sprinter, 3-year-old filly (with Nitrogen and Good Cheer) and female turf horse (with She Feels Pretty and Gezora).
Support in multiple divisions is an achievement even if those horses don’t win a trophy.
The top three for Horse of the Year won’t be revealed until the Eclipse Awards ceremony Jan. 22 in Palm Beach, Fla., but Sovereignty is the all-but-certain winner after winning the Kentucky Derby, Belmont and dominating the Travers Stakes. Sovereignty is top-three for champion 3-year-old with California’s Journalism and Baeza.
Flavien Prat, Irad Ortiz Jr. and John Velazquez are up for outstanding jockey, and Bill Mott, Brad Cox and Chad Brown for outstanding trainer.
NEVER A DULL MOMENT
What was American racing’s “Moment of the Year” in 2025? This decision is in the hands of fans, who can vote on the National Thoroughbred Racing Association website (NTRA.com) through Jan. 15. The winner will be announced at the Eclipse Awards ceremony.
Among the 11 nominees, a few might be dear to California fans, such as Journalism’s stretch runs to victory in the Preakness and Haskell Stakes and Fierceness’ recovery from an early mistake to win the Pacific Classic at Del Mar.
But it’s hard to get past Sovereignty’s Kentucky Derby win, which sent the colt on his way to a Horse of the Year-caliber season, or Forever Young’s Breeders’ Cup Classic win, a first for Japanese interests after many tries in big U.S. races.
The options include Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas’ death at age 89 and Prat’s New York-record-tying seven winners in a day at Aqueduct.
Follow horse racing correspondent Kevin Modesti at X.com/KevinModesti.
SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Jan. 2)
Jockeys / Wins
Mirco Demuro / 3
Juan Hernandez / 3
Flavien Prat / 3
Umberto Rispoli / 3
Antonio Fresu / 2
Tiago Pereira / 2
Hector Berrios / 2
Kazushi Kimura / 2
Trainers / Wins
George Papaprodromou / 3
Bob Baffert / 3
Tim Yakteen / 2
Richard Mandella / 2
Jonathan Thomas / 2
Jeff Mullins / 2
Mark Glatt / 2
Michael McCarthy / 2
UPCOMING STAKES
SANTA ANITA
Saturday
• $200,000, Grade II San Vicente Stakes, 3-year-olds, 7 furlongs
• $100,000 Santa Ynez Stakes, 3-year-old fillies, 7 furlongs
Sunday
• $100,000, Grade III Las Flores Stakes, fillies and mares, 4 and up, 6 furlongs
• $100,000, Grade III Las Cienegas Stakes, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, about 6 1/2 furlongs on turf
LOS ALAMITOS
Sunday
• $100,000, Grade I Charger Bar Handicap, fillies and mares, 4 and up, 400 yards
• $20,000 Dashingly Handicap, fillies and mares, 4 and up, 350 yards
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