The withdrawal of Westwood, following the scratch of Skippylongstocking, has reduced the field to five for the 89th running of the Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday.
Westwood was reported out Thursday morning, the Daily Racing Form saying the race’s 1¼-mile distance and likely competition for the early lead were worries for owner Lee Searing and trainer Peter Eurton, who took over the 4-year-old gelding after the death of trainer John Shirreffs.
Would-be favorite Skippylongstocking was declared out Tuesday after trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. told the Racing Form the 7-year-old horse “acted up and started kicking” on the plane that was to take him from Florida to California.
Just a Touch (Florent Geroux riding) was 3-2 on the morning line posted before Westwood dropped out, and the 5-year-old now will be an even heavier favorite over Getaway Car (Juan Hernandez), Vodka Vodka (Kent Desormeaux), British Isles (Diego Herrera) and Midnight Mammoth (Armando Ayuso).
The $300,000, Grade I race is left without a Grade I or Grade II winner, and Just a Touch is winless with five seconds in seven tries at the stakes level.
• Santa Anita’s 11-race card, starting at noon Saturday, is attractive except for the marquee race. Del Mar Futurity winner Brant (Geroux) is even money and So Happy (Mike Smith) is 2-1 on the morning line for his 2026 debut in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes. Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Sprint winner Splendora (Hernandez) is 4-5 in the Grade I B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile. El Potente (Hector Berrios) is 5-2 in the Grade II Frank E. Kilroe Mile.
• The National Museum of Racing’s 2026 Hall of Fame ballot includes Shirreffs, who died in February, and fellow California trainers John Sadler and Doug O’Neill, and the California-based horses Kona Gold and Game On Dude. Also on the ballot are trainers Christophe Clement, who died last year, Graham Motion and Ken McPeek, and the horses Rags to Riches, Lady Eli, Havre de Grace, Groupie Doll and Blind Luck. Results of voting by a 154-member panel will be announced April 23.
• Lovesick Blues was named California-bred Horse of the Year for 2025, beating out fellow finalists Om N Joy and Man O Rose, at the California Thoroughbred Breeders Association’s annual awards banquet Monday in Arcadia. The now 7-year-old gelding’s season was highlighted by a win at 18-1 odds in the Bing Crosby Stakes, a Grade I sprint against open company, with Geovanni Franco riding for owner-trainer Librado Barocio. The son of Grazen and Queenofhercastle was bred by Nick Alexander.
• The Tampa Bay Derby on Saturday features the 3-year-old debut of 9-5 favorite Further Ado (Irad Ortiz Jr.), the Kentucky Jockey Club winner for trainer Brad Cox at Churchill Downs last November, and the first race above the maiden level for Chad Brown’s Canaletto (Flavien Prat) and Todd Pletcher’s Powershift (John Velazquez). The winner gets 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points, effectively clinching a spot in the May 2 race.
SANTA ANITA LEADERS
(Through Sunday)
Jockeys / Wins
Emisael Jaramillo / 28
Kazushi Kimura / 28
Juan Hernandez / 27
Armando Ayuso / 20
Umberto Rispoli / 15
Mirco Demuro / 14
Hector Berrios / 14
Tiago Pereira / 14
Edwin Maldonado / 13
Trainers / Wins
Doug O’Neill / 22
Bob Baffert / 17
Jeff Mullins / 16
George Papaprodromou / 16
Mark Glatt / 16
Michael McCarthy / 15
Phil D’Amato / 11
Steve Knapp / 11
UPCOMING STAKES
SANTA ANITA
Saturday
• $300,000, Grade I Santa Anita Handicap, 4-year-olds and up, 1¼ miles
• $300,000, Grade I B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile, fillies and mares, 4 and up, 1 mile
• $200,000, Grade II San Felipe Stakes, 3-year-olds, 1 1/16 miles
• $200,000, Grade II Frank E. Kilroe Mile, 4 and up, 1 mile on turf
LOS ALAMITOS
Sunday
• $150,000, Grade I Brad McKinzie Los Alamitos Winter Championship, quarter horses, 4 and up, 400 yards
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