• last year
Transcript
00:00You wanted to just take a look at some of the big names that are going to be showing
00:06up.
00:07I looked quickly at the opening day card because as we record on Friday, the past performances
00:11came out late on Thursday, 11 races, 110 horses entered.
00:16There's only one field that's got a seven horse field.
00:19Every other field is eight or above.
00:22First post at 2 p.m.
00:23Eastern time, six graded stakes, three grade ones, and in this race, race number seven,
00:28which is the grade two San Gabriel on Saturday.
00:30You have the 2022 winner of the San Gabriel, the 2023 winner of the San Gabriel, but Alexa,
00:37I don't even think they're going to be favored in this race because we've got the Breeders'
00:40Cup mile runner up, Yohannes, in here, who is a perfect six for six at Santa Anita.
00:46Yeah.
00:47I mean, Yohannes is such a strong horse, won seven out of 12 starts, four graded stakes,
00:53almost undefeated this year, and all in graded stakes, but got second place in that mile
00:58behind more than looks, and that was just tough.
01:03That was just tough.
01:04I think if he would have won that one, possibly the Eclipse winner for Best Dancer Horse,
01:09so really will be exciting to see him return, try to make his four-year-old campaign a five
01:14out of six record, all in graded stakes.
01:17We were just looking at the Gulfstream Park races in our first two segments, so we talked
01:20about how there's a big race called the Pegasus next month.
01:24If Yohannes runs well here and stays healthy, he's going to be running in one of those races,
01:28the Pegasus Turf Race on the undercard, so we'll see if that will be the case for Yohannes.
01:33Let's flip to the grade one Malibu.
01:36This is going to go as race number eight.
01:37This one's really exciting because we'll get to see the Kentucky Derby winner from earlier
01:42this year.
01:43Mystic Dan won the Derby, second in the Preakness, but Alexa, he has not run since the Belmont,
01:48which was in June.
01:49For him, this is going to be the first start in almost six months or so, and it's probably
01:54a little bit shorter than where he's going to be at his best.
01:57We know he won at a mile and a quarter in the Kentucky Derby, and they'll want to stretch
02:01him out for big races like maybe the Pegasus, the Saudi Cup, the Dubai World Cup, those
02:06types of races.
02:08I wouldn't be shocked to see him run a really good second or third, and maybe shake some
02:13of the rust off.
02:14He is the type of horse that will get bet because people know that name, and he's going
02:17to take a lot of money.
02:19Mystic Dan, it's just going to be awesome.
02:21I'm really excited.
02:22I'll be out at Santa Anita to get to see the Derby winner.
02:24I'm excited.
02:25I won't be there, but I'm excited to see him run on the screen.
02:28The fact that he hasn't run since the Belmont doesn't really worry me because this summer,
02:32his trainer, Kenny McPeak, said we might not see him until the end of the year.
02:35He deserves a bunch of rest, how much we've asked of him.
02:38This was the plan, to give him a bunch of time off, give him rest, bring him back.
02:42He's working well.
02:43He's embarking on an almost 2,000-mile trip, though, at the start of next week.
02:48That's tough for anybody, but it'll be really exciting to see him run.
02:53Yeah, you'll see some familiar names in there.
02:56Stronghold, we remember from the Kentucky Derby.
02:58He's a Santa Anita Derby winner.
02:59Imagination, we saw in the Preakness.
03:01Raging Torrent and Ben Tornado, they're really good sprinters.
03:04This is more their game than it is Mystic Dan's.
03:08In the 10th race, it's the Phillies that get the spotlight in the La Brea, and wow.
03:14You go through this field.
03:15I think it's a field of 11 of them, and any one of them you can make a case for.
03:19Multiple Graded Stakes winners up and down.
03:22I think some of the headliners in here, Accuracy,
03:24who's been just really sharp as of late.
03:26Yeah, she's super sharp.
03:27A little bit of a late bloomer for the Ripolli stable,
03:30but kind of broke through with a dominant 15th-length victory at Santa Anita,
03:35and then another impressive victory of over seven lengths.
03:38So she'll be tough.
03:41Six Graded Stakes races on opening day at Santa Anita.

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