SANTA ANITA LEADERS

Through Thursday

JOCKEYS / WINS

Flavien Prat / 62

Juan Hernandez / 36

John Velazquez / 28

Diego Herrera / 21

Two tied / 19

TRAINERS / WINS

Bob Baffert / 25

Philip D’Amato / 25

Doug O’Neill / 22

Richard Baltas / 15

John Sadler / 15

WEEKEND STAKES (SANTA ANITA)

Saturday

• $125,000 Grade III San Luis Rey Stakes, 4-year-olds and up, 1½ miles (turf)

Sunday

• $100,000 Grade III Las Flores Stakes, fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs

DOWN THE STRETCH

• Local racing fans can circle April 9 as a key date on their calendars. That’s Santa Anita Derby day and, if all goes well, the Southland’s major steppingstone to the May 7 Kentucky Derby will feature a showdown between Messier and Forbidden Kingdom. Messier’s trainer, Bob Baffert, said in a text message Wednesday that his colt, fresh off a record-setting 15-length victory in the Grade III Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita on Feb. 6, is on course for the local Derby. “That’s the plan,” he said. Forbidden Kingdom will go into the Santa Anita Derby off an impressive 5¾-length victory in the Grade II San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita last weekend.

• Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas won the 1988 Kentucky Derby with Winning Colors, one of only three fillies to win the Run for the Roses, and has run three other fillies on the first Saturday in May. He might make it five this year with Secret Oath, who recently scored a dominating victory in the Honeybee Stakes at Oaklawn Park and, along with Echo Zulu, appears to be one of the top 3-year-old fillies in the nation. If her connections decide on the Derby, they’ll have to run her in the Arkansas Derby on April 2 to earn Kentucky Derby qualifying points. “Her numbers suggest she won’t embarrass in the Arkansas Derby by any means,” Lukas told the Bloodhorse.

• Joe Bravo, who relocated to the Southland riding colony during the past Del Mar summer meet, was named the winner of the 2022 George Woolf Memorial Jockey Award this week via a vote of jockeys nationwide. Bravo, 50, will be honored in a Santa Anita winner’s circle ceremony on March 27. Presented annually by Santa Anita since 1950, the Woolf Award is named for the late Hall of Fame jockey who rode Seabiscuit to victory in the famed 1938 match race against Triple Crown champion War Admiral at Pimlico Race Course. The award recognizes jockeys whose careers and personal character shine brightly on the industry.

— Art Wilson

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