Santa Anita Starts the Fall Meet With A "Maddy"-ing Tough Stakes

With the change in the season to fall, the Southern California circuit returns to the Great Race Place at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains. This year marks the first time in 43 years that the fall racing is not run by the Oak Tree Racing Association. Santa Anita has taken the dates from them after evicting them two years ago. Opening weekend will offer seven graded stakes spread over the three days, including five grade ones. The traditional commemorative stein given away has been replaced on the calendar by an ever popular food truck festival in the infield. With all of the changes about, the stakes schedule starts off in the same way it had in recent years, with a turf sprint. The Grade 3 race figures to produce multiple starters for the Breeders' Cup. Here is some thoughts about the first stake of the Santa Anita Fall meet.

The opening day feature is the Grade 3 Senator Ken Maddy Stakes for fillies and mares three year old and up going about six and a half furlongs down the hillside turf course. The defending champion is back in Unzip Me. This Cal-bred daughter of City Zip returns to defend her crown off a fine win at Del Mar. She is five for seven (with a second) down the hill in her career. She hopes to use this race as a springboard to the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint like last year, where she finished third. Her regular jockey Rafael Bejarano will be in the irons. While breaking from the inside posts is normally not ideal, the small field makes it less likely to have its normal negative effect.

The likely second choice figures to be blog favorite Tanda (right). This daughter of Sweetsouthernsaint finally broke her five-race losing streak in the Grade 3 Rancho Bernardo Handicap last time out, getting her first win of 2011. She moved into the Mike Mitchell barn prior to the win, and her new regular rider is Joe Talamo. It pained this blog to miss the win, but glad she made it to winner's circle.She will break to the outside of Unzip Me, hoping to get a nice stalking trip off of her. She has worked well since the win, finishing off her preparations with a bullet 5 furlong drill across town. She has a 4-2-1-0 record lifetime over this unique course. Her goal this year is the Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint on the main track at seven furlongs. Under the allowance conditions of this race, she gives three lbs. to Unzip Me.

The other entrants are Separate Forest, who beat the top two back in April in the Grade 3 Las Cienagas; Broken Forest & Givine, who have traded decisions with each other and Separate Forest (All 3 finished behind Unzip Me in the Daisycutter last time out); and Waveline.

This race is the first of many Breeders' Cup preps at Santa Anita the next two weekends. This season is filled with hope from all the divisions. Who will go on to glory? Can Tanda avenge her loss from April? Will Unzip Me continue her winning ways all the way to Louisville? We shall see. Good luck everybody!

Santa Anita Derby Undercard Stakes Thoughts

Santa Anita Day brings together a solid card of action in support of the big race. Three graded stakes will help enhance the big day. First, older female sprinters will go down the hill in the Las Cienegas Handicap. Then older males go a mile on the grass in the Grade 2 Arcadia Stakes. Then three year old filles will go a mile and an eighth on the grass in the Grade 2 Providencia Stakes. Throw in the appearance of First Dude in allowance race (finally!) and this card lends good support to a big day. Let's start with the Las Cienegas Handicap.

This Grade 3 race down the hillside turf course marks the 2011 return of blog favorite Tanda, who has not raced since her trouble-filled third in the 2010 Grade 1 Acorn Stakes. She is two-for-three down the hill, with her only loss coming when she finished second to Rose Catherine, who would go on to be the second betting choice in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. Tanda struggled to shake a foot bruise this winter, which cause her to miss the Grade 1's La Brea Stakes and Santa Monica Stakes earlier in the meet. She is over the issue, and has been working regularly towards this race. She may not be fully cranked, as this could be a prep race for something down the road, such as the Grade 1 Humana Distaff on the Kentucky Derby undercard. But the favorite will be Unzip Me. This daughter of City Zip owns this turf course, with 5 wins in 6 races, with her only lose the being her first race down the hill. She has been undefeated against females in her last 11 starts, with her only two losses being against males. She already won two stakes down the hill this meet. Her success causes her to tote 127 lbs. today, 8 more than Tanda and 10-12 more than the rest of her competitors. She figures to be right upfront, and will try to continue her winning ways. These two tower over the field, and figure to dominate the wagering.

The next stake is Grade 2 Arcadia. Caracortado (right) will be the favorite to once again hold off Jeranimo, who he has bested twice this meet. "Scarface" is coming off a narrow defeat in the G1 Kilroe Mile last out. He seems to have maintained his fitness. He figures to rally from off the pace. Jeranimo will try once again to turn the tables on him. He worked well in the interim, and reunites with top jock Rafael Bejarano (who was on the winner in the Kilroe). Both will have to catch Liberian Freighter, who figures to get an easy lead. He threw in a clunker last time against the top two, but maybe was a little too fresh off the 3 month layoff. He comes back with three steady works, and should be able to control the tempo on the front end. He is a dangerous threat to wire this field.

The last undercard stake is the Grade 2 Providencia Stakes. These three year old fillies go a mile an one-eighth, a distance no one in the field has gone. Five of the 9 entrants begin their career across the pond in Europe. The favorite will be Cambina. This diminutive filly with the powerful kick won the last two stakes for this group, the Grade 3 La Habra and the China Doll Stakes. She blasts from the back of the pack, and her two works in the interim shows she has not lost a step. So Belle ran a good race in her first race in the U.S. last out, finishing second. Her pedigree suggests that the added distance will not be a problem. She figures to stalk a solid past in her 2nd start in the states. An interesting longshot is Hard To Resist (right). This daughter of Johannesburg rolled from the back of the pack into a slow pace to break her maiden last time out. She has maintained her good form since, and keeps leading rider Joel Rosario in the irons.

So there are some thoughts on the Santa Anita Derby undercard stakes. These races provide some good support to the feature. Can Tanda return to form off the layoff? Can Jeranimo finally turn the tables on Caracortado? Can Cambina keep it rolling? We shall see. Good luck everybody.