Santa Anita Closes Fall Meet with Competitive Races and Notable Stakes

As the fall meet at Santa Anita draws to a close this weekend, jockey Juan Hernandez leads the standings with 23 wins, ahead of Umberto Rispoli with 16 wins. The competition remains fierce as trainers Phil D’Amato and Bob Baffert vie for top positions, with D’Amato currently holding a slight edge with 11 wins compared to Baffert’s 9.

The stakes are high for the upcoming races. On Saturday, Santa Anita will host the **$200,000 Grade II Twilight Derby** for three-year-olds, covering 1⅛ miles on turf, along with the **$85,000 Tokyo City Cup** for three-year-olds and up over 1 mile. Sunday will feature the **$100,000 Grade III Autumn Miss Stakes**, a one-mile race on turf for three-year-old fillies.

In the jockey standings, Hernandez is set to ride the morning-line favorite, **Test Score**, for trainer Graham Motion in the Twilight Derby. Rispoli will be aboard **Pony Express** for trainer John Sadler, and Hernandez also has the mount on **Privman** for Baffert in the Tokyo City Cup. Additionally, Rispoli is scheduled to ride **Slick**, trained by D’Amato, while Hernandez takes over **Warming** for Motion in the Autumn Miss Stakes on Sunday.

Santa Anita is also introducing a new race format called a “ratings handicap,” which aims to group horses based on newly developed rating numbers from Equibase. This innovative approach will debut in races 6 and 7 on Saturday, potentially allowing for competitive fields of horses that have not previously met. Race 7 will feature horses from varying class levels, showcasing the format’s versatility.

The Breeders’ Cup, scheduled for October 31-November 1, has drawn criticism from some horseplayers due to its decision not to limit computer-assisted wagering. This announcement contradicts the host track Del Mar’s policy that closes win pools to large computer bets two minutes before post time, a move intended to mitigate late odds changes. While the Breeders’ Cup’s substantial parimutuel pools may reduce dramatic shifts, any significant last-minute odds drops could tarnish the event’s reputation.

In a significant development, the popular racehorse Express Train has announced his retirement. The eight-year-old, known for his performances in major races at Santa Anita and Del Mar, including a victory in the **Santa Anita Handicap** in 2022, will transition to a career in the hunter-jumper circuit in Kentucky, according to trainer John Shirreffs.

Over at Los Alamitos, the quarter-horse racing scene is heating up. The three-year-old horse OJD Jess a Bug continued his impressive streak, winning the **Azure Three Stakes** on Saturday. With an 11-for-11 record from previous competitions in Utah, Idaho, and Wyoming, he triumphed in a 220-yard dash with jockey Jose Nicasio for trainer Jesus Nunez.

Looking ahead to Sunday at Los Alamitos, the **Golden State Million Futurity** will feature Doodah Cartel, who enters the race with the fastest qualifying time. The two-year-old, trained by Paul Jones, aims for his first victory in a futurity final. Other notable contenders include **Jess Im Worth It** and **Beuteeful**, who finished second and third in the trials, respectively.

Tragically, the fall meet has also seen its share of losses. The deaths of two horses—**Mirinda**, a four-year-old filly, and **Starry Heavens**, a five-year-old mare—bring the total number of fatalities during racing and training at Los Alamitos, Santa Anita, and Del Mar to 27 since the start of the California racing year on December 26, according to records from the California Horse Racing Board. This figure matches the total from the same period last year and slightly exceeds the average over the past four years.

In global racing news, not all of the world’s elite horses will compete at the Breeders’ Cup. The five-year-old sprinter **Ka Ying Rising**, who recently secured a Group 1 victory in Australia, remains ranked first in Timeform‘s global rankings. The four-year-old **Calandagan** has moved up to second place following a win in the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot. The highest-ranked horse expected to race at Del Mar is **Ombudsman**, who finished as the runner-up in the Champion Stakes and is currently ranked fourth.

This weekend at Santa Anita and Los Alamitos, the excitement and competition will be palpable as the fall meet reaches its thrilling conclusion.