Saturday afternoon at Santa Anita Park, Jan. 16, 2016, was spent watching someone fall in love with horse racing for the first time. This is probably akin to a parent watching their child take their first steps. I wouldn’t know, I don’t have children; I just borrowed a friend’s daughter for the day and inducted her into horse racing fandom. Seeing her first two picks, Tiz a Billy and Archaeo, come in one-two in the second race sealed it, even though she did not choose another winner for the remainder of the day.
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Carrie Lynn Barker
Editor’s Note: This is the debut of a new regular blog by Carrie Lynn Barker in which she will share her thoughts, observations and photos of the horse-related activities from her near-weekly visits to Santa Anita Park on Saturdays during racing season. Carrie is a photographer who lives in Monrovia with her screenwriter husband Brandon and is Chief Member Concierge at the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce. Carrie has written seven stories published as ebooks and has produced several films. She has also been Operation Manager of Barfly Staff Monitoring Services since 2010. ————————————————————————————————————————————————–
Taris riding by Gary Stevens, winner of La Canada Stakes
After my ward was no longer under my wing, my advice to her of ‘always bet the gray’ came through with a beautiful win by Dreamologist in the 8th, who was a blur of white hitting the wire under jockey Flavien Prat.
The spotlight race of the day was the La Canada Stakes, a Grade II mile 1/16 on the dirt, with Taris headlining the betting, going off at even money. Two early scratches and a broken bridle on #3 Oscar Party turned this into a four-horse race. Taris, under jockey Gary Stevens, did not disappoint in her win, though jockey Santiago Gonzalez’s handling of the situation on Oscar Party was great to watch as he expertly brought controlled the hard running mare.
Two Step Glory (11) withTyler Baze wins over Lil Jessica and Agapito Delgadillo
The final race of the day also gave betters a shock when their favorite, Two Steps of Glory, ridden by Tyler Baze, hung at the back of the pack until what felt like the last possible moment, then rallied with great speed to hire the wire in front Lil Jessica.
However, the main event of the day came Saturday evening at the 2015 Eclipse Awards at Gulfstream Park where, of course, Santa Anita-based Breeders’ Cup champion American Pharoah, the nation’s first Triple Crown winner since Affirmed in 1978, raced away with the titles of Horse of the Year and Three Year-Old Male of the Year, both of which came with unanimous votes. In fact, Santa Anita-based connections fairly dominated the awards ceremonies as no less than nine Eclipse Award trophies went to people and horses who were headquartered at The Great Race Place. Owner and Breeder awards went to American Pharoah owner/breeder Zayat Stables, as did the trainer award to Bob Baffert. Other notables included Beholder as Champion Older Dirt Female (Beholder is slated for June 4 Grade I Vanity Stakes at Santa Anita), and the swift Nyquist (a personal favorite) as Two Year-Old Male (will make debut as Three Year-Old Feb. 15 in the Grade II seven-furlong San Vicente Stakes at Santa Anita). Honor Code took home Champion Older Dirt Male, with Stellar Wind as Three Year-Old Filly. Many others also earned well-deserved titles. Congrats to the connections of all the winners.
Horses pass the grandstands
In other thoroughbred news from Arcadia this weekend, it has been announced that Zenyatta and Lava Man will be added to the Arcadia Historical Society’s Thoroughbred Walk of Champions in a ceremony to be held May 24 at the Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Everyone is familiar with Zenyatta and her accomplishments, but Lava Man continues to be a fan favorite. His career on the track had many highlights but after retirement he returned to the track as lead pony for Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner I’ll Have Another. He’ll escort current Two Year-Old Male Eclipse Champion, Nyquist to the Kentucky Derby this year, something that has already got fans talking about another possible Triple Crown winner.
— by Carrie Lynn Barker
Dreamologist with Flavien Prat, winner of 8th Race