By Emily Shields
Despite a difficult winter and questions continuing to loom overhead, officials at Santa Anita have put together a stellar Saturday card with seven stakes races. While you can find previews to their grade 1 Santa Anita Derby and Oaks here and here, the rest of the card is equally compelling, led by the grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap.
The historic “Big Cap,” a 1 ¼ mile contest for $600,000, has a light field of six runners with two heavyweights set to battle. #1 McKinzie (4-5) is on the rail, and is already a grade 1 winner at the meet and each of the last two years he raced. The son of Street Sense is trained by Bob Baffert, who held him home from Dubai rather than running him in the Dubai World Cup, just to tackle this. McKinzie, second by a half-length last out in the San Pasqual Stakes (G2), has won five of eight starts.
#4 is Gift Box (6-5), a six-year-old son of Twirling Candy who runs for trainer John Sadler. Gift Box won the San Antonio (G2) on opening day in his first start for Sadler after being trained previously by Chad Brown in New York. On that day, Gift Box outran Battle of Midway, now deceased, who in turn defeated McKinzie last out. Gift Box is four for 14 lifetime with 11 top three efforts. Sadler won this race last year with future Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Accelerate.
The other stakes include the $200,000 Echo Eddie and $200,000 Evening Jewel for California-breds. The Royal Heroine (G2) on the grass features popular #1 Vasilika (3-5), who has won ten of her last 11 starts from one mile to 1 ¼ miles. The daughter of Skipshot goes for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer. She will face newcomer #5 Raven’s Lady (7-2), who makes her American debut after being a group 2 winner in Germany.
The $150,000 Providencia Stakes for three-year-old fillies should have had a big favorite in #1 Apache Princess (6-1), who won three straight races early in the meet before running fifth in the California Cup Oaks against state breds. Now she faces #6 Colonial Creed (3-1), second by a half-length in the Blue Norther Stakes last out, and #2 Lady Prancealot (7-2), who won at a mile on the grass here February 1.
The 11-race card begins at noon Pacific.
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