Horse racing notes: Bob Baffert strong in Santa Anita Memorial Day races

SANTA ANITA LEADERS

(Through Thursday)

Jockeys / Wins

Antonio Fresu / 17

Kyle Frey / 15

Edwin Maldonado / 14

Juan Hernandez / 14

Umberto Rispoli / 12

Hector Berrios / 11

Trainers / Wins

Mark Glatt / 11

Phil D’Amato / 9

John Sadler / 7

Steve Knapp / 7

Librado Barocio / 6

Jeff Mullins / 6

WEEKEND STAKES

SANTA ANITA

Saturday

• $125,000 Snow Chief Stakes, California-bred 3-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles on turf

• $125,000 Melair Stakes, Cal-bred 3-year-old fillies, 1 1/16 miles

• $100,000 Thor’s Echo Stakes, Cal-bred 3-year-olds and up, 6 furlongs

• $100,000 Crystal Water Stakes, Cal-bred 3-year-olds and up, 1 mile on turf

• $100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes, Cal-bred fillies and mares, 3 and up, 1 mile on turf

Sunday

• $200,000, Grade II Santa Margarita Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and up, 1 1/8 miles

• $100,000, Grade III Daytona Stakes, 4-year-olds and up, about 6 1/2 furlongs on turf

Monday

• $300,000, Grade I Shoemaker Mile, 3 and up, 1 mile on turf

• $300,000, Grade I Gamely Stakes, fillies and mares, 3 and up, 1 1/8 miles on turf

• $200,000, Grade II Hollywood Gold Cup, 3 and up, 1 1/4 miles

DOWN THE STRETCH

• Bob Baffert nominated Mr Fisk and Reincarnate for the Hollywood Gold Cup as the trainer tries to win that race for the fourth year in a row and 10th overall. Noms include Judge Miller and Mixto, who finished second and third behind Mr Fisk in the Californian Stakes; Subsanador, second while Reincarnate was third behind Newgate in the Santa Anita Handicap, and There Goes Harvard, the 2022 Gold Cup winner who hasn’t raced in more than a year. Entries will be set Friday for the 86th Gold Cup, the most historic of the three graded stakes at Santa Anita on Memorial Day. Baffert also has Du Jour for the Shoemaker Mile on Monday.

• Santa Anita’s three-day weekend spotlights as many as seven Grade I-winning horses, starting with The Chosen Vron in the Thor’s Echo on Saturday and Baffert’s Adare Manor in the Santa Margarita on Sunday.

• The June 8 Belmont Stakes could be the first to match Kentucky Derby and Preakness winners since Orb and Oxbow both were beaten by Palace Malice in 2013. Derby winner Mystik Dan might run, while Preakness winner Seize the Grey has been confirmed. The Daily Racing Form reported others in line to run are Sierra Leone, Fierceness, Dornoch, Honor Marie, Tuscan Gold, Antiquarian, the Wine Steward and Thorpedo Anna. The race will be held at Saratoga while Belmont Park is being renovated, and it will be 1¼ miles instead of 1½ miles to avoid starting it on a turn.

• Jon White announced his retirement as morning-line oddsmaker at Santa Anita and Del Mar, effective at the end of this Santa Anita meet. White, 68, a Monrovia resident, will cap an extraordinary, 50-year career that featured stints as a writer, handicapper and result-chart caller for the Daily Racing Form, a TV broadcaster and a racetrack steward. The Spokane native was named to the Washington Racing Hall of Fame in February. White said his plans include adding to the 65 tracks he has visited worldwide.

• Antonio Fresu zoomed from third to first in the Santa Anita jockey standings in both total victories (17) and stakes victories (three) with a seven winners last Friday through Sunday, the biggest aboard Miss Lizzy in the Mizdirection Stakes and King of Gosford in the Desert Code.

• Los Alamitos races Saturday and Sunday nights, with trials Sunday for the June 16 Ed Burke Million Futurity.

— Kevin Modesti