Mayor Reminds Media: Santa Anita Race Track is NOT in L.A.

on Wednesday offered a friendly reminder to media members attending the post-position draw breakfast for the 75th running of the Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita on Saturday.

“Time Magazine, in a review on , referred to ‘L.A’s Santa Anita,’ ” Kovacic said. “And the publicity about the 2012 Breeders’ Cup keeps mentioning ‘L.A.’s Santa Anita.’ I want to let everyone know that is still located in Arcadia, and we continue to cherish it as one of our city’s greatest treasures.”

The Santa Anita Handicap, often referred to as simply the Big ’Cap, is one of the biggest races of the year in Southern California. The traditional post-position media breakfast was, for the first time, held in the racetrack’s FrontRunner restaurant rather than Clockers’ Corner. Also in attendance was Mayor Pro Tem Bob Harbicht.

The big news was that the defending champion, Game on Dude, will not run in the race as expected. Trainer Bob Baffert decided at the last minute not to run the horse in Saturday’s $750,000 race but instead ship the horse overseas and run him in the $10-million Dubai World Cup on March 31.

Baffert considered sending Game on Dude to Dubai last year after he won the Big ’Cap, but decided there just wasn’t enough time between races. As for why he chose to run Game on Dude in Dubai this year, he said, “I’ve never won a $10-million race.”

With Game on Dude bowing out, Ultimate Eagle, which will start from post-position No. 2, swooped into the spotlight as the 5-2 morning-line favorite among 13 entrants. The Big ’Cap will, for the first time, be run as the day’s final race, which on Saturday will be the 11th race. Post time is schedule for around 5:15 p.m.

Prior to the Big ‘Cap, there will be two other Grade I stakes races on Saturday’s card, the Las Virgenes Stakes and the Frank E. Kilroe Mile. They will be run as the ninth and 10th races, respectively. Infield activities on Saturday will include 50 food trucks and music by the band Fallen Riviera.

As for the Big 'Cap, the way Martin Pedroza, Ultimate Eagle’s 46-year-old jockey, sees it, Game On Dude’s absence simply removes a speed bump on his extraordinary mount’s rise to stardom.

Pedroza, who has ridden more than 27,000 horses, already had the streaking winner of the Feb. 4 Strub Stakes at the top of his list.

“Without a doubt, he is the best horse I’ve ever ridden,” said Pedroza, who won the 1989 Santa Anita Handicap aboard Martial Law.

Ultimate Eagle will be seeking his sixth win in seven starts.

The Strub marked the first start over dirt for the $70,000 purchase trained by Mike Pender for B. J. Wright, and it could not have boded much better for the Big ’Cap. Ten 4-year-olds, including Affirmed and Spectacular Bid, have parlayed a Strub win into Santa Anita Handicap dominance.

Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella, whose Setsuko lost by a nose to Game On Dude one year ago, says his 5-year-old gelding never has been better. “He’s ready to run his best race ever,” Mandella insists.

Mandella, asked by moderator Mike
Willman if last year’s loss to Game on Dude was his most frustrating moment in horse racing, quipped, “I’ve had a lot of experience with frustration.”

And trainer Julio Canani believes his $25,000 claim, Holladay Road, can be dangerous from behind with top rider Rafael Bejarano at the controls. Canani knows about Big ’Cap longshot winners.
He trained Martial Law.

The complete field for the Santa
Anita Handicap, with jockeys, weights and morning line odds in post-position order: Uh Oh Bango, Mike Smith, 117, 6-1; Ultimate Eagle, Martin Pedroza, 120, 5-2; Ron the Greek, Jose Lezcano,116, 6-1; Boxeur de Rues, Mario Gutierrez, 112, 50-1; Thirtyfirststreet, Eswan Flores, 114, 30-1; Twice the Appeal, Christian Santiago Reyes, 114, 30-1; Fiddlers Afleet, Kevin Krigger, 110, 50-1; Gladding, Joel Rosario, 116, 12-1; Setsuko, Victor Espinoza, 116, 4-1; Norvsky, Joseph Talamo, 118, 6-1; Prayer for Relief, Martin Garcia, 117, 8-1; Holladay Road, Rafael Bejarano, 114, 8-1, and Victory Pete, Corey Nakatani, 114, 50-1.

HRTV will present two Big ’Cap specials today. The first, at 6 p.m. PST, will feature the 1982 race in which Perrault was disqualified, resulting in the legendary John Henry being placed first. Laffit Pincay, Perrault’s jockey that day, was at Wednesday’s breakfast and said, “That was a very sad day for me.”

The other HRTV special, at 7 p.m., looks back at last year’s Big Cap which  had another controversial finish. With Chantal
Sutherland on board – and becoming the first female rider to win the Big ‘Cap – Game on Dude survived a stretch battle, and lengthy inquiry, to defeat Setsuko by a nose.