Opening Day At Santa Anita Park Never Gets Old
It was the day after Christmas and a beautiful winter day at Santa Anita Park. Thousands of race fans came out to celebrate the opening day of the winter-spring meet. This is always a special time of the year for the race fans in Southern California.The highlight of the winter meet signals the start of a new year of racing, and the unveiling of promising 2-year-olds, turning 3 on January 1st.
40,810 holiday-loving race fans came out to celebrate this special event! There was a lot to be excited about with a race card filled with large fields, superstar jockeys and an outstanding program. For many, celebrating opening day is somewhat of a holiday tradition shared by generations of race fans.
Santa Anita Park is my favorite racetrack and being able to celebrate this exciting day, as a race fan myself, was a thrill! Here’s a glimpse of why I love this sport so much!
The paddock area filled with fans trying to get a glimpse of the competition.
The statue of Seabiscuit majestically sits in the middle of the grassy area in the paddock, as owners wait on their horses.
Battling nose-to-nose for the finish line, long-shot #9 Sam's Sister and Elvis Trujillo dug down deep to run down favorite #1 Taris and Rafael Bejarano. The winner paid $27.00 to win! #3 Thank you Marylou and Joel Rosorio came in third.
"The last sixteenth I could see Rafael (aboard Taris) working and I could see her tail flapping so I knew I had it. I came flying and caught them right away," said winning jockey Elvis Trujillo. Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, next to Sam's Sister smiles after the victory.
Unfortunately, Taris, who finished 2nd by half a length to Sam's Sister, was found to have suffered an injury to her right front ankle in the race and will be out for 90 days, trainer Simon Callaghan said Saturday morning.
#4 Alert Bay hopped away quickly, and sat patiently behind the pace-setters.
Coming to the top of the lane the "come-from-behinders" started catching up to the front runners. In mid-stretch, Alert Bay rallied between rivals and surged past the battling pacesetters.
#9 Home Run Kitten and Joe Talamo (who ran 6th in the early running) came flying like a freight train. In a thrilling run to the finish; Alert Bay managed to stretch his neck out for a well deserved win!
Joe Talamo on Home Run Kitten coming in second, "We had a perfect trip. I was
able to save ground around the first turn and in the final turn, I had a lot of horse. I swung him out and he ran a winning race. When I got to him, he really dug in. He's got a tremendous turn of foot. I thought I had it, but Alert Bay just hung on at the end."
3-year-old Alert Bay, and jockey Tyler Baze, winner of the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile.
Shared Belief dug down deep as #2 Chitu and long-shot #1 Conquest Two Step fought him every inch of the way to the finish line.
Guts and all heart as #8 Shared Belief, 72-1 Long-shot #1 Conquest Two Step,
and #2 Chitu rally to the wire. Look how muscular Chitu is, he's a monster!
All heart, Shared Belief is victorious by a neck over 72-1 long-shot #1 Conquest Two Steps! #2 Chitu came in third, and #3 Indianapolis finished fourth.
Photo of all three horses right past the finish line.
"I don't know if people really understand how difficult it is to go from a mile and a quarter back to seven eighths," the Hall of Fame rider said. "It's really hard to do.
It takes a special kind of horse; he's that, and maybe more.
Jockey Mike Smith on Shared Belief, "This race proved what a great horse he is,
just by doing what he did," Smith said. "To run route races, then to come back to seven eighths against top sprinters...To me, that puts a big feather in his cap and puts him in front for Horse of the Year. I think this put him ahead of the rest."
It looks like Jockey Mike Smith is telling Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer just how close the race was.
Shared Belief connections watches him cool down.
Jim Rome, part owner on Shared Belief, “It was an awesome, awesome day, and sometimes people are disappointed because he didn’t win by open lengths and think, ‘What’s the matter? Maybe he’s not all that (good).’ The horse just won a Grade I cutting way back (in distance) and did it with a lot of grit and a lot of moxie, and I could not be more proud of Shared Belief. I love this horse.”
It was a happy ending to opening day for Shared Belief's fans. The talented 3-year-old won the last Grade 1 of the year; which hopefully stamps his ticket as the top 3-year-old in the country.
9 races filled the race card on Saturday. Though track attendance was not as much as opening day, it was still filled with racing fans looking forward to another exciting day of racing! When the track opened I took a photo of the Paddock Area before the races started.
When asked by veteran jockey Mike Smith the young colt surged forward in a