Executiveprivilege Set for La Brea

Bob Baffert is optimistic that Executiveprivilege will strut the sensational stuff she showed as a 2-year-old when the daughter of First Samurai runs in the Grade I La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at seven furlongs on opening day.

Executiveprivilege is winless in two starts at three, but has not raced since running fourth in the LA Woman at Santa Anita on Oct. 5. She was beaten nearly six lengths in a field of six.

“She’s been training well,” Baffert said of the Kentucky-bred bay owned by Karl Watson, Mike Pegram and Paul Weitman. “She’ll run well here, but we had trouble getting her back into form. She had such great 2-year-old form, but then she had little things like quarter cracks and minor things bugging her.”

Among Executiveprivilege’s recent workouts is a bullet 59 flat at Betfair Hollywood Park on Dec. 1.

She won the Grade I Del Mar Debutante and the Grade I Chandelier Stakes and was undefeated going into the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita on Nov. 2, but as the 3-2 favorite, was beaten by Beholder, costing the Baffert trainee an Eclipse Award.

The field for the La Brea: Sweet Lulu, Rafael Bejarano, 8-5; Heir Kitty, Gary Stevens, 9-2; Miss Lucky Sevens, Javier Castellano, 10-1; Executiveprivilege, Mike Smith, 4-1; Journey On, Martin Pedroza, 12-1; My Happy Face, Joel Rosario, 7-2; and Madame Cactus, Joe Talamo, 9-2.

GUARANTEED $500,000 POOL IN LATE PICK 4 ON OPENING DAY

Santa Anita will offer fans a guaranteed $500,000 pool in the Late Pick 4 on opening day, and will also offer a series of three separate 18 percent-takeout Daily Double wagers each racing day throughout its upcoming Winter and Spring meetings which will conclude June 29.

The Great Race Place will run a nine-race card on opening day and the Late Pick 4 will be comprised of the final four races.  The Pick 4, which is also offered each day on races two, three, four and five, is a 50 cent minimum wager that requires players to select the winner of each race in the sequence.

The Daily Double, first offered by Santa Anita in 1961, is a $2 minimum bet that requires players to select the winners of two consecutive races. Santa Anita’s new Daily Double will be offered each day on three separate occasions--on races one and two; four and five and on the final two races.

“After consulting with many of our best customers and the TOC, we felt it was time to make some ‘player-friendly’ adjustments to this iconic wager,” said Tom Ludt, Santa Anita Senior Vice President, Racing and Gaming. “Lowering the takeout to 18 percent is obviously something that everyone is in favor of. Additionally, by offering three Doubles per day, we’re confident we’re going to see a significant increase in pool sizes that will result in bigger payoffs--which is why the vast majority of our customers come out to the races.”

Santa Anita’s overall wagering menu will again include the “Players’ Pick 5,” a popular 14 percent takeout wager with a 50 cent minimum. The “Players’ Pick 5” requires players to select the winners of the first five races on each day’s card.

The $2 Pick Six, first offered at Santa Anita in 1980, remains one of the most popular exotic wagers in the country and will again be offered on the final six races each day.

Santa Anita will again offer $1 exactas, trifectas and superfectas on each race and will offer rolling Pick Three wagers throughout each day’s card.

All win, place and show wagers feature a 15.73 percent takeout (one of the nation’s lowest) with a $2 minimum investment.

Santa Anita offers free with paid admission its popular wall calendar on opening day. First post time opening day is 12 noon.