Hernandez, D'Amato win Santa Anita meet titles

Santa Anita’s 43-day Classic meet, which began Dec. 26, drew to a close on Sunday, with Juan Hernandez atop the jockey’s division, Phil D’Amato bagging another training title and Tim and Mark Cohen’s Rancho Temescal and Red Baron’s Barn leading all owners.

For Hernandez, a 31-year-old native of Veracruz, Mexico, it was a dominant gate-to-wire performance, as he won four races on opening day and never slowed down, winning two on Sunday to give him 63 victories for the meet, more than double that of runner-up Flavien Prat’s 31.

In the stakes-won category, it was Hernandez leading Prat 13 to 11, helping him to top all riders by purse money won with $4,672,374.

Among apprentice jockeys, Armando Aguilar did very well, winning 18 races, good for eighth in the final standings.

D’Amato, who has become a dominant force on turf, in large part with Irish-breds, enjoyed another tremendous meeting, winning 32 races, five better than Bob Baffert. D’Amato finished with 11 stakes wins, second to Baffert’s 12.

A 57-year-old native of San Pedro, Calif., D’Amato earned his third consecutive title for the Classic meet, formerly called the winter-spring meet, and his fourth overall at Santa Anita.

The Cohen family’s Rancho Temescal and Red Baron’s Barn won 13 races, five of them stakes.

Santa Anita’s first Hollywood meet will open on Friday, April 21, and run through closing day, Sunday, June 18.