Santa Anita: Glatt, Hernandez, Reddam win meet titles

The Santa Anita winter-spring wrapped up on Sunday with Mark Glatt as leading trainer, Juan Hernandez as the top rider and Reddam Racing earning the title as leading owner. Live racing will resume at Santa Anita on Friday with the start of its 29-day spring meet.

For Glatt, a 52-year-old native of Auburn, Wash, this was his second Santa Anita trainer’s title and first at the traditional winter-spring meet. He finished the stand with 31 wins from 122 starters, a 25% strike rate, and $1,549,998 in purse earnings. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was second with 26 wins followed by Michael McCarthy with 24 and Jeff Mullins with 23.

Glatt’s biggest win at the meet came when Freedom’s Not Free won the Pasadena Stakes for 3-year-olds going a mile on turf on March 9. He also won the trainer’s title at the 2023 Santa Anita autumn meet.

Hernandez won 53 races from 232 mounts, a 23% strike rate, to finish well ahead in the race for leading jockey. It was the eighth riding title at Santa Anita for the 33-year-old native of Veracruz, Mexico.

“I’m really happy and grateful to everyone,” Hernandez said during a winner’s circle celebration on closing day. “I’m thankful for my agent, the owners, trainers and grooms. They do all the hard work and leave me the easy work.”

Hernandez also led all jockeys with 10 stakes wins at the meet. They include the Beholder Mile (G1) and La Cañada (G3) with Cavalieri, San Vicente (G2) on Barnes, Santa Anita Oaks (G2) and Las Virgenes (G3) aboard Tenma, and the Monrovia (G3) and Wishing Well with Queen Maxima.

Paul and Zilla Reddam’s Reddam Racing won 12 races from 69 starters to lead all owners at the meet. Reddam Racing, which won the Santa Ynez with Look Forward and the California Cup Oaks with Take Another Card, also finished on top in earnings with $647,974.