Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Baltas can finish the year strong in upcoming stakes
Richard Baltas had a careerbest season in 2019, winning 13 graded stakes with a stable that earned $7.3 million. Those figures are safe for at least a year, although Baltas has an excellent chance to finish 2020 with a flourish.
With the start of the Santa Anita winter-spring meeting on Dec. 26, Baltas plans to be active in several of the track’s nine stakes from opening day through Dec. 31. Baltas, 59, has 90 horses between Santa Anita and San Luis Rey Downs, a group that consists of a fair number of turf runners.
“I’m trying to buy better horses,” he said Thursday morning. “I’ve got to find my horses, buy my horses, and take care of them.
“Sometimes you’ve got to make things happen. I’m fortunate to have enough guys that want to spend money.”
On Dec. 26, Baltas plans to run Going to Vegas in the Grade 1 American Oaks for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/4 miles on turf, Idol in the Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes for older horses at 1 1/16 miles, Whisper Not in the Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile for 3-year-olds on turf, and Anna Angel, Applecross, and Nasty in the $75,000 Lady of Shamrock Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf.
Later this month, Colonial Creed is scheduled to run in the Grade 3 Robert Frankel Stakes for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles on turf on Dec. 27. The recent British import Absolute Scenes is a candidate for the $75,000 Blue Norther Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at a mile on turf Dec. 31.
“I’m pretty happy with my grass horses,” Baltas said. “I think Whisper Not has a live shot.”
Whisper Not, owned by
Christopher Dunn and Jeremy Peskoff, was second in his American debut in an allowance race at a mile on turf Nov. 29 at Del Mar. Whisper Not was a two-time winner in England earlier this year.
Going to Vegas, claimed for $50,000 in June, was second in the Grade 3 Red Carpet Handicap for older fillies and mares at 1 3/8 miles on Nov. 26 at Del Mar, leading in the stretch before finishing a half-length behind Orglandes.
“Going to Vegas is going super,” Baltas said. “She’s back in against 3-year-olds. She has a good look in there.”
Idol is eligible for the Grade 1 Runhappy Malibu Stakes at seven furlongs for 3-year-olds on Dec. 26, but Baltas said the distance of the San Antonio is preferred. Owned by Calvin Nguyen, Idol will make his stakes debut in the San Antonio, having won an allowance race at 1 3/16 miles on Nov. 8 at Churchill Downs in his third career start.
“I think he wants the longer distance,” Baltas said. “He’s a talented horse and lightly raced.”
Four prominent members of the Baltas stable are in the midst of wintertime rests – Bodhicitta, One Bad Boy, Venetian Harbor, and Vertical Threat.
Bodhicitta won the Grade 2 Yellow Ribbon Stakes on Aug. 8 at Del Mar and was eighth in the Grade 1 Matriarch Stakes for fillies and mares at a mile on turf Nov. 29 at Del Mar.
One Bad Boy, best known for winning the Queen’s Plate Stakes at Woodbine in June 2019, was pulled up in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap on Nov. 28 at Del Mar, but emerged from the race without incident.
Venetian Harbor was eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Sprint on Nov. 7 at Keeneland after winning the Grade 2 Raven Run Stakes for 3-year-old fillies there Oct. 17.
“She’s getting a little rest,” Baltas said. “She’s laid up in Kentucky for three months before she comes back.”
Vertical Threat was briefly considered for the Malibu Stakes after winning the $200,000 Steel Valley Sprint Stakes at Mahoning Valley Racecourse in Ohio on Nov. 23, but is not in training.
“We wanted to rest him,” Baltas said.
Through Wednesday, Baltas’s stable had earned $4,934,878 this year. Baltas cracked the $5 million mark in earnings for the first time in 2018, finishing the season with stable earnings of $5,530,034.
Getting to that level may be impossible this year, a year in which racing was halted in Southern California for seven weeks in the spring because of the coronavirus pandemic. The final tally by New Year’s Eve could reflect one of the trainer’s finest seasons.