Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Finest City, Stellar Wind, Vale Dori eye Beholder Mile
ARCADIA, Calif. – Three major stakes-winning mares – Finest City, Stellar Wind, and Vale Dori – worked at Santa Anita on Friday and could all meet in the $400,000 Beholder Mile on June 3.
Stellar Wind, the champion 3-year-old filly of 2015, worked five furlongs in 1:00.60 for the Grade 1 Apple Blossom at Oaklawn Park on April 14. Stellar Wind was second to the champion Beholder in the 2016 Vanity Mile, a race that has since been renamed the Beholder Mile. Stellar Wind has not raced since finishing fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff here last November.
Trainer John Sadler said Friday he is confident Stellar Wind will be ready for her first start of the year in the Apple Blossom.
“She’s just a really nice horse,” he said.
Vale Dori and Finest City were first and second in the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on March 18, the fourth consecutive graded stakes win for Vale Dori. Trained by Bob Baffert, Vale Dori worked a halfmile in 49 seconds Friday.
Baffert said the Beholder Mile will be the late-spring focus for Vale Dori.
Finest City, the champion female sprinter of 2016, worked a half-mile in 49 seconds, which trainer Ian Kruljac described as a “nice, easy half.”
Kruljac said he was leaning toward the Beholder Mile for Finest City’s next start but has not ruled out a start in the Grade 1 Gamely Stakes at 1 1/8 miles on turf here May 27.
“We’ll probably stay here and look at the Beholder Mile,” Kruljac said. “She’s healthy and doing well.”
Del Mar boosts incentive
Del Mar has increased its incentive program to lure horses from out-of-state or international circuits to the track’s summer meeting from July 19 to Sept. 4.
This summer, the track will pay owners a $1,500 bonus to start horses from outside of California who have not raced in the state in the last 12 months. The bonus has been increased from $1,000 in past years.
The track will continue to pay a 30 percent bonus to owners whose horses earn prize money in their first California starts in overnight races. That bonus is not applicable for horses making their first starts in California in stakes. First-time starters are not eligible for any bonuses.
The bonuses, known as the Ship and Win program, began in 2011 and have been a boost to field sizes, track officials said. The bonuses have drawn stables from outside of California to race at Del Mar and have resulted in owners acquiring runners from other circuits or countries.
Many of those horses have stayed on the circuit, providing a boost to races at state tracks.
Huge payoff in pick six
The $1,199,286 payoff to a single ticket holder in Thursday’s pick six was the fifth-largest in Santa Anita history.
Thursday’s big prize included a scoop of the single-ticket jackpot portion of the pool, a format the track launched at the start of the winter-spring meeting Dec. 26.
According to Santa Anita publicity, the ticket was purchased for $14,400 at Sammy’s satellite wagering location in Lake Forest, Calif., about 60 miles south of Santa Anita.
The single-ticket jackpot had a carryover of $590,443 going into Thursday’s program and was paid out only because there was a single winning ticket. There was a carryover of $133,546 in the main pool. Bettors added $732,730 to the pool Thursday.
This was the first time the single-ticket portion had been hit since Feb. 20, a span of 24 racing days.
The winners of Thursday’s pick-six races were Stately Command ($26.80), Revenue Virginius ($9), Algorhythmic ($9.80), Strong Values ($12.20), Sharp Samurai ($16), and On the Rocks ($55). There were no winning favorites.
Consolation tickets with five winners paid $1,375.
The largest pick-six payoff in track history occurred in February 2008, when one winning ticket was worth $3.1 million.
◗ Sunday is the final day of the winter-spring meeting, but the gap to the next racing day is minimal. The springsummer meeting begins Friday with a three-day race week and continues through July 4.
Since the meeting operates under one regulatory license, any carryovers in the pick five, pick six, or super high five Sunday will continue to Friday’s program, track officials said.
◗ Om, a three-time graded stakes winner on turf, recently returned to racetrack training for his 5-year-old season, trainer Dan Hendricks said.
Owned by K.B. Sareen, Om has not raced since finishing third in the Grade 2 Seabiscuit Handicap at Del Mar on Nov. 26. Om was second by a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita last November.
Om has won 5 of 16 starts and earned $848,845. He won three stakes for 3-year-olds in 2015.