Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
SANTA ANITA Medina Spirit picks up where Life Is Good left off
ARCADIA, Calif. – With stablemate Life Is Good sidelined with injury, Medina Spirit has inherited the role of favorite for the $750,000 Runhappy Santa Anita Derby.
Medina Spirit finished second by three-quarters of a length to Life Is Good in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes at a mile on Jan. 2, won the Grade 3 Robert Lewis Stakes on Jan. 30, and was second by eight lengths to Life Is Good in the Grade 2 San Felipe Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on March 6.
“He got the closest to Life Is Good,” trainer Bob Baffert said. “That’s something.
“He tries hard. He’s a fighter. He’s got a lot of heart.”
Life Is Good recently had a bone chip removed from an ankle at a Kentucky clinic.
On Sunday, Medina Spirit worked a half-mile in 48 seconds in company with a stablemate. John Velazquez was aboard Medina Spirit in the San Felipe Stakes and has the mount in the Santa Anita Derby.
Medina Spirit ranks 15th on the qualifying points list for the Kentucky Derby. The first two finishers of the Santa Anita Derby earn 100 and 40 qualifying points, respectively. A win would assure Medina Spirit a berth, while a second would almost certainly be enough to gain a spot.
The 10 candidates for the Santa Anita Derby would be racing at 1 1/8 miles for the first time on Saturday. Baffert, citing Greatest Honour’s third-place finish at 4-5 in the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby at Gulfstream on Saturday, said the longer distance can make a big difference.
“Everything changes,” he said. “Look at Greatest Honour. He looked unbeatable.”
Medina Spirit, who races for Zedan Racing Stables, is by the Giant’s Causeway stallion Protonico and was purchased for $35,000 at a 2-year-olds in training sale last year.
The list of Santa Anita Derby candidates includes Dream Shake, Roman Centurian, and The Great One, who were third through fifth in the San Felipe Stakes; Law Professor and Defunded, who each won a maiden special weight in his last start; Rock Your World, who won the Pasadena Stakes on turf on Feb. 27; Parnelli, who was fifth in the Lewis; and Back Ring Luck and Ottothelegend, winners at Oaklawn Park in early March who have yet to start in a stakes.
Back Ring Luck was scheduled to join trainer John Sadler’s stable early this week, when an assessment on his status for the Santa Anita Derby will be made. Sadler trains the unbeaten Rock Your World, who has yet to start on dirt after winning his first two races on turf.
On Sunday, Rock Your World worked five furlongs in 59.20 seconds on dirt, the fastest of 76 works at the distance. Sadler said Rock Your World galloped out six furlongs in 1:12.80.
“He’s ready to run,” Sadler said.
Baffert plans to run Concert Tour and Hozier in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on April 10 at Oaklawn Park.
Up to 9,000 fans allowed
Fans will return to Santa Anita beginning Friday for the first time in more than a year, with the track mandating customers purchase admission tickets online in advance and follow familiar social-distancing protocols.
Tickets are available for $10 or $20 in groups of two, four, or six, and include admission, seats, parking, and a track program. Tickets can be purchased at santaanita.com/ open.
As many as 9,000 people will be allowed at the track under the Los Angeles County’s guidelines for outdoor sports, track officials said. Officials expect a sell-out for Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby program, which annually draws one of the larger ontrack crowds of the year.
Customers will be required to print tickets, or show a scanned version on a mobile phone, to gain admission.
Seats will be socially distanced, and face masks are required. Over the weekend, several sections of the grandstand had seats that were zip-tied closed to aid in social distancing.
Cashless food and beverage services will be available via a mobile phone ordering system. Betting will be available with mutuel tellers, but an emphasis will be placed on the use of voucher machines that will be cleaned frequently, said Nate Newby, Santa Anita’s general manager.
Santa Anita has not had a general audience since March 8, 2020. The track operated for five days of racing later that month with only essential track employees in attendance before the sport was deemed a nonessential business in the early days of the pandemic and halted by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health. Racing did not resume until mid-May of last year.
Since late September, with the start of the autumn meeting, Santa Anita has been allowed to host a few owners who have horses participating on that day.