From Florida and from Louisiana, Locked and Hit Show have been sent West to take their chances at winning the $300,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) at Santa Anita Park on Saturday.
And those chances look good, at least according to the morning line, which lists 4-year-old Locked as the 3-2 favorite and 5-year-old Hit Show as the 5-2 second betting choice.
The decisions by top trainers Todd Pletcher (Locked) and Brad Cox (Hit Show) to go West are somewhat unusual since the Big ‘Cap has been dominated by West Coast trainers, most notably Bob Baffert, who has six wins, including last year with Newgate.
Locked. Coady Photo.
A field of nine is entered for what was once among racing’s most prestigious events for older horses. It has lost some of its luster, but it will be a challenge for handicappers deciding whether these Eastern invaders can deliver against a pair of Baffert runners, Mirahmadi (6-1) and New King (8-1), a duo from Doug O’Neill, J B Strikes Back (30-1) and Katonah (8-1), and John Shirreffs-trained Express Train (10-1).
The 88th running of the Big ‘Cap at 1 ¼ miles is one of four major stakes on the card – the others are the San Felipe (G2), a Kentucky Derby (G1) points qualifier (50-25-15-10-5 to the first five finishers), the Kilroe Mile (G1) on turf, and the Buena Vista (G2) for fillies and mares on turf.
Locked ran second in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) in his 4-year-old debut on Jan. 25. In 2024, the Gun Runner colt won the Cigar Mile (G2) at Aqueduct in December.
He closed out his 2-year-old campaign by winning the Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland and then running third in the BC Juvenile (G1). He was sidelined most of 2024 but returned in October to win an allowance race at Aqueduct before taking the Cigar Mile. Jockey Jose Ortiz travels West, too, to ride.
Hit Show gets the services of Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat. The Candy Ride colt rallied to win the Louisiana Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds on Jan. 18, his fourth graded stakes victory.
The locals are led by Mirahmadi, a recent allowance winner by 4½ lengths and recent Grade 2 winners Katonah and J B Strikes Back. Eight-year-old Express Train, most recently second in the San Pasqual (G2), won the Big ‘Cap in 2022.
Post time for the race is 7:47 p.m. ET.
For those who bet horse racing …
The Picks: 1 Locked 2 Mirahmadi 3 Express Train
The field for the $300,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1), from the rail out, with jockey, trainer, odds:
1 Express Train (Hector Berrios, John Shirreffs), 10-1
2 New King (Mike Smith, Bob Baffert), 8-1
3 Hit Show (Flavien Prat, Brad Cox), 5-2
4 J B Strikes Back (Antonio Fresu, Doug O’Neill), 30-1
5 Mirahmadi (Juan Hernandez, Bob Baffert), 6-1
6 Katonah (Tiago Pereira, Doug O’Neill), 8-1
7 Locked (Jose Ortiz, Todd Pletcher), 3-2
8 Midnight Mammoth (Armando Ayuso, Craig Dollase), 30-1
9 Tarantino (Edwin Maldonado, Peter Eurton), 12-1