On Wednesday, Dec. 29, Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pa. will have a mandatory distribution of the Philly Big 5 carryover jackpot.
The current carryover jackpot is $389,290.12 going into Wednesday's ten-race card.
Post time is 12:10 p.m. ET.
The Philly Big 5 will begin in Race 6.
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With substantial rain forecast for Southern California later this week, Santa Anita Park has proactively cancelled racing for Thursday, Dec. 30.
Live racing will return Friday, Dec. 31, but the three turf stakes races slated for that day have been moved to the weekend when the weather should be much improved.
The Grade 3 Robert J. Frankel now will be run on Saturday, Jan. 1, with the two 2-year-old turf stakes (Eddie Logan & Blue Norther) to be held on Sunday, Jan. 2.
With six races shifted from turf to dirt, resulting in 10 program scratches, business prospects for Santa Anita's 85th Winter/Spring Meet opener were a bit subdued on Sunday, but business was indeed brisk. With $2.3 million wagered on-track, total pari-mutuel handle was $19.4 million, making it the third-best Opening Day handle ever.
“We really want to thank the fans for supporting us and the horsemen for going with the changes and participating,” said Santa Anita Senior Vice President and General Manager, Nate Newby. “Although it didn't rain yesterday, we had over 4 ½ inches of rain in the five days leading into Sunday, so the decision was made to come off the turf.
“I want to acknowledge the great job Dennis Moore and his team did yesterday in having the main track in tremendous shape. We had great racing and some great performances, just a fabulous day.”
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Seven horses are entered in the Grade 1, $300,000 Runhappy Malibu Stakes, one of six stakes races, all graded, which make up the opening day card for the 2021-'22 meet at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif.
In terms of earnings, Dr. Schivel tops the group with $876,000 banked to date, much of it earned last month when second and beaten a nose in the G1 Breeders' Cup Sprint against older horses. Prior to that, Dr. Schivel won the G2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship and the G1 Bing Crosby Stakes to prove he belongs in this race.
Stilleto Boy also ran in a race on that star-studded card but didn't fare nearly as well when fifth of eight in the G1 Breeders' Cup Classic, with his best effort of the year coming when second in the G1 Awesome Again Stakes at Santa Anita one month earlier.
Next in terms of accomplishments is invader Timeless Bounty, who has earned $210,714 in his career and who just pulled off the 59-1 upset in the $250,000 Steel Valley Sprint Stakes one month ago at Mahoning Valley in Ohio.
Baby Yoda won three of his first four starts including a pair of impressive efforts at Saratoga this summer. At this level, however, he did not fare so well, finishing third in the G2 Vosburgh Stakes before a seventh-place effort as the heavy favorite in the Steel Valley Sprint.
Team Merchants won the non-graded Let It Ride Stakes on the turf last month and has won two of five on dirt but his two previous tries in graded stakes resulted in fourth and 13th-place finishes.
Last but absolutely not least are a pair of horses who are undefeated in two starts to date and who are running in a stakes for the first time. One of those is Flightline, with an average winning margin of 13 lengths in his two wins. The other is Triple Tap, a half-brother to champion and Triple Crown winner American Pharoah. Triple Tap has won his two starts by a combined 6 1/2 lengths and appears to be a horse with an exceptionally bright future.
Win contender:
There is no discussion about this race that does not involve Flightline winning, and possibly dominating, this year's Runhappy Malibu Stakes. I cannot ever recall a 3- year-old doing what this colt has done in his two starts to date. In his debut in April, Flightline was bumped at the start and found himself sixth of eight and about 1 1/2 lengths from the leader. After a sixteenth of a mile had been run, Flightline had taken the lead and by the time the field hit the stretch he was in front by 10 lengths, eventually drawing off to win by 13 1/4 lengths. For that effort, Flightline earned a virtually unheard of 116 Equibase Speed Figure which at that time of year would have high enough to win a graded stakes.
Away from the races for a little over four months after that, Flightline relaxed in second for the first quarter mile and then won by nearly 13 lengths, this time earning a grade 1 figure of 130. To put that kind of effort into perspective, Breeders' Cup Sprint winner Aloha West earned a 110 figure and Breeders' Cup Classic winner Knicks Go earned a 118 figure. Even impressive Breeders' Cup Mile winner Life is Good (120 figure) did not run as fast as Flightline did in that effort on September 5.
Rested almost four months this time, Flightline has been working out strongly every six to eight days since October 31, including three straight workouts that were the best of the morning from among 28, 57 and 41 horses that day. Jockey Flavien Prat, who rode Flightline to victory in both starts, also rode Dr. Schivel to win four straight races and to a nose defeat in the Breeders' Cup Sprint but chooses Flightline in the Malibu. Prat also rode Triple Tap to both of his impressive wins and chooses Flightline.
Going back to how fast Flightline has run in his two starts to date, comparing those efforts to the rest of the Malibu field, even the 116 figure Flightline earned in his maiden win in April is faster than the best figure any other horse in the field has earned this year, and if he repeats the 130 figure effort from September, and even if horses like Triple Tap (107 last race figure and Dr. Schivel (112 and 110 figures in his last two races) improve off those recent efforts, it is going to be very difficult to beat Flightline in this race.
The rest of the field, with their best Equibase Speed Figures, is Baby Yoda (111), Dr. Schivel (112), Stilleto Boy (106), Team Merchants (109), Timeless Bounty (100) and Triple Tap (107).
The horse to beat in this year's Malibu Stakes is Flightline.
If you are looking for a horse to come on strongly in the late stages and to finish second or third, the best options appear to be Dr. Schivel, Team Merchants and Timeless Bounty.
Runhappy Malibu Stakes – Grade 1
Race 10 at Santa Anita
Sunday, December 26, 2021 – Post Time 6:49 PM E.T.
Seven Furlongs
Three Year Olds
Purse: $300,000
Ellis Starr is national racing analyst for Equibase
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The 20-cent Rainbow 6 gross jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $750,000 for Sunday's day-after-Christmas program at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.
The popular multi-race wager has gone unsolved for 10 racing days in a row since a jackpot of $407,067.66 was taken down by one lucky bettor Dec. 10.
The Rainbow 6 jackpot is paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.
Sunday's Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 6-11, including the $100,000 Tropical Park Derby in Race 10. Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher is scheduled 8-5 morning-line favorite saddle Never Surprised for the 1 1/16-mile turf stakes for 3-year-olds.
Never Surprised, a son of 2014 Florida Derby (G1) winner Constitution, who has never finished worse than second in six career starts, is coming off a front-running 6 ½-length victory in the Gio Ponti Stakes at Aqueduct. In his previous start, he came up a head short of winning the Hill Prince (G2) at Belmont Park.
Kelly Breen-trained Yes This Time, a winner of four races in a row, including the English Channel, last season at Gulfstream; Patrick McBurney-trained Mohs, winner of the Hawthorne Derby; and Phil Serpe-trained Safe Conduct, the Gio Ponti runner-up; are among the leading contenders.
Earlier on Sunday's program, Charles Fipke's Lady Speightspeare will seek to extend her career undefeated streak to five races in the mile turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Trained by Roger Attfield, Lady Speightspeare has tasted graded-stakes success in the Natalma (G1) and the Bessarabian (G2) at Woodbine.
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