For the third time in his career at Santa Anita, Prat won six races on a single card but on Saturday, he also finished second on his other four mounts. His six wins came for six different trainers.

After finishing second in the first race, he won the second race, a Maiden Special Weight for trainer Peter Eurton aboard Queen of Thorns. For trainer Ruben Alvarado in the third race, Prat was aboard Smuggler's Run for the win in a Maiden Special Weight. He finished second in the 4th race for trainer Doug O'Neill. Prat was back to his winning ways in the 5th, a Maiden Claiming event for trainer Steve Miyadi with Mad Steven.

Two second place finishes in stakes races followed: the Grade 2 Joe Hernandez riding for trainer Mark Glatt on Beer Can Man and in the G3 Sham on Rockefeller for Bob Baffert. The rest of the card belonged to Prat.

Trainer Richard Baltas gave a leg up to Prat on Luck in the G3 Robert J. Frankel. Off as the favorite in the field of seven, Luck rallied to the front in the final furlong to win by 3 1/4 lengths in 1:48.26 for the nine-furlong turf event.

His easiest win came next in the G3 La Canada for Bob Baffert aboard As Time Goes By. Sitting just off the pacesetting Park Avenue, As Time Goes By took command a quarter-mile from the finish and powered home by 13-1/2 lengths in 1:44.31 for the 1 1/16-mile race.

To put an exclamation point on the day, Prat won the 10th and final Allowance Optional Claiming race on Riding with Dino for trainer Bob Hess, Jr.

“I was picked on top in almost every race, so I guess I messed up a few,” Prat said, laughing to the Daily Racing Form. “I was picked so much, I had a lot of pressure.”

To end the weekend, Prat won two races on Sunday including the Blue Norther Stakes on Bellabel (IRE) for trainer Phil D'Amato.

Prat's weekly statistics were 27-10-9-3 with total purse earnings of $651,956 to top all riders.

Prat's competition for Jockey of the Week included Kendrick Carmouche who won three stakes races during the week, Tyler Gaffalione who also won three stakes races, Luis Saez with 12 wins for the week and John Velazquez who won the G3 Sham.

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Next to last at the rail leaving the clubhouse turn, Luck was unhurried in the run up the backside but Prat stepped on the gas mid-way around the far turn and she wheeled five-deep at the top of the lane en route to easily gaining command a furlong out and providing Prat with his fourth win on New Year's Day. He would go on to win two more, completing his day with victories aboard As Time Goes By in the G3 La Canada and Riding With Dino in the final race of the day, an allowance/optional claiming event.

Second, beaten a pair of heads in the G3 Red Carpet Handicap and the G1 Rodeo Drive Stakes on Nov. 25 and Oct. 2, Luck, in her fourth stateside start for Baltas, was off as 4-5 favorite in a field of seven older fillies and mares and paid $3.80, $2.80 and $2.10 in what was her first graded stakes win. Out of the Caerleon mare Gold Round, Luck is now 8-4-3-0 and with the winner's share of $60,000, she has earnings of $208,470.

“She's a very special filly,” said Baltas. “She got beat the last time because of the slow fractions. They weren't going too fast today, but she ran liked we knew she was capable of running. We are thankful to have a filly this good and thank the ownership of Jaime Roth and LNJ Foxwoods for this great opportunity. … We have to start looking at a Grade 1 race sooner or later for her.”

English-bred Bodhicitta, who sat third early, outdueled multiple G1 winner Mucho Unusual by a nose for second and paid $6.20 and $3.20 with Kent Desormeaux up at 7-1.

Ridden by John Velazquez, Mucho Unusual made the lead very briefly at the furlong pole and just missed the place, while finishing 2 ¾ lengths in front of pacesetter Moraz. Off as the second choice at 3-1, Mucho Unusual paid $2.40 to show.

Fractions on the race were 24.38, 49.26, 1:12.50 and 1:36.71.

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A soon-to-be 6-year-old California-bred mare by Mucho Macho Man out of Krikorian's Unusual Heat mare Not Unusual, Mucho Unusual, a Grade 1 winner and four-time overall graded stakes winner for trainer Tim Yakteen, is a remarkable 12-6-3-3 over the local turf and sports a 22-8-5-4 overall mark with earnings of $933,415.

Idle since prevailing by a nose at 3-5 in a mile and one eighth allowance here on Oct. 30, Mucho Unusual will be reunited with John Velazquez who guided her to her Robert J. Frankel victory five starts back.

Trainer Richard Baltas is well-armed with a pair of distaffers, LNJ Foxwoods' improving Luck and Calvin Nguyen's English-bred Bodhicitta.

A 4-year-old filly by Kitten's Joy, Luck was two for four in France at marathon distances prior to taking her U.S. debut for Baltas going a mile and one sixteenth on turf in a first condition allowance Aug. 7 at Del Mar. Subsequently second, beaten a head in her last two races, the G1 Rodeo Drive at a mile and one quarter on turf here Oct. 2 and in the G3 Red Carpet Handicap at 1 3/8 miles on grass Nov. 25 at Del Mar, Luck has been knocking on the door and will hope to barrel through with Flavien Prat back aboard for the third consecutive time on Saturday.

Winless in her last six starts, the most recent a sixth place finish in the G1 Matriarch at one mile on turf Nov. 28, Bodhicitta will hope to be flying from off the pace under Kent Desormeaux.

THE GRADE 3 ROBERT J. FRANKEL STAKES WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 8 of 10 Approximate post time 3:30 p.m. PT

1. Bodhicitta—Kent Desormeaux—121
2. Mucho Unusual—John Velazquez—123
3. England's Rose—Victor Espinoza—123
4. Moraz—Juan Hernandez—121
5. Sloane Garden—Kyle Frey—121
6. Global Brand—Umberto Rispoli—121
7. Luck—Flavien Prat—121

Special early first post time for a 10-race card including four graded stakes, is at 12 noon. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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The day's feature is the eighth local running of the Red Carpet Handicap, a marathon of a mile and three eighths that will be contested on the Jimmy Durante Turf Course. The Grade 3 test is for fillies and mares and has brought out five long-winded distaffers who'll be shooting for the lionesses' share of the $100,000 purse.

Three of the five runners have European backgrounds and one of them, L N J Foxwoods' Luck, figures to go favored off her two sharp efforts this year since coming stateside. The 4-year-old daughter of the top American grass sire Kitten's Joy smartly won an allowance race at Del Mar in August, then came back on Oct. 2 in the Grade 1 Rodeo Drive Stakes at Santa Anita to just miss to the multiple-stakes winner Going to Vegas.

Luck, who previously had won twice in France from four starts, will be handled Thursday by leading rider Flavien Prat. She currently trains out of the barn of Hall of Fame conditioner Richard Mandella.

Here's the full lineup for the headliner from the rail out with riders and weights:

1. West Point Thoroughbreds, Mercedes Stables or Mooney, et al's England's Rose (Victor Espinoza, 120 pounds)
2. Luck (121)
3. Madaket Stables, De Seroux or Naify, et al's Neige Blanche (Juan Hernandez, 121)
4. Ryan, Drown or Team Hanley's Single Soul (Joe Bravo, 115)
5. Katsumi Yoshida's Nicest (Umberto Rispoli, 117)

Neige Blanche finished fourth in the Rodeo Drive in her most recent try. The French-bred 4-year-old by the Irish sire Anodin captured the CTT & TOC overnight handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 14 at the same 11-furlong distance on grass as the Red Carpet. Earlier this year she won the Grade 3 Santa Barbara Sakes at a mile and one-half on the grass at Santa Anita.

England's Rose comes into the affair off two straight wins, the most recent being the Swingtime overnight stakes at Santa Anita. Her previous victory was at a mile and three eights on the lawn at Del Mar on Sept. 3.

Single Soul is in from the east coast to try her luck Thursday. She was an allowance winner at Belmont Park on Oct. 22 in her most recent effort.

Nicest was a distant fourth in the Grade 1 Queen Elizabeth II Cup at Keeneland Oct. 16 in her first U.S. outing. The 3-year-old by American Pharoah had been taking on stakes horses in England and Ireland prior to that.

The early Thanksgiving card will be the first of four days of racing going through Sunday, Nov. 28 that will served as the climax to` the 2021 Bing Crosby Season. First post on the other three programs will be at 12:20 p.m.

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That combination, both natives of England, will be seeking a second score in the $100,000 Grade 3 Red Carpet, a 1 3/8-mile race for older fillies and mares on Thanksgiving Day. It's the first of seven graded stakes which make up the four-day Turf Festival to end the Bing Crosby Season.

Single Soul, a 3-year-old English-bred daughter of Dubawi, notched her second win in six career starts in a Belmont Park allowance race on October 22 and has been training since at Motion's facility in Fair Hill, Maryland. The most recent work was Saturday, five furlongs in 1:03 breezing.

Single Soul is scheduled to journey here on Tuesday. Clapham has been at Del Mar since before the Breeders' Cup earlier this month.

“I haven't heard anything about the work, but (Motion) must have been happy with it or he wouldn't have entered her,” Clapham said this morning. “I've been around her before and she's a really sweet filly. She hasn't traveled before but she seems quite sensible, so you'd think she will be OK with it.”

Single Soul had a forgettable debut for trainer Chad Brown on a yielding surface at Belmont a year ago. In five starts for Motion, she has never been off the board, notching a maiden win at Belmont Park in June and the 1 1/8-mile allowance there as an odds-on favorite in a field of six last month.

The Red Carpet will be her first race at the stakes level.

“We think she'll like the longer distance and we know she likes firmer turf,” Clapham said. “You can't really get that in New York right now, so this looks like a nice spot. Graham is sending out some for other races as well, so it kind of works out.”

A field of five was entered Saturday for the Red Carpet. From the rail out with riders in parentheses: England's Rose (Victor Espinoza); Luck (Flavien Prat); Neige Blanche (Juan Hernandez); Single Soul (Joe Bravo), and Nicest (Umberto Rispoli).

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Going to Vegas, a 4-year-old Goldencents filly got out early in the 1 1/4-mile turf race, and quickly got to the rail under jockey Umberto Rispoli, and she crossed over from the downhill course to the main oval ahead of Dogtag on the inside and longshot Neige Blanche on her outside hip.

Going to Vegas held a comfortable 1 1/2-length lead over Neige Blanche after an opening quarter-mile in :24.35 seconds, and she maintained that margin as the field went past the finish for the first time. The top three positions went unchanged as they headed into the backstretch, with Rispoli keeping Going to Vegas under light restraint.

The race started to percolate after the three-quarters mark in 1:13.49, with jockey Flavien Prat starting to rouse Luck from the middle of the field. Luck got up to third place behind Going to Vegas and Neige Blanche heading into the final turn, and she was in second after a mile in 1:36.35.

Rispoli started urging Going to Vegas in the straightaway with a right-handed crop, as they worked to hold off a pair of LNJ Foxwoods-owned runners in ground-saving Dogtag and outside-moving Luck.

Luck was gaining ground on Going to Vegas as the wire approached, but she ran out of time and real estate, finishing a head behind the winner. Stablemate Dogtag carried on for third.

Going to Vegas stopped the clock in 1:58.84 over a fast main track. She paid $4.20 as the post-time favorite.

Richard Baltas trains Going to Vegas for owners Abbondanza Racing, Medallion Racing, and MyRacehorse. Saturday's victory improved the filly's record to seven wins in 22 starts for earnings of $634,151.

Bred in Kentucky by J. Kirk and Judy Robison, Going to Vegas is out of the stakes-winning Johannesburg mare Hard to Resist.

To view the Equibase chart, click here.

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Dogtag will carry the same navy and gold colors, but hails from the Richard Mandella barn. A three-time listed stakes winner, she has been knocking at the door of a graded victory for some time. The gray has been second in her last four starts, including the Aug. 7 GII Yellow Ribbon H. and Sept. 4 GII John C. Mabee S. at Del Mar.

John Mabee winner Going to Vegas (Goldencents) runs back here as well. Runner-up in the GI American Oaks last term, the bay won the GIII Santa Ana S. Mar. 27 and was fifth in the May 31 GI Gamely S., but rebounded with an optional claimer win at Del Mar July 16.

Also exiting the Mabee is Brazilian import Fast Jet Court (Brz) (Courtier), who was making her American bow when fourth in that event.

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A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Goldencents, Going to Vegas comes off a rousing 2 ¼ length win going a mile and one eighth on turf in the Grade 2 John C. Mabee Stakes at Del Mar Sept. 4, a race in which she pressed the early pace and kicked clear through the lane as the 9-5 favorite.

Owned by Abbondanza Racing, LLC, Medallion Racing and MyRacehorse, Going to Vegas has a win and a second place finish from two tries at a mile and one quarter. Claimed for $50,000 12 starts back on June 12, 2020, she's banked $242,400 this year from five starts and has overall earnings of $454,151. With an overall mark of 21-6-8-2, she'll be seeking her first Grade 1 victory.

Second in her last four starts, including the John C. Mabee on Sept. 4, LNJ Foxwoods' homebred Dogtag has two wins and three third place finishes from five starts over the Santa Anita lawn and she has a win and a second from two tries at the Rodeo Drive distance. A 5-year-old mare by War Front, she's trained by Richard Mandella and will be ridden by Joe Bravo.

LNJ Foxwoods will have another homebred, Luck, in the Rodeo Drive lineup fresh off a most impressive U.S. debut going a mile and one sixteenth on turf in a first condition allowance Aug. 7 at Del Mar. A 4-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Kitten's Joy, Luck won two out of her four starts in France before joining the barn of Richard Baltas this past summer. Ridden to victory by Umberto Rispoli at Del Mar, she'll be handled by Flavien Prat on Saturday and she has the look of a filly very much on the improve.

Trainer Leonard Powell's 4-year-old French-bred Neige Blanche, a winner of the Grade 3 Santa Barbara Stakes here three races back, comes off an ungraded stakes win going a mile and three eighths on turf at Del Mar Aug. 14 and would be well served by a fast early pace. Owned by Madaket Stables, LLC, Marsha Naify, et al, she'll be ridden back by Juan Hernandez.

THE GRADE 1 RODEO DRIVE WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGHTS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 9 of 11 Approximate post time 4:30 p.m. PT

1. Dogtag—Joe Bravo—122
2. Fast Jet Court—Drayden Van Dyke–124
3. Neige Blanche—Juan Hernandez—124
4. Going to Vegas—Umberto Rispoli—124
5. Rideforthecause—Mario Gutierrez—122
6. Crystalle—Abel Cedillo—122
7. Magic Attitude—John Velazquez—124
8. Luck—Flavien Prat—122
9. Red Lark—Mike Smith–122

The Rodeo Drive is one of five stakes on an 11-race card Saturday with first post time at 12:30 p.m. For additional information, please visit santaanita.com or call (626) 574-RACE.

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The news was first reported by the Daily Racing Form's Jay Privman, who quoted friends as saying that Canani had been suffering from dementia and had recently contracted COVID-19.

He was 16 when he came to America, and worked for a landscape company before heading to the racetrack and taking a job with trainer Tommy Doyle. He took out his own license in 1968. He won the 1989 GI Santa Anita H. with Martial Law, the 1999 and 2001 GI Breeders' Cup Mile with Silic (Fr) and Val Royal (Fr), and the 2004 GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies with Sweet Catomine, among numerous other top stakes races on the California circuit.

Val Royal's owner, David Milch, based a character in his HBO series LUCK on Canani; the trainer Turo Escalante was played by actor John Ortiz.

Canani was remembered as a colorful, flamboyant character by those who worked with him. “His horses were well trained,” said Victor Espinoza, who won the GI Eddie Read H. at Del Mar in 2004 aboard the Canani-trained Special Ring. “I always knew they would be 100% going into the race. It was fun to work with Julio Canani.”

Fun, certainly–but Canani also wasn't one to keep his feelings hidden, said Espinoza. “For me, that's what I always liked about him, that he wasn't afraid to share what he thought,” he added. “That's how the old-school trainers were.”

Added veteran California handler Eddie Truman: “He was a Damon Runyon type, wasn't he?”

Truman remembered Canani from his early days as a groom for trainer Hurst Philpot, when future handler Ross Fenstermaker was an exercise rider there.

“I don't think either one could speak the other's language, but they always knew how to go to the windows! He loved to gamble, boy that's for sure. What a character, and what a horseman.”

Jeff Siegel raced horses with Canani dating back to Martial Law in 1989.

“He was very loose with the truth but in a good, funny way,” said Siegel. “I once had a first-time starter with him, and she was 30-1. I didn't know too much about her. I said, 'Julio, can she run?' And he said, 'not really–she's a router not a sprinter. She's going to need the race. Maybe down the road after she's had a few races, she'll be okay.'

“Anyway, she got beat a neck or something, and I was thrilled because I was cold-watered by the guy,” Siegel continued. “I told him I was delighted. He said, “I wasn't–I'd singled her in the pick six.' He couldn't even tell me the truth! He was a very, very, very good trainer–especially good with fillies. He never really got the chance to have a big horse–I think he would have been great if he'd gotten that chance, but he lived a life that movies are made out of.”

Former jockey Corey Nakatani, who rode Sweet Catomine to victory in the 2004 Juvenile Fillies, describes Canani as “one of the last of the great horsemen.”

“He worked hard for what he got. He started life selling carrots and ended up a world class horseman,” said Nakatani. “We had a tremendous amount of success together. I believed in what he was doing and he believed in me.”

His career was forever tarnished in 2015 when he was suspended for 13 months for conduct detrimental to racing after a California jury found him liable for fraud over the sale of horses for owner Jeff Nielsen of Everest Stables, who was awarded over $80,000 in damages stemming from the suit. Canani trained Island Fashion (Petionville) for Nielsen. Canani applied for reinstatement in 2016, but was denied a license by the California Horse Racing Board.

According to Equibase, Canani's runners won 1,137 races and $49,274,820 in earnings.

Divorced from his first wife, Jane, Canani is survived by their two children, Lisa and Nick, as well as his current wife, Svetlana and their two children, Isabella and Alexander. He is also survived by two grandchildren and one great grandchild.

There are no funeral services planned at this time, but the Canani family has requested donations be made to the Edwin J. Gregson Foundation.

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