In addition to the Plush Toy Horse, opening day fans also received a water bottle or a Mathis Mile Hat.  With 100 percent of the proceeds going directly to CARMA, this event was a huge success and Mathis and Santa Anita Park have already committed to doing the same promotion next year.

“We're thrilled to have raised $25,000 for CARMA, a non-profit organization that will ensure each racehorse has a bright future after racing,” said Bill Mathis, president of Mathis Brothers.  “Together with the thousands of fans who participated on Santa Anita's opening day, Mathis Brothers is proud to have helped put the horse first.”

For his part, Santa Anita senior vice president and general manager Nate Newby echoed the sentiments expressed by Bill Mathis.

“We can't thank our fans and Mathis Brothers enough for their tremendous support of Thoroughbred aftercare,” said Newby.  “Each dollar raised from this promotion is going directly to CARMA to support the rehabilitation, retraining and retirement of California-raced Thoroughbreds.”

The Grade 2 Mathis Mile, which was transferred from turf to the main track on opening day, was won by the Michael McCarthy-trained Law Professor who paid $10.20 under Jose Ortiz.  Owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables, LLC, Law Professor got one mile on a fast track in 1:37.41.

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The American Oaks, won by Queen Goddess, drew 11 entries. Only one original entry was scratched from the race, and it was not surface-related.

The committee also reinstated the Grade 2 standing for the Santa Anita Mathis Mile Stakes, run the same day as the American Oaks. Law Professor won the race in a field of eight. One horse, Zoffarelli, scratched because of the surface change.

A third stakes run Dec. 26, the San Gabriel, will remain a Grade 3 race for 2021 after automatically being downgraded from Grade 2 when it was taken off the turf. Three of the original seven entries were scratched after the surface change, including morning line favorite Hit the Road.

The AGS Committee will meet Jan. 26-27 to assign grades for 2022. The timing is a departure from previous years when the committee would meet in early December, assessing races run after the previous year's Breeders' Cup through the current year's Breeders' Cup.

The new schedule permits the committee to assess races for the entire calendar year.

Andy Schweigardt, TOBA's senior director of industry relations and development and the secretary of the AGS Committee, said, “The committee made the change to a calendar year for its statistical measurements so that the important Grade 1 and Grade 2 races conducted after the Breeders' Cup and before Dec. 31 could be included in the grading session workbooks in a timelier manner. Under the former Breeders' Cup to Breeders' Cup statistical year, a race run Thanksgiving weekend and the stats earned by the horses in it would not be reflected in the workbooks until a year later.”

Schweigardt said the 2022 grades are expected to be announced Jan. 28 and will cover the period from Feb. 1, 2022, through Jan. 31, 2023.

For more information on how the grading process works, click here.

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Trained by Michael McCarthy, Law Professor, who came off a five-month freshening to rally and win a first condition allowance going a mile on turf Nov. 27 at Del Mar, was off at 4-1 in a field of nine sophomores and paid $10.20, $4.60 and $3.20.

Owned by Twin Creeks Racing Stables, LLC, Law Professor, who was making his second graded stakes start, tracked Beyond Brilliant to the far turn, and drew alongside a quarter mile from home in a hard-earned victory.  Law Professor, a colt by Constitution, now has three wins from seven starts and with the winner's share of $120,000, increased his earnings to $226,640.

A winner of the G1 Hollywood Derby in his most recent start, Beyond Brilliant was off at 7-5  and paid $3.20 and $2.60 while finishing some 8 ½ lengths clear of Tarantino.

Off at 8-1 with Juan Hernandez up, Tarantino paid $5.20 to show.

Fractions on the race were 23.26, 46.65, 1:10.95 and 1:23.62.

“I thought he was much better than what he showed,” said Ortiz. “When he made the lead he started wandering around, he didn't give me one hundred percent. I think he's a little bit better than what he showed today. I was showing my rein to change it up and keep his attention. When I did that he responded well, I caught his attention and kept doing that to the wire.”

“He is a little bit on the difficult side,” said McCarthy. “He hasn't quite totally figured it out yet.  I thought his last win at Del Mar was very professional. I was looking forward to running him on the grass today, I also thought about running him on the dirt at Los Alamitos. I thought he broke well here when he broke his maiden, but he really hasn't put it all together yet, when he does, I think it will be very exciting. It's great to have a horse that is as versatile as him, I don't know what it holds for him just yet but after what we saw today we may think about putting a little blinker back on him. We have a lot of options at play, it's very exciting.”

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In what was the best race of his career, Beyond Brilliant controlled the pace throughout en route to taking the G1 Hollywood Derby at a mile and one eighth on turf Nov. 27 at Del Mar. Off at 10-1 in a field of 14, Beyond Brilliant, who was a close third two starts back in the G2 Twilight Derby here on Oct. 31, has now won two out of his last three races—all with Kent Desormeaux, who rides back on Sunday.

A bay colt by Twirling Candy, Beyond Brilliant is owned by Lee and Susan Searing's C R K Stable LLC and is 9-3-2-2 with earnings of $381,280.

Originally trained by Baffert, Du Jour was sent to trainer Bill Mott to run in the G1 Belmont Derby July 10, a race in which he finished fourth. Subsequently third in the G1 Saratoga Derby Aug. 7, he was most recently a dull eighth as the 9-5 favorite in the ungraded Dueling Downs Derby going 1 5/16 miles on turf Sept. 5 at Kentucky Downs. Following that race, Du Jour was returned to Baffert at Santa Anita and the bay colt by Temple City has a series of six drills, all on Santa Anita's inner training track, for his return.

Twin Creeks Racing's homebred Law Professor comes off a sharp off the pace win in a first condition allowance going one mile on turf Nov. 27 at Del Mar and appears to have found a home on the grass. Trained by Michael McCarthy, this gelding by Constitution earned an 85 Beyer in his most recent start and should get a lively pace to run at on Sunday.

THE GRADE 2 SANTA ANITA MATHIS MILE WITH JOCKEYS & WEIGTHS IN POST POSITION ORDER

Race 7 of 11 Approximate post time 2 p.m. PT

1. None Above the Law—Joe Bravo—124
2. Tarantino—Juan Hernandez—120
3. Airman—Umberto Rispoli—120
4. Zoffarelli—Drayden Van Dyke–122
5. Cane Creek Road—Victor Espinoza—120
6. Flashiest—Abel Cedillo—122
7. Du Jour—Flavien Prat–122
8. Beyond Brilliant—Kent Desormeaux—124
9. Law Professor—Jose Ortiz—120

One of six graded stakes on Sunday, the Santa Anita Mathis Mile has been carded as the seventh race on an 11-race Opening Day program which gets underway at 11 a.m. Admission gates open at 9 a.m.

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