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Santa Anita To Introduce ‘Sunshine Bonus’

In an effort to attract out-of-state horses to run at its winter/spring meet, officials at Santa Anita have announced the introduction of the ‘Sunshine Bonus.’ The bonus offers $3,000 of guaranteed money paid to the owners of eligible horses making their first starts at Santa Anita, excluding stakes races and debuting horses.

“Along with the 10% raise in our average daily purse distribution–which now totals $533,000–we’re hopeful this new Sunshine Bonus program will help to attract horses that have not run in California over the past 12 months,” said Chris Merz, Santa Anita’s Director of Racing. “This is a very significant enticement to train and race at what we believe is a magnificent year-round facility.”

Merz added that sizeable bonuses will also be paid to those same horses depending on where they finish in their first starts at Santa Anita.

“Excluding stakes and first-time starters, the Sunshine Bonus will also offer a 35% bonus to the owners of those horses finishing first through fifth in their first starts here,” Merz explained. “So for instance, if a horse ships in and wins a $61,000 maiden special weight race, the owner will not only receive the standard winner’s share of $36,600, [they will] get the first time Santa Anita starter bonus of $3,000 as well as the 35%.

“This adds up to total money-won of $52,410 in a $61,000 race. The numbers speak for themselves and we’re hoping horsemen nationwide will take this into account when they consider sending horses here this winter and spring.”

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Churchill Downs To Install New Turf Course

A new $10-million turf course that will widen the running surface and increase durability to allow for an increased number of races will be installed at Churchill Downs following the Spring 2021 meet at the historic Louisville oval. Officials expect that the new course will be ready for use in the Spring of 2022, but did not rule out the possibility that turf racing could resume in November 2021.

The current Matt Winn Turf Course is a seven-eighths mile oval situated inside the dirt track and has been in use since the introduction of turf racing in 1985. It is comprised of four-inch high Kentucky 31 Fescue (90%) and Bluegrass (10%) grown in a three-inch topsoil layer over a 13-inch course masonry sand base.

The new and more robust turf course will be a similar blend of fescue and bluegrass and will have a redesigned subsurface. The growing medium will contain a six-inch upper root zone layer created with a blended mix of topsoil and grit sand which will sit on a six-inch lower sand layer constructed with masonry sand. Churchill Downs planted several test plots in the spring of 2019 and selected the best for use in the new turf course.

A state-of-the-art irrigation and drainage system and will be widened to 85 feet. The new course will allow for a variety of rail positions from 0 to 36 feet and will accommodate a field size of up to 14 horses.

Because of the project, there will be no stabling at Churchill in July and August 2021 and no racing will take place in September 2021 so as to allow for the turf course to take hold.

Of the 700 races staged annually at Churchill, approximately 25% are written for the grass. In 2019, there were 169 races carded for the turf, but 43 of those were transferred to the main track due to weather and/or sub-optimal turf conditions. Officials at Churchill were forced to cancel turf racing for the final two weeks of the current meeting.

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Baffert Unveils Another Into Mischief Monster

With likely Horse of the Year Authentic (Into Mischief) recently retired to stud, the Bob Baffert barn wasted no time unveiling its next speedy superstar by the nation’s leading sire as CHC Inc. and WinStar Farm LLC’s Life is Good (Into Mischief) demolished his competition to become a no-brainer ‘TDN Rising Star’. The bay prepped for this with a head-turning 1:00 flat (1-of-51) gate breeze last Saturday (XBTV Video), and drifted up to 1-5 at the off after spending much of the betting cycle at 1-9. Zipping off to lead them by open lengths through speedy splits of :21.80 and :44.84, he was always in complete control and streaked home 9 1/2 lengths clear in 1:15.50 while flashing similar brilliance to the same ownership group’s undefeated monster Nashville (Speightstown). Fellow firster Wipe the Slate (Nyquist) was second best.

The winner, who was a $525,000 KEESEP yearling, is bred on the same cross as MGISW and promising young sire Practical Joke (Into Mischief). His dam, herself a $435,000 September buy, never won in five tries but hit the board in maiden special weights in both Kentucky and Arkansas. She has a yearling filly by Blame and was bred back to Candy Ride (Arg).

Life Is Good’s second dam is SW and MGISP Bonnie Blue Flag (Mineshaft), who sold for $1.5 million in 2011 but just $15,000 last November in foal to California Chrome at the age of 12 after having little success with her produce on the track. Bonnie Blue Flag is a half to MGISW and group producer Diamondrella (GB) (Rock of Gibraltar {Ire}).

2nd-Del Mar, $57,000, Msw, 11-22, 2yo, 6 1/2f, 1:15.50, ft, 9 1/2 lengths.
LIFE IS GOOD, c, 2, Into Mischief
                1st Dam: Beach Walk, by Distorted Humor
                2nd Dam: Bonnie Blue Flag, by Mineshaft
                3rd Dam: Tap Your Feet, by Dixieland Band
Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $34,200. Click for the Equibase.com chart or VIDEO, sponsored by Fasig-Tipton. Free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
O-CHC INC. & WinStar Farm LLC; B-Gary & Mary West Stables Inc. (KY); T-Bob Baffert. *$525,000 Ylg ’19 KEESEP.

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Woodbine Cancels Remainder of Sunday Card Due to Inclement Weather

Shortly after announcing that the final three weeks of its Thoroughbred meet would be cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, Woodbine was forced to cancel races seven through 13 on Sunday’s card due to inclement weather, effectively ending the meet. Among the races cancelled Sunday were renewals of the GIII Grey S. for 2-year-old males and GIII Mazarine S. for juvenile fillies.

In a brief statement, Woodbine said, “Woodbine Racetrack was forced to cancel the remainder of its live Thoroughbred racing program on Sunday, Nov. 22 following the sixth race due to inclement weather conditions in the Toronto area. For the safety of the horses, participants and staff, races seven through 13 were cancelled as a result of the inclement weather, including accumulating snow and forecasted fluctuating temperatures and mixed precipitation.”

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