MIKE SMITH THE BIG WINNER AT SANTA ANITA OPENING DAY

Veteran jockey Mike Smith was the big winner on opening day at Santa Anita with four stakes wins on the card. This feat pushed him ahead of Jerry Bailey for the most stakes wins in Grade One races (217). That win came aboard OMAHA BEACH in the Malibu Stakes for three-year olds. Omaha Beach had to be scratched from the Kentucky Derby with a throat issue, so he could be a live challenger for the Pegasus Cup in Florida on January 25^th. Unfortunately that will be his final race before retiring to stud which is a real shame for the fans who deserve to see these fine equine athletes stick around a bit longer than they do.

Smith, who is now 54 years old should be able to hang around for at least five years as long as the veteran trainers who support him stick with him. His ride on Omaha Beach was one of his easier victories as he was able to maintain a handy ride the entire seven furlongs to win by over two lengths as the 2-5 favorite.

The new Santa Anita meeting runs through June 21^st and over 35,000 fans showed up on a perfect day following rain storms that had occurred a couple of days previously. The important message for the track was the lack of injuries and fatalities on the day, a welcome respite on what was the worst year in the track’s 85 year history. However, there had been a fatality on the training track on Boxing Day when a three-year-old gelding called Truest Reward broke a leg.

Getting back to the racing, a horse we covered in our last report on the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar won again as the 6-5 favorite, that horse being the rapidly improving MO FORZA. This time around he captured The Mathis Mile, a race named after a furniture store, not the legendary crooner Johnny Mathis. Trainer of this budding turf superstar is Peter Miller and the winning jockey was Joel Rosario.

GIFT BOX had a repeat win in the San Antonio Stakes and again the winning jockey was Joel Rosario. Trainer John Sadler announced after the race that the future seven-year-old will be back next year to race.

LADY PRANCEALOT was the winning favorite in the $300,000 American Oaks, a holdover race from the defunct Hollywood Park. The three-year-old filly was ridden by Joe Bravo for local trainer Richard Baltas.