At the Santa Anita spring meet, the race for leading jockey has come down to the wire. Juan Hernandez holds a narrow one-win lead over Antonio Fresu heading into the closing day on Sunday. Hernandez, a 32-year-old native of Veracruz, secured his lead by achieving his third consecutive hat trick on Saturday. His victories included rides on Hardmoneymuchachos ($4) for trainer Peter Miller, Runamileinmyshoes ($4.60) for trainer Jeff Mullins, and Hope Road ($3.20) for trainer Bob Baffert.
Antonio Fresu, a 32-year-old from Sardinia, Italy, also performed strongly on Saturday, winning two races to stay within striking distance of Hernandez. Fresu's wins came aboard Thirsty in Vegas ($10.20) for trainer Steve Knapp and Divin Propos ($4) for trainer Phil D’Amato.
On Sunday, Fresu is booked for 10 of 12 races, including four morning-line favourites: Motorious (3-1) for D’Amato in the opener, Ultimate Gamble (9-5) in the fifth for Mark Glatt, She’z the Law (5-2) in the 10th for Glatt, and Villified (3-1) in the 11th for Tim Yakteen. Hernandez has eight mounts scheduled, with his only program favourite being Final Boss (8-5) in the Cinema Stakes, the fourth race. Fresu will compete against Hernandez in the Cinema Stakes, riding co-third choice British Isles (3-1) for Richard Baltas.
Hernandez aims for his sixth Santa Anita riding title, while Fresu seeks his first after just 14 months of riding in the U.S. At the Santa Anita winter meet, Hernandez and Fresu finished first and second, respectively.
Both jockeys lead in stakes wins at the Hollywood Meet with four each. In Sunday’s Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano, Hernandez will ride 5-2 second-choice Offlee Naughty for Michael McCarthy, while Fresu will be on third-choice Rockemperor for D’Amato.
Phil D’Amato has clinched his sixth trainer’s title at Santa Anita after winning two races on Saturday. D’Amato’s victories on Saturday included Divin Propos ($4) in the ninth race and Sea of Cortez ($11.20) in the final race. With 22 wins at the meet, D’Amato leads runner-up Doug O’Neill by five wins. O’Neill has only one horse entered on Sunday, Mucino (4-1) in the second race.
D’Amato also leads all trainers with six stakes wins at the meet. His notable wins include Uncorked in the Royal Heroine (G3), Gold Phoenix in the Charles Whittingham (G2), Circle of Trust in the Honeymoon (G3), Musical Rhapsody in the Santa Barbara, King of Gosford in the Desert Code, and Shady Tiger in the Snow Chief.
Overall, D’Amato has a record of 22-for-113 (19%) at the spring meet with earnings of $1,355,472, leading all trainers. This spring meet title adds to his previous Santa Anita trainer’s titles, including the 2023 Classic Meet, 2022 Winter Meet, 2021 Winter Meet, and 2016 Winter Meet. D’Amato, 44, hails from San Pedro and was formerly an assistant to the late Mike Mitchell. As of Sunday, he has 963 career wins and $71,644,334 in earnings.