Rainy weather in California has postponed opening day at Santa Anita Park from its traditional Dec. 26 date to Sunday, Dec. 28.
The action-packed card is worth the wait. Six stakes are on the agenda, including a trio of grade 1s. Two of the most competitive races of the afternoon are the $300,000 Malibu Stakes (G1) and the $300,000 La Brea Stakes (G1), a pair of seven-furlong sprints for three-year-olds with the latter being for fillies
Here's how I see the two races unfolding:
La Brea
The La Brea has drawn a competitive 11-horse field. You can make a case for plenty of fillies to finish in the top three, but for win purposes, I'm drawn to #9 Formula Rossa (3-1).
Santa Anita Park, Sunday, December 28, 2025, Race 8Entries: La Brea S. presented by Don Julio (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Simply Joking (PA) Kazushi Kimura 120 Michael W. McCarthy 20/1 2 2So There She Was (KY) Antonio Fresu 120 Doug F. O'Neill 15/1 3 3Five G (NY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 122 George Weaver 7/2 4 4Artisma (KY) Edwin A. Maldonado 120 Richard Baltas 15/1 5 5Usha (NY) Juan J. Hernandez 120 Bob Baffert 9/2 6 6Brilliantly (KY) Flavien Prat 120 Bob Baffert 6/1 7 7Schilflied (KY) Tyler Baze 120 Patrick Gallagher 50/1 8 8Her Laugh (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 120 Riley Mott 6/1 9 9Formula Rossa (KY) Mike E. Smith 120 Mark Glatt 3/1 10 10Magnificat (KY) Mirco Demuro 120 Richard E. Mandella 20/1 11 11Silent Law (KY) Joel Rosario 120 Bob Baffert 10/1
Formula Rossa has shown flashes of serious talent. She debuted in a six-furlong maiden special weight Feb. 21 at Santa Anita, in which she tracked the pace before taking over to beat next-out winner and La Brea entrant #6 Brilliantly (6-1) in the sharp time of 1:08.73.
Formula Rossa subsequently spent over four months on the sidelines before returning to action against older horses in a six-furlong $40,000 allowance optional claimer Aug. 3 at Del Mar. This time, she led all the way to trounce her opponents by 6 1/2 lengths in 1:09.14, earning a strong 103 Brisnet Speed Rating and a 98 Beyer Speed Figure. Those numbers rank as the highest in the La Brea field.
Only three weeks later, Sweet Azteca knocked heads with 5-year-old Sweet Azteca (a grade 1 winner and one of the best female sprinters in the country) in the 6 1/2-furlong Rancho Bernardo Handicap(G3) at Del Mar. Formula Rossa dueled with Sweet Azteca through intense fractions of :21.82 and :43.81 before staying on to finish second. She was beaten only 3 1/2 lengths by Sweet Azteca while finishing 2 3/4 lengths clear of Chismosa, a 5-year-old with five stakes wins under her belt.
Formula Rossa has been freshened since the Rancho Bernardo and enters the La Brea off a sharp series of workouts for trainer Mark Glatt. According to Brisnet statistics, Glatt wins at a solid 19% rate with horses returning from layoffs of 90 days or more. Throw in the presence of jockey Mike Smith (a five-time winner of the La Brea), and Formula Rossa is a compelling choice to prevail on Santa Anita's opening day.
For second place, I'll side with longshot #1 Simply Joking (20-1). This Kentucky Oaks (G1) starter has shown flashes of talent, including when second to 4-year-old Ballerina Stakes (G1) winner Hope Road in last month's one-mile Bayakoa (G3) at Del Mar. I'm optimistic that returning to the 3-year-old ranks and cutting back to 7 furlongs will trigger a competitive showing from Simply Joking.
Malibu
Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has won the Malibu six times since 2011. In search of a seventh triumph, he'll saddle half of the 10 horses entered in the 2025 Malibu.
Santa Anita Park, Sunday, December 28, 2025, Race 10Entries: Malibu S. (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Modus Bestia (MD) Edwin A. Maldonado 120 Richard Baltas 15/1 2 2Spenard (KY) Tyler Baze 120 Dan L. McFarlane 30/1 3 3Madaket Road (KY) Irad Ortiz, Jr. 120 Bob Baffert 5/1 4 4Speedy Wilson (CA) Armando Ayuso 120 Philip D'Amato 15/1 5 5Midland Money (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 120 Bob Baffert 7/2 6 6Berlin Wall (CA) Tiago Josue Pereira 120 Steve R. Knapp 20/1 7 7Smooth Cruisein (FL) Kyle Frey 120 Karen Headley 30/1 8 8Cornucopian (KY) Flavien Prat 120 Bob Baffert 7/2 9 9Barnes (KY) Jose L. Ortiz 122 Bob Baffert 3/1 10 10Goal Oriented (KY) Joel Rosario 120 Bob Baffert 5/1
The shortest-priced of the Baffert trainees is #9 Barnes (3-1), and understandably so. The son of perennial leading sire Into Mischief has shown good form sprinting 7 furlongs, winning the San Vicente Stakes (G2) and Perryville Stakes (G3) in addition to finishing third in the H. Allen Jerkens Memorial (G1).
I respect Barnes and expect him to deliver another strong showing in the Malibu. But my top choice is Baffert's #8 Cornucopian (7-2).
Another son of Into Mischief, Cornucopian impressed when debuting on Feb. 23 in a six-furlong maiden special weight at Oaklawn Park. He led all the way through quick pace fractions to dominate by 5 3/4 lengths over next-out winner Zero Sugar, who recently returned from a long layoff to run second by half a length in the Zia Park Derby.
Cornucopian's debut win earned strong speed figures of 100 (Brisnet) and 101 (Beyer). Unfortunately, when he tried stepping up sharply in class and distance for the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby (G1), he got involved in a destructive speed duel through fractions of :22.46, :45.21, and 1:10.37. After half a mile, Cornucopian and pace rival Speed King had pulled 8 1/2 lengths clear of the rest of the field. Unsurprisingly, both tired, though Cornucopian held on much better than Speed King to finish fourth by 8 1/2 lengths.
Four weeks later, Cornucopian tried to bounce back in a one-mile $100,000 allowance optional claimer at Aqueduct Racetrack, but after pressing a quick pace in second place, he failed to chase down the gate-to-wire winner and tired to finish second by 3 1/4 lengths.
After that defeat, Cornucopian disappeared from the work tab and didn't return to serious training until late October. Since then, he's turned in a series of promising workouts capped off by a bullet 6 furlongs in 1:12 4/5 at Santa Anita. I believe cutting back to 7 furlongs and dropping blinkers for his return will allow Cornucopian to rebound and win the Malibu under Eclipse Award-winning jockey Flavien Prat.
Now it's your turn! Who do you like on opening day at Santa Anita?
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