Full Serrano, Johannes headline BC WAYIs at Santa Anita

Reigning Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) hero Full Serrano and turf star Johannes, runner-up in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Mile (G1), are the headline acts in their respective “Win and You’re In” events at Santa Anita on Saturday.

Full Serrano steps up to 1 1/8 miles for the $300,000 Goodwood (G1), which offers a fees-paid berth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), while Johannes seeks to defend his title in the $200,000 City of Hope Mile (G2), a Challenge race for the Mile. 

The Goodwood, the ninth race scheduled for 8 p.m. ET, has had its traditional name restored. The venerable contest was run as the Awesome Again from 2012 to 2023, and briefly rebranded as the California Crown in 2024.

Full Serrano has raced only once since last year’s Breeders’ Cup, but his comeback was a sensational, 7 1/4-length wire job going a mile at Del Mar Sept. 1. The Argentine import is now 3-for-4 stateside for John Sadler, with his lone loss being a half-length second in the 2024 Pacific Classic (G1). Full Serrano’s effectiveness from one mile to 1 1/4 miles underscores that he could use the Goodwood as a springboard to the Classic, not limiting himself to another Dirt Mile.

The Goodwood has lured a high-profile shipper in the form of $2.2 million-earner First Mission. Trained by Brad Cox, the Godolphin homebred has yet to earn a Grade 1 trophy, and he was just overturned as the 1-5 favorite in Monmouth’s Philip H. Iselin (G3). But First Mission has eye-catching form as the third-placer behind Mindframe and Sierra Leone in the June 28 Stephen Foster (G1) at Churchill Downs. 

Ultimate Gamble also boasts a third to heavyweights, in his case, in the Aug. 30 renewal of the Pacific Classic. The Mark Glatt pupil didn’t get close to Fierceness or Journalism, but he ran well enough to be supplemented here. 

Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, an eight-time winner of this race, throws a trio of sophomores in versus elders. Lightly-raced Nevada Beach comes off his biggest win in the Los Alamitos Derby, the improving Privman makes his stakes debut, and the most experienced of them, 2024 Del Mar Futurity (G1) scorer Gaming, is still trying to recover his juvenile form. 

At the opposite end of the career spectrum is eight-year-old Express Train, taking his third shot at this race for John Shirreffs. The Grade 1-winning millionaire is still capable on his day, as illustrated by his distant second in the March 1 Santa Anita H. (G1) and his close third in the seven-furlong Pat O’Brien (G2) last out.

The City of Hope Mile, the fourth race at 2:30 p.m. ET, kicks off the graded action at the “Great Race Place.” Unlike a year ago, when Johannes was riding a winning streak, the Tim Yakteen trainee returns on a retrieval mission. Johannes was sidelined for most of 2025, resurfacing with a tough-trip ninth in the Fourstardave (G1) at Saratoga. The son of Nyquist has a right to bounce back on home turf here.

Almendares, runner-up in last year’s City of Hope Mile, turns up in similar form as the second-placer in the Del Mar Mile (G2) for the second straight year. Also exiting the Del Mar Mile are third-placer Cabo Spirit and fourth Zio Jo. Final Boss and Scoobie Quando round out the City of Hope field.

On this card last September, Cabo Spirit wired the 1 1/4-mile John Henry Turf Championship (G2) (sixth race at 6:30 p.m. ET). As he abdicates the throne, the leading claimants to succeed him are Gold Phoenix, fresh off an incredible fourth Del Mar H. (G2) victory, and Stay Hot, who was a neck shy of thwarting Gold Phoenix at Del Mar. But Gold Phoenix has failed to follow up in the John Henry for the past three years, and Stay Hot could be the one to thrive in this spot. Mondego, a rattling fifth in the Del Mar ‘Cap, is worth a look too. 

Cabo Spirit’s reversion to the mile division opens the door for Balladeer, his stablemate from the George Papaprodromou barn, to try to regain his title from 2023. But Balladeer hasn’t won since, and he adds blinkers in hopes of a turnaround. Another win-shy veteran, Dicey Mo Chara, is usually thereabouts, and Spycatcher has back class. 

The other two turf stakes are sprints, hurtling about 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill course. 

In the $200,000 Eddie D (G2) (eighth race at 7:30 p.m. ET), Reef Runner seeks compensation after his controversial disqualification in the Green Flash (G3) at Del Mar. Other contenders include defending champ First Peace; Beyond Brilliant, a barnstorming third in the Green Flash on the cutback; Yellow Card, runner-up in last fall’s Franklin-Simpson (G1) at Kentucky Downs; Sorrento Sky and Mucho Del Oro, both horses-for-the-course; and sophomore Kale’s Angel. 

The $100,000 turf sprint for sophomore fillies (10th race at 8:30 p.m. ET), formerly known as the Unzip Me, has been renamed in honor of the late John C. Harris (G3). Baffert’s Casalu, winner of the course-and-distance Sweet Life S. earlier this season, shortens up after an eighth in the Del Mar Oaks (G1). Graham Motion shipper Warming, fifth in both the Belmont Oaks (G1) and Lake Placid (G2), also drops back in distance. Little Red Feather is involved in three entrants – Eiffel and the Phil D’Amato pair of Favor to You and Innovative – while the sentimental rooting interest is Harris Farms' homebred Wink and a Grin.