Locked adds blinkers, stretches out for Santa Anita Handicap

Although not as lucrative nor as prestigious as it once was, the $300,000 Santa Anita H. (G1) on Saturday potentially is the perfect spot for the up-and-coming older horse Locked, who heads a field of nine in the historic 1 1/4-mile test.

A Grade 1 winner at two who was sidelined for much of his three-year-old season last year, Locked capped his brief sophomore campaign by beating older rivals in the Dec. 7 Cigar Mile (G2) at Aqueduct. In his 2025 debut in late January, Locked finished a distant second to White Abarrio in the Pegasus World Cup (G1), his first attempt over nine furlongs.

Locked will step up in trip again for the Big 'Cap, and will be racing with blinkers for the first time. He will also be reunited with jockey Jose Ortiz, who was aboard for Locked's win in the 2023 Breeders' Futurity (G1) and third-place effort to stablemate Fierceness in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) at Santa Anita.

Also invading from the east is Hit Show, a graded stakes winner in three of his past four starts, including the Louisiana (G3) at Fair Grounds on Jan. 18. The Brad Cox trainee is still in search of his first top-level victory, but has been a hot-and-cold type throughout his career with eight wins and one second from 16 starts.

The venerable eight-year-old Express Train is attempting to win the Big 'Cap for a second time. There have been multiple repeat winners in race history, but Express Train will attempt to do so three years after first landing the race. He was most recently second in the San Pasqual (G2), finishing in between Katonah and Tarantino.

J B Strikes Back enters off a stakes debut win in the Laffit Pincay Jr. (G2), formerly known as the San Antonio, while Bob Baffert has entered allowance winners Mirahmadi and New King.

The other Grade 1 fixture on the card is the $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile on the grass. Mi Hermano Ramon captured the Seabiscuit H. (G2) at Del Mar three back and then finished a close second to Johannes in the San Gabriel (G2). The Mark Glatt trainee was most recently a troubled fourth in the Pegasus World Cup Turf (G1) at Gulfstream.

Getting a class test is El Potente, who has won five of seven over the Santa Anita turf, including the one-mile Thunder Road (G3) by three lengths last time. Formidable Man captured the Del Mar Derby (G2) and Hollywood Derby (G1) last fall, while Almendares is capable of more than what he showed when last seen in the Seabiscuit.

The $200,000 Buena Vista (G2), a one-mile grass test for fillies and mares, is led by graded winners Rashmi and Alpha Bella.