Total handle up at Santa Anita winter/spring meet

Santa Anita Park, which will host the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred

Championships on November 2-3, capped its 75th winter/spring season on Sunday

with gains in on-track attendance, handle and overall pari-mutuel handle.

Santa Anita's out-of-state business was robust, propelling The Great Race

Place to finish up with a 7 percent increase in total pari-mutuel handle.

On-track handle and attendance were up 1 percent over 2011, as more than 580,000

fans attended the races at Santa Anita this meet.

"This is our first winter/spring meet under the direction of the Stronach

Group," Santa Anita C.E.O. Mark Verge said. "Our Chairman, Frank Stronach has

laid the groundwork for an exciting, vibrant future and we will continue to

demonstrate that.

"We promoted very aggressively at this meet and it paid off. Our initial goal

was to showcase our five big days and make them bigger, and we did that.

"We had 44,579 here on opening day (December 26) which was a 10 percent

increase over the previous year and it was the first time we've had more than

40,000 people out for opening day since 1999.

"Sunshine Millions Day (January 28) was also big for us. We had an on-track

crowd of 30,514, which far outdid what any other track in the country did on

that day.

"Strub Stakes Day (February 4) was a home run as well," Verge continued. "Our

all-sources handle was $15 million, which was 3 percent increase over last year.

The Santa Anita Handicap Day (March 3) on-track crowd was up 10 percent over

last year.

"Santa Anita Derby Day (April 7) was outstanding and people were impressed

with the energy and the excitement we had throughout the track. The Derby itself

was an incredible race and we want to congratulate (owner) Paul Reddam,

(trainer) Doug O'Neill and their entire team on the job they did with the winner

I'll Have Another. This is what people expect when they come to Santa Anita --

great racing, great customer service and a feeling that we've got something very

special going on here.

"We got very aggressive with our Late Pick Four guarantee of $750,000 on

Derby Day and the result was a total pool of $992,000, which was the biggest

Pick Four pool of the meet and our overall handle of $17.8 million was very

strong as well."

The 72-day meet produced a total of 22 Pick Six carryovers, the largest being

a two-day carryover of $430,581 on Big 'Cap Day, which resulted in a massive

total Pick Six pool on March 4 of $3,110,484. Santa Anita continues to be the

nation's Pick Six leader, evidenced by the closing day Pick Six pool of

$575,980.

Jockey Joel Rosario dominated his competition in the rider standings, winning

his second consecutive Santa Anita title with 89 wins, 17 clear of Rafael

Bejarano. Rosario finished second in stakes-won with nine added money tallies.

Mike Smith finished on top with 11 stakes wins, including the Grade 2 Potrero

Grande Handicap, which provided him with his 5,000th career win.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert breezed to his record 10th Santa Anita

training title, winning 46 races, seven more than runner up John Sadler. Baffert

was also the leading stakes-winning trainer, winning eight, three more than

Sadler and Ron Ellis.

Hronis Racing LLC led all owners by races won, with 10 victories.

"We'd like to congratulate our leading owners, trainers and jockeys and thank

them for their commitment during this meet," Verge said. "We'd also like to

sincerely thank our fans for all of their support and commitment. They are the

reason we are in business and our customers will continue to be our top

priority.

"We have the most beautiful racing venue in the world and we're proud of the

fact we made many new friends at this meet. We're continually striving to make

the on-track experience here at Santa Anita an unforgettable one -- each and

every time our fans visit us.

"We look forward to our Autumn Meet and to hosting the Breeders' Cup for the

sixth time in November. It'll be an honor to showcase this magnificent facility

and to put on another world-class show on NBC."

I'll Have Another, who was dismissed as an "overnight sensation" when he won

the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis in a 43-1 upset on February 4 but subdued skeptics

when he returned at 4-1 to nose out 4-5 favorite Creative Cause in the Santa

Anita Derby on April 7, was named Horse of the Meet in Santa Anita's 2011-12

Winter/Spring Media Poll.

"This is a huge honor," said Doug O'Neill, who trains the three-year-old son

of Flower Alley for owner J. Paul Reddam, whose horses led in earnings at the

meet with $635,360 to be named Outstanding Owner. "We're grateful to every

member of our team who contributed to the colt's success. The award carries even

more significance for me, because this is Santa Anita's big meet where so many

great horses compete."

It marked the second Horse of the Meet honor for an O'Neill trainee.

Rags-to-riches Lava Man won in 2006-07.

I'll Have Another also was named the meet's outstanding three-year-old, while

the Santa Anita Derby was named Race of the Meet. The first three horses in the

$750,000 race decided at 1 1/8 miles were separated by just a half-length after

a thrilling stretch battle, with 42-1 pacesetter Blueskiesnrainbows finishing

third, a half-length behind I'll Have Another.

Hall of Fame conditioner Bob Baffert was voted Trainer of the Meet for the

second straight campaign. Baffert won for the eighth time since balloting was

initiated in 1972-73, a poll record. The 59-year-old Arizona native won 46 races

from 158 starters.

Joel Rosario also won honors as outstanding jockey for the second straight

year. The 27-year-old native of the Dominican Republic won 89 races from 409

mounts to outdistance runner-up Rafael Bejarano by 17 victories.

Ron the Greek, who shipped in from the East Coast for Hall of Fame trainer

Bill Mott, won the Santa Anita Handicap to earn honors as Older Horse.

Selections in other categories: Include Me Out, winner of the Grade 2 La

Cańada and the Grade 1 Santa Margarita, Older Filly or Mare; Bourbon Bay, who

captured the Grade 2 San Luis Rey and the Grade 2 San Juan Capistrano Handicap,

Grass Horse; Vamo a Galupiar, winner of the Megahertz and the Grade 2 Santa Ana,

Grass Filly or Mare; Willa B Awesome, who won the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel before

posting a 13-1 upset in the Grade 1 Santa Anita Oaks, three-year-old filly.

Also, Eclipse Award champion sprinter Amazombie, winner of the Potrero

Grande, was top sprinter for the second consecutive year.

Eswan Flores, 19, was top apprentice rider by virtue of 54 victories, placing

him fourth in the standings behind journeymen Bejarano, Rosario and Joe Talamo.

Achievement of the Meet was awarded to Peter Eurton, who saddled what is

believed to be a Santa Anita record of eight consecutive winners. The

54-year-old trainer began his streak on April 5 with Belle Passe and capped it

when Chickie Charms won on April 14. None of his horses paid more than $8.80 to

win.

Crossing the Line, a 10-year-old New Zealand-bred gelding trained by John

Sadler, was named Claiming Horse of the Meet. A son of Cape Cross owned by

Richard Templar of Chicago, who races as Doubledown Stables, Inc., Crossing the

Line won twice at the $22,500 level on Santa Anita's downhill turf course at

about 6 1/2 furlongs, coming from next to last in a field of 10 on March 22 to

capture his last start

In 20 career starts, Crossing the Line has 10 wins and earnings of $376,448.