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Home / Santa Anita Park / Santa Anita Handicap / 2011 Santa Anita Handicap (G1)

2011 Santa Anita Handicap (G1)

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Date/Track:
3/5/2011, Santa Anita Park
Post Time:
4:30 PM PT
Distance:
1 1/4 m (Dirt)
Age/Sex:
4+ M
Time:
1:59.47

What the Nation is saying about the 2011 Santa Anita Handicap (G1)...

Who would have though a gelding competing in starter allowances would cause such an enormous uproar in America? Well, Rapid Redux managed to do just that when he broke the modern American win streak last night, Thursday, November 21, 2011. The record was held by America’s sweetheart, the great mare,...Read More
  • Show All 11 Comments
  • genie918 · While I feel Rapid Redux should be recognized at the Eclipse Awards for his accomplishment, I do not believe that he deserves HOY because of the level of competition/races he has participated in. My vote would go for Havre de Grace. This year she won 5 races--3 GI and 2 G2 that included a win in the Woodward against the boys. Her only defeats were in the G2 Delaware Handicap by a nose to the great Blind Luck and a fourth place finish in the BC Classic. In the Classic, she overcame traffic problems, being bumped and was still finishing strongly in the end, so her loss was respectable. Curlin won HOY honors in 2008 with a similiar record: 5 wins/4 GI and one ungraded race in Dubai, a second in the Man o' War and a fourth place finish in the BC Classic. Now, I realize that one of Curlin's wins came in the Dubai World Cup--a race that adds extra points to ones resume when reviewing championship honors, but we have to keep in mind the type of year it has been in 2011. Havre de grace's record has been solid and consistent ALL year, so I hope the voters recognize this and give her the year end honors. · 545 days ago ·
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  • Snowking6 · Rapid Redux is already in the history books--and deserves special notice at the Eclipse Awards and in other venues, and should never be forgotten. I would love to see him retired as soon as it makes sense to the Kentucky Horse Park. But Horse of the Year--even in a muddled year, does not make sense--simply because he is not at the class level to have made his record against the other contenders for HOY--almost certainly. We love him, though!! Great to see his sort in these modern times. In some ways, he is MY Horse of the Year! · 545 days ago ·
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Entering off three straight graded stakes wins on turf including a pair of Grade I’s, Acclamation successfully transferred his front-running game to the main track... Read More
  • RamonDimas · DAMN this horse is soooooooooooooooooooo sooooooooooooooooooo GREAT i think he is going to win the CLASSIC!! · 631 days ago ·
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  • boxersdaddy · there is a question as to whether acclamation can transfer his successes from turf and poly to dirt. · 619 days ago ·
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When the gates opened and the field turned for home it was not Twirling Candy running them all down, it was First Dude.Read More
  • Show All 8 Comments
  • DeadHeat · I agree about the dirt statement Stevebiscuit, but you never know until they run in a circle. Personally I've always been a fan of First Dude and felt he had this win coming, so i'm not upset by the finish in the least. All three performed like champs. · 679 days ago ·
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  • 12 Clip · Good article Laura. The transformation of First Dude from a front-runner to a closer has been quite a transformation for the son of Stephen Got Even. His new style is so much better suited for his body-type. The Dude is a big colt that hits the ground hard. The way he closed in the Gold Cup reminded me of how Curlin use to grind them down. A winner of three in-a-row, it now seems like The Dude has no problem taking pictures in the winners circle. I think his style is perfect for Churchill Downs and the classic distance. And remember he was in the race last year as a three-year-old against one of the best fields ever assembled. This year I can visualize him getting a similar trip to the one Blame got in the Classic. There's still alot of racing til then, and Baffert needs to figure out what his next race will be. Although the Pacific Classic looks like the most likely spot. I'm not so sure if First Dude will be able to grip and dig as well on Del Mar's poly-track. He is 3 for 3 in the money lifetime on synthetic tracks, so with him I think the surface probably doesn't matter, but nonetheless it is Del Mar · 679 days ago ·
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For the second straight year, Acclamation followed up a win going a mile and a half on Hollywood Park’s turf course in the Jim Murray Handicap (Grade II) with a victory going a quarter mile less in the Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap (Grade I).Read More
Pulling and rank going down the back stretch despite taking the blinkers off for the first time, 2-to-5 on Twirling Candy might as well have been 15-to-1. However, in a dynamic display of superstardom, the four-year-old son of Candy Ride overcame the trouble he brought upon himself to storm by the r...Read More
There was onsite coverage from Gulfstream Park the whole weekend of the Florida Derby and I couldn’t wait to get home from work to watch. I sped home from work and started watching the taped races from the beginning. I have never been to Gulfstream, but I know they did a remodel since the last time ...Read More
  • Show All 3 Comments
  • mshutty · I'm just glad God is an equal opportunity creator! Always good to point out when any of us, men or women, stray from that plan. · 766 days ago ·
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  • TraciPatrick · nicely put. · 766 days ago ·
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Game On Dude won a controversial running of the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap on Saturday, giving jockey Chantal Sutherland the distinction of being the first woman rider to win the historic race – and the first woman rider to be booed as she rode into the winner’s circle.Game On Dude survived a 12-...Read More
  • Show All 20 Comments
  • TexasRacingFan · There was no way that Game on Dude or Setsuko should've been DQ'd. Watch the replay without bias and you'll see VERY clearly that Twirling Candy was basically a ping pong ball off Game On Dude & Setsuko, hitting both horses twice. That was a pitiful ride by Joel Rosario, Twirling Candy went into that stretch with nothing left and showed it by how he staggered into both horses. Espinoza showed his lack of professionalism by complaining that he wasn't put in 1st on Setsuko, he seems to forget that Sutherland on Dude was hit twice also. · 799 days ago ·
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  • RachaelAlexandra · either way game on dude had alot of spunk!! and shows he has the talent to go to dubai · 799 days ago ·
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There is a similarity between the OJ Simpson trial and the Inquiry result of the 2011 Santa Anita Handicap, both OJ and Chantal Sutherland were proclaimed not guilty. However, unlike OJ, Chantal Sutherland was innocent as well. It took Chantal Sutherland winning the biggest race of her career for me...Read More
In a shocking development, one that will surely bump some likely contender out of the Dubai World Cup (G1), trainer Bob Baffert announced that Saturday’s Santa Anita Handicap (G1) winner Game On Dude will next start in the $10 million race, if invited (itself a question at this point).  The opi...Read More
I'm all for a DQ....Dairy Queen that is. I think the blogosphere has blown up with all this Big Cap controversy. I was watching on TwinSpires Mobile when the inquiry occurred on Saturday and was quick to show the Space Gal, as I know she's a big Chantal fan. I didn't bet the race so I had no dog in ...Read More
Hall of Fame trainer Richard Mandella reported that injury has been added to what he considers insult, as Big ‘Cap runner-up Setsuko has sustained an injured left front leg, which resulted from contact with favored Twirling Candy during the controversial stretch run of Saturday’s main event. “He cam...Read More
I watched the head-on of the Big Cap, and my first impression was that Trevor Denman had it right when he observed that "Game On Dude shifted out." And that Setsuko's jockey Victor Espinoza was correct in saying that "the stewards are blind."    "Obviously, those three stewards, they ...Read More
The 74th Santa Anita Handicap had it all: drama, action, controversy, and in the end, a ground-breaking victory. A four-year old won the race as expected, and a horse who is eligible for a non-winners of two lifetime was second, but neither spot was filled by the horse expected to… Read More
Since Solomon, the Magi and Benjamin Disraeli had other plans, it fell to Kim Sawyer, Scott Chaney and Tom Ward to decide whether Game On Dude or Setsuko would win the 74th running of the Santa Anita Handicap. Mere mortals, they. A fly on the wall in the stewards' stand would have been privy to an i...Read More
Big run by Game On Dude, he and Setsuko turned Twirling Candy into a pinball in the lane. Still, Twirling Candy looked like a miler in this one, tough trip and all he didn't have it today.
  • Show All 3 Comments
  • ajump08 · Twirling Candy pulled the same thing he did in the Goodwood. He was pulling, couldn't be rated, and I believe he would have been third at best with a clean run in the stretch. If he could learn to rate I think he could go 10 furlongs, its more mental than physical. · 808 days ago ·
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  • mdracing69 · You are right ajump08. Twirling Candy is his own worst enemy. He was uncomfortable throughout. I am sure Sadler envisioned Twling Candy sitting Game On Dude's trip. Setsuko was well regarded as a 3yo and might start living up his potential. · 808 days ago ·
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Saturday’s Big Cap Day pick six from Santa Anita Park includes a pair of Grade 1’s. First up is the Kilroe Mile (9th race) and consistent presser Fluke meets improving gelding Caracortado. Twirling Candy looms large in the Santa Anita Handicap (10th race). Partly cloudy skies are expected with a hig...Read More
Join your fellow handicappers, from novice to advanced, in the Iron Maidens Thoroughbreds Chat Room tonight.Read More
The 74th running of the Grade I $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap run over a mile and a quarter on the main track will showcase a superstar in the making and likely one of the shortest priced favorites in Big ‘Cap history, as Twirling Candy looks to make it seven wins in eight starts to begin his career...Read More
  • Show All 3 Comments
  • RaTalk_Girl · I can't wait to see this race, Twirling Candy is very impressive. I also want to see what Aggie Engineer is going to do. · 811 days ago ·
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  • KyOaksRunner · I love Twirling Candy and hopes he romps again but I'm very curious to see what First Dude does after being switched to the care of Baffert. · 809 days ago ·
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Twirling Candy just drew post 5 in a field of 11 for Saturday's Big Cap.  Story here. 
Twirling Candy, an emerging star in the handicap ranks from John Sadler's barn, worked seven furlongs on Santa Anita's main track Feb. 27 for the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap (gr. I) March 5.Under regular rider Joel Rosario, Twirling Candy, the likely Big 'Cap favorite, was timed in 1:25 flat. “It ...Read More

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