Santa Anita Handicap Breakdown

Gates Open: 10 a.m. Saturday First Post: Noon

Big ‘Cap Post: Ninth race, Approx. 4:15 p.m. TV: Fox Sports Net 2

Listed in post position order (odds in parentheses):

*

CAGNEY (8-1)

Owner: Stud T N T (Goncalo Borges Torrealba). Trainer: Richard Mandella. Jockey: Mike Smith.

Lowdown: A five-time winner on the grass, Cagney has not raced on the main track since he finished sixth in his career debut in Brazil more than two years ago. A proven stayer, the 5-year-old should relish the Big ‘Cap distance and a fast pace would play in his favor. Mandella is a two-time winner of the race, having won with Siphon in 1998 and Malek in 1999.

*

FANCY AS (6-1)

Owner: R.K. and Linda Smith. Trainer: Bob Baffert. Jockey: Gary Stevens.

Lowdown: Purchased for $3,200 as a yearling, the gelded son of Dignitas has won 13 of 17 and earned more than $613,000. All of those wins came in Canada, however, and he is winless in two starts in California. He was third in the San Fernando Breeders’ Cup and Strub Stakes. Stevens will be seeking his fourth victory in the Big ‘Cap, having scored previously with Ruhlmann (1990), Farma Way (1991) and Urgent Request (1995).

*

SKY JACK (5-1)

Owner: Ren-Mar Thoroughbreds (Rene and Margie Lambert). Trainer: Doug O’Neill. Jockey: Laffit Pincay Jr.

Lowdown: Sidelined for more than 14 months after knee surgery and a bout with colic, the 6-year-old gray gelding was beaten by a nose in his comeback race on Feb. 9. A winner of six of 11 in his career, he will be part of the pace and was entered in the Big ‘Cap after the defection of Mizzen Mast. Pincay has won the race five times, but his last win came with Greinton in 1986.

*

GIANT GENTLEMAN (5-1)

Owner: Gary Tanaka. Trainer: Brent Sumja. Jockey: Alex Solis.

Lowdown: Second to Mizzen Mast in both the Malibu and Strub Stakes, the 4-year-old son of Montbrook has been worse than third only once in his nine-race career. He was purchased privately last week by Tanaka from former owners Robert Domush, Mark Moskowitz and Nancy Clark.

*

SEINNE (30-1)

Owner: Nelson Bunker Hunt. Trainer: Ron McAnally. Jockey: Victor Espinoza.

Lowdown: He will be a longshot in the Big ‘Cap and for good reason. He has won twice since arriving in the U.S. from Chile, but has managed only fourth- and fifth-place finishes in his two tries in graded stakes. Hunt, who has never had a starter in the race, won Eclipse awards in 1976, ’85 and ’87 and owned and bred such stars as Exceller, Dahlia and Estrapade.

*

KUDOS (15-1)

Owner: Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Moss. Trainer: Mandella. Jockey: Eddie Delahoussaye.

Lowdown: A late nominee to the Santa Anita Handicap after winning the San Marino Handicap on Feb. 17, a race moved from turf to dirt because of bad weather. Has improved since being gelded more than a year ago and is proven at the Big ‘Cap distance and beyond.

*

LAST PARADE (30-1)

Owner: Bill Currin and Al Eisman. Trainer: Currin. Jockey: Brice Blanc.

Lowdown: A winner only once in seven starts in this country after winning three times in South America, the Brazilian-bred will be part of the mutuel field. In three previous forays into graded stakes races in the U.S., the best he has managed was a third in the Native Diver Handicap on Dec. 9 at Hollywood Park.

*

FREEDOM CREST (15-1)

Owner: Calvin Nguyen. Trainer: Richard Baltas. Jockey: Corey Nakatani.

Lowdown: The first horse owned by the Vietnamese-born Nguyen, who claimed him for $32,000, the 6-year-old gelding scored his biggest victory when beating two-time Pacific Classic winner Skimming and eventual two-time Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Tiznow in last fall’s Goodwood Breeders’ Cup Handicap. This will be Freedom Crest’s first race since he finished last in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, 33 lengths behind Tiznow.

*

EUCHRE (7-2)

Owner: Frank Stronach. Trainer: Bobby Frankel. Jockey: Garrett Gomez.

Lowdown: He may not be brilliant, but this 6-year-old Personal Flag gelding is consistent. He has been stakes-placed four years running and has been the runner-up in his last three races, including a half-length loss to Redattore in the San Antonio Handicap, the last major prep for the Big ‘Cap. Frankel has yet to win with 10 previous Santa Anita Handicap starters. His best finish was a second with 40-1 longshot Triteamtri in 1989.

*

FUTURAL (9-2)

Owner: Jack Weitz and Jess Miller. Trainer: Craig Dollase. Jockey: Chris McCarron.TR

Lowdown: The co-starting highweight with Euchre at 118 pounds, he was third in his first race of 2002, but his connections says he was only about “75% ready” and expect big improvement Saturday. He won the San Bernardino and Mervyn LeRoy Handicaps in 2001 but is best known for his disqualification from first to second in last July’s Hollywood Gold Cup. McCarron has won the Big ‘Cap three times, including last year with Tiznow.

*

DIG FOR IT (30-1)

Owner: Bruce Headley: Trainer: Headley. Jockey: Jose Valdivia Jr.

Lowdown: The other half of the mutuel field, this gelding has never won a stakes, but did finish third at 44-1--in a six-horse field--in last year’s Pacific Classic. This will be the first Big ‘Cap mount for Valdivia and only the third starter in the race for Headley. He saddled Stylish Winner to a third-place finish in 1989.

*

IRISHEYESAREFLYING (15-1)

Owner: Dolan Racing Stable, Alice Taylor and Lloyd Graham. Trainer: John Dolan. Jockey: David Flores.

Lowdown: A former claimer who has made good, the 6-year-old gelding has won seven of 33 and banked more than $655,000. Fourth in last year’s Big ‘Cap, his biggest victories in 2001 came in the Longacres Mile at Emerald Downs and in the California Cup Classic. Flores has a win and two thirds in four previous tries in this race.

*

MILWAUKEE BREW (7-2)

Owner: Frank Stronach. Trainer: Frankel. Jockey: Kent Desormeaux.

Lowdown: Coupled in the betting with Euchre, this 5-year-old finished sixth in the Whirlaway Handicap at the New Orleans Fair Grounds on Feb. 10 in his first race for Frankel and first in almost seven months. He won the Ohio Derby at Thistledown and the Marine at Woodbine as a 3-year-old but has lost eight in a row. Desormeaux picked up the mount after the injury to Mizzen Mast.

*

WESTERN PRIDE (15-1)

Owner: Theresa McArthur and Carolyn Chapman. Trainer: James Chapman. Jockey: Patrick Valenzuela.

Lowdown: Labeled “great” by his trainer after his win over a speed-biased track in the San Fernando Breeders’ Cup Stakes, the 4-year-old Way West colt bombed in the Strub. He finished seventh, beaten by nearly 21 lengths by Mizzen Mast. A nine-time winner, he will be part of the early pace and is the first Big ‘Cap mount for Valenzuela since he won with Sir Beaufort in 1993.