Weather could play a role in both the makeup of the field and the outcome of the Dec. 29 Joe Hernandez Stakes (G2T). The race is scheduled for Santa Anita Park's downhill turf course, but heavy rain this week in Southern California, which has dumped more than 6 inches of precipitation, has already pushed back the track's schedule. Storms are expected to subside the evening of Dec. 26 before skies clear into the weekend.
The Hernandez was originally slated for Dec. 27, and the Dec. 29 forecast is for a partly cloudy day.
Motorious, last year's winner for owner Anthony Fanticola, hails from the Phil D'Amato barn and heads a field of 10 with five also-eligibles. Nine of the 10 are turf specialists, while trainer Bob Baffert has entered Imagination, who has never run on the turf and is coming off a second in the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1). He would figure to start as a heavy favorite if the damp course has not dried sufficiently and the Hernandez is moved to the main track.
Motorious, a 7-year-old gelded son of Muhaarar, has thrice competed in the Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T), running second in 2024 and fifth in both 2023 and 2025. In between his 2024 and 2025 Breeders' Cup starts, he went 3-for-3, winning the Hernandez and the Daytona Stakes (G3T) down the hill and being placed first upon a disqualification after running second in the Green Flash Handicap (G3T) at Del Mar. His regular rider, Antonio Fresu, will be aboard for the Hernandez.
In the Green Flash, Motorious was shuffled back to last after the start and closed to miss by a nose.
"Getting shut off there flat-footed and to make that kind of run is pretty impressive," D'Amato said after the race. "The horse has just a heart of gold."
D'Amato, who also won the 2018 Hernandez with Pee Wee Reese, has two other entries this time: Unconquerable Keen and Sorrento Sky. Unconquerable Keen has won the Stormy Liberal Stakes the past three years at Del Mar, while Sorrento Sky has placed in four stakes, including the last two Stormy Liberal runnings.
Baffert won the 2010 Hernandez with Sangaree when the race was moved to the main track, then a synthetic surface. Imagination, who ran second in the 2024 Santa Anita Derby (G1) and competed in that year's Preakness (G1), captured the Sept. 28 Santa Anita Sprint Championship prior to his Breeders' Cup effort.
Gas Me Up most recently finished seventh in the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1T). Peter Eurton trained him early in his career in California, and then he went to Kevin Attard in Canada, where he won the Aug. 16 King Edward Stakes (G2T) and ran third in the Sept. 13 Woodbine Mile (G1T). Eurton now trains Gas Me Up again.
The rest of the field includes Sumter and El Potente. Sumter, second to Motorious by a head in the 2024 Hernandez, has won the one-mile Lure Stakes twice, and most recently finished seventh in the Seabiscuit Handicap (G2T). El Potente, winner of the Feb. 1 Thunder Road Stakes (G3T), finished third in the Seabiscuit.
Santa Anita Park, Monday, December 29, 2025, Race 7Entries: Joe Hernandez S. (G2T)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 Imagination (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 125 Bob Baffert - 2 Zio Jo (KY) Joel Rosario 121 Doug F. O'Neill - 3 Sorrento Sky (IRE) Umberto Rispoli 121 Philip D'Amato - 4 Flyover (CA) Tyler Baze 121 John W. Sadler - 5 Yellow Card (KY) Kazushi Kimura 121 Michael W. McCarthy - 6 Motorious (GB) Antonio Fresu 123 Philip D'Amato - 7 Unconquerable Keen (IRE) William Pyle 121 Philip D'Amato - 8 El Potente (FL) Hector Isaac Berrios 123 Dan Blacker - 9 Gas Me Up (ON) Mirco Demuro 125 Peter Eurton - 10 Sumter (KY) Flavien Prat 121 Richard E. Mandella - 11 Awesome Rhythm (KY) Armando Ayuso 121 Victor L. Garcia - 12 Schwarzmeier (KY) Edwin A. Maldonado 121 Peter Eurton - 13 Feel the Magic (KY) Geovanni Franco 121 Jose R. Valdez - 14 Son of a Birch (KY) Umberto Rispoli 121 Robert N. Falcone, Jr. - 15 First Peace (KY) Mike E. Smith 121 Mark Glatt -
