The Santa Anita Handicap (G1) has a rich history, one that includes such tales as inaugural winner Azucar running down the stretch after spooking from the winner's blanket of flowers and the popular Seabiscuit finally winning in 1940 after two seconds. Should Westwood or Vodka Vodka win this year's running, slated for March 7, those stories would make poignant additions to the lore.
The race lost its probable favorite when Skippylongstocking had to be scratched. He became fractious after being loaded onto the plane from Florida and did not make the trip. This would have been the 7-year-old's first start since winning the Jan. 24 Pegasus World Cup (G1) at Gulfstream Park, and he had successfully traveled to Santa Anita Park last year to win the Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (G2).
"They said he was fine and as the plane moved off to taxi on the runway, he started to kick and jump forward," trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. explained via text. "Thankfully, he's fine and back at Palm Meadows."
Westwood and Getaway Car, the one-two finishers in the Jan. 31 San Pasqual Stakes (G2), are returning for the Santa Anita Handicap. Westwood won the San Pasqual for trainer John Shirreffs, 12 days before the distinguished conditioner died. Shirreffs noted after that race that the 4-year-old gelding loves a challenge.
"He likes to be asked and pushed along a little bit," Shirreffs said.
Peter Eurton will saddle Westwood Saturday. Kazushi Kimura rode Westwood for Shirreffs in the San Pasqual and returns for Eurton.
Should Getaway Car win, he would become the seventh Santa Anita Handicap victor for trainer Bob Baffert. Getaway Car won the Best Pal Stakes (G3) at 2 in 2024 and the Sunland Park Derby at 3 in 2025, both times under jockey Juan Hernandez, who will be back aboard.
Vodka Vodka takes a big leap forward in class, having last defeated California-breds in the Jan. 17 Unusual Heat Turf Classic. His half-sister Om N Joy was honored March 2 as the champion Cal-bred 3-year-old female of 2025, and she is entered in the B. Wayne Hughes Beholder Mile (G1) on the same card.
"I think he is a better horse on dirt," said trainer Aggie Ordonez. "I wouldn't run him in open company on grass, but I think he's a very special horse on dirt. I'm hoping he brings it the way he did on Breeders' Cup Friday. That race on the dirt blew my mind."
On that day at Del Mar, Vodka Vodka made a huge move on the second turn of the 1-mile allowance optional claimer to score by 2 3/4 lengths over Westwood. Regular pilot Kent Desormeaux will ride Vodka Vodka.
"This is the race in California—it's the one you want to win," Ordonez said of the Santa Anita Handicap. "It's a career-maker and would mean everything to me."
Vodka Vodka will get in with the lightest weight assignment of 116 pounds under the handicap conditions. Skippylongstocking had been assigned top weight of 125 pounds, and now Westwood and Just a Touch are slated to carry the co-topweight of 121 pounds.
Brad Cox is shipping in Just a Touch, who is coming off a neck loss in the Jan. 17 Louisiana Stakes (G3) at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots. Just a Touch, the 3-2 morning-line favorite, has yet to win a stakes, but he has four seconds and a third in graded company.
Midnight Mammoth, trained by Craig Dollase, is the only horse in the field who also competed in the 2025 edition, won by Locked . Midnight Mammoth finished fourth last year. In six subsequent starts, the graded stakes winner won two allowance optional claiming races and ran second, by three-quarters of a length, in the Hollywood Gold Cup.
Trainer Richard Baltas has entered British Isles, who most recently finished fifth to Skipplongstocking in the Pegasus. British Isles has not won a stakes, though he was second in last year's Native Diver Stakes (G3).
Santa Anita Park, Saturday, March 7, 2026, Race 10Entries: Santa Anita H. presented by Yaamava' Resort & Casino at San Manuel (G1)
PP Horse Jockey Wgt Trainer M/L 1 1Midnight Mammoth (KY) Armando Ayuso 119 Craig Dollase 8/1 2 2Getaway Car (KY) Juan J. Hernandez 120 Bob Baffert 3/1 3 3Just a Touch (KY) Florent Geroux 121 Brad H. Cox 3/2 4 4Vodka Vodka (CA) Kent J. Desormeaux 116 Aggie Ordonez 6/1 98 5Skippylongstocking (KY) SCRATCHED 0 UNKNOWN - 5 6British Isles (KY) Diego A. Herrera 119 Richard Baltas 6/1 6 7Westwood (KY) Kazushi Kimura 121 Peter Eurton 7/2
