5 Fast Facts: Santa Anita Derby

Apr 05, 2018 Jennifer Caldwell/Brisnet.com

1. Trainer Bob Baffert boasts the record for the most Santa Anita Derby wins (seven) and will try to extend that to eight when saddling Justify on Saturday; two of Baffert’s four Kentucky Derby winners (Silver Charm [1997] and Real Quiet [1998]) both finished second in the Santa Anita Derby prior to capturing the Run for the Roses.
2. Hill Gail was the first Santa Anita Derby winner to go on and capture the Kentucky Derby in 1952; Determine duplicated that feat in 1954 was followed a year later by Swaps; Affirmed is one of only 12 horses to sweep the Triple Crown and did so in 1978 after taking that year’s Santa Anita Derby.
3. Sham, who ran into a juggernaut named Secretariat during the 1973 Triple Crown, is credited with the fastest time for the Santa Anita Derby (1:47) at its current 1 1/8-mile distance.
4. Ciencia (1939), Silver Spoon (1959) and Winning Colors (1988) are the only three females to win the Santa Anita Derby; Winning Colors would go on to become just the third, and last, filly to prevail in the Kentucky Derby.
5. On April 8, 2000, Santa Anita Derby Day set a one-day record handle of $25,282,789 at the track for a non-Breeders’ Cup Day; it is the fourth highest one-day handle at the track behind the 2003, 2008 and 1993 Breeders’ Cup Days.