San Marcos Stakes at Santa Anita

Las Vegas, NV -- Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California is the scene for the 60th running of the Grade 2 San Marcos Stakes Saturday, February 11th, 2012. $150,000 is on the line for horses Four-Years-Old and Older. The race will be contested on Santa Anita's Turf track and will cover a distance of 1 1/4 miles. A strong field of eight is confirmed for the San Marcos, which is the 9th race on Santa Anita's Saturday schedule. Post time is 4:30 PM PST.

A number of graded stakes winners including last year's winner of this very race are scheduled to appear Saturday. Let's take a look at all of the entries and the credentials that brought them to Saturday's San Marcos.

The Favorites:

Sanagas - German-bred Sanagas has done very well since arriving on North American soil - seven wins in 10 starts. Most recently Sanagas won the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup in November and the Grade 3 Sycamore Stakes at Keeneland in October. This will be Sanagas's second time going this distance - the first was a 7th at the Arlington handicap in July. However, jockey Joel Rosario and trainer Peter Miller have Sanagas on quite a roll - Sanagas has to be the favorite.

San Marcos Stakes betting at Santa Anita Park with OffTrackBetting.com

Bourbon Bay - Bourbon Bay is the defending champion at this event but has lost to Sanagas as recently as November in the Hollywood Turf Cup. However, Bourbon Bay is a different horse at Santa Anita - five wins in six starts at this track including four Grade 2 events. Bourbon Bay starts from the outside with last year's winning jockey Rafael Bejarano in the saddle.

Norvsky - Norvsky has had success on this track as recently as January 16th - a win at the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes over the likes of Jeranimo. The San Gabriel was Norvsky's second straight win on this course - the other being the California Cup Classic in October. Sandwiched between the two wins is a fifth place finish at the Hollywood Turf Cup in a race that Sanagas won.

The Others:

The Usual Q.T. - After a long layoff, The Usual Q.T. returned to action with a respectable third place finish in the San Gabriel in January. The Usual Q.T. hasn't won since July 2010 at the Grade 1 Eddie Read Stakes but does have two seconds and three third place finishes since. This will be the second time The Usual Q.T. has gone 1 ¼ on turf - the other being a win at the Grade 1 Hollywood Derby in 2009.

Worth Repeating - returns after a long layoff followed a win at the Grade 3 Tokyo City Stakes on dirt in March. Worth Repeating hasn't raced since that March win.

Ashtar - has finished fourth in the last two starts - at the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes at Santa Anita on January 16th and at the Grade 1 Hollywood Turf Cup in November. He has faced a number of this year's San Marcos participants with unflattering results.

Slim Shadey - finished first last time out in an Allowance Optional Claiming on January 12th at this distance on the same course - a good sign. But the win came after a disappointing ninth in an Allowance on January 2nd.

Utopian - raced twice back in December - a 4th at an Allowance Optional Claiming on the 29th and a 6th at the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes - both at Santa Anita. Utopian is a long shot in this race.

The San Marcos Stakes is Race 9 on Santa Anita's Saturday card with a Post Time of 4:38 PM PT.