Santa Anita plans to resume thoroughbred racing Friday through Sunday after rain cancellations earlier in the week, with an added program on Thursday, January 8. Highlighted is Saturday’s Santa Ynez Stakes featuring the return of Explora, a Bob Baffert-trained 3-year-old filly who recently placed second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies. The rescheduled Robert J. Frankel and Eddie Logan Stakes will run next Thursday. Notably, jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. secured the national earnings title for 2025 with a record $40.5 million in purses, narrowly edging out Flavien Prat. Meanwhile, Antonio Fresu is sidelined indefinitely due to a broken toe, creating a gap in the Santa Anita jockey standings.

Other updates include the retirement of Barnes, who strained a tendon and will stand at stud, and the debut of jockey Emisael Jaramillo at Santa Anita. Upcoming stakes races include the Smarty Jones Stakes at Oaklawn Park and Jerome Stakes at Aqueduct, the first Kentucky Derby qualifiers of 2026. Leading trainers by earnings in 2025 include Brad Cox, Steve Asmussen, and Chad Brown. Santa Anita’s upcoming stakes feature the Santa Ynez and Las Flores Stakes, while Los Alamitos hosts the Charger Bar Handicap and Dashingly Handicap.