Will Game On Dude, Mucho Macho Man or Will Take Charge add to their considerable legacies or will one of their five challengers step into the history books with a victory in the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita Park?
The answer will come at about 7:15 ET Saturday in the 77th running of the Big ’Cap, which will be televised live on FOX Sports 1 as part of The Jockey Club Tour on FOX series. The telecast will air from 7 to 7:30 p.m. ET. A channel locator for FOX Sports 1 is available at msn.foxsports.com/foxsports1-find-fox-sports-1-on-your-tv.
Greg Wolf, Richard Migliore and Andy Serling will handle the on-air duties for Saturday’s telecast.
Game On Dude won the historic race in 2011 and 2013, and Mucho Macho Man beat Will Take Charge by a nose in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita last November 2.
Will Take Charge, the Eclipse Award winner as outstanding 3-year-old of 2013, was second to Lea in the Donn Handicap at Gulfstream Park in his 2014 debut, and Mucho Macho Man won the Florida Sunshine Millions Classic at Gulfstream Park on January 18 by 14 lengths.
Saturday’s running of the Big ’Cap will mark just the second time that the first two finishers in the Breeders’ Cup Classic have competed in the Santa Anita Handicap: in a battle of Kentucky Derby winners, Alysheba defeated Ferdinand in the 1988 Santa Anita Handicap after the latter had won the Breeders’ Cup Classic by a nose.
Gary Stevens, who will ride Game On Dude, earlier this week called this race “the Breeders’ Cup in March,” and Game On Dude’s trainer, Bob Baffert, likened it to “a heavyweight title fight.”
The prestigious 1 ¼-mile Santa Anita Handicap has been won by Hall of Famers such as Seabiscuit, Round Table, Ack Ack, Affirmed, Spectacular Bid, John Henry, Alysheba and Best Pal.
After the Santa Anita Handicap, The Jockey Club Tour on FOX series of races will continue with eight other telecasts that will feature several of North America’s most prestigious races for older horses, including the $10,000,000 Dubai World Cup, the world’s richest Thoroughbred race.
Here is the schedule:
Date |
Time (ET) |
Race |
Track |
Saturday, March 8 |
7:00 – 7:30 pm |
Santa Anita Handicap (G1) |
Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California |
Saturday, March 29 |
1:00 – 2:30 pm |
Dubai World Cup |
Meydan Race Course, Dubai |
Saturday, April 12 |
4:30 – 6:00 pm |
Toyota Blue Grass Stakes (G1) |
Keeneland, Lexington, Kentucky |
Sunday, May 11 |
4:30 – 6:00 pm |
Man o’ War Stakes (G1) |
Belmont Park, Elmont, New York |
Sunday, July 6 |
5:00 – 6:30 pm |
United Nations Stakes (G1) |
Monmouth Park, Oceanport, New Jersey |
Sunday, July 20 |
5:30 – 7:30 pm |
Eddie Read Stakes (G1) |
Del Mar, Del Mar, California |
|
|
TVG Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) |
Saratoga Race Course, Saratoga Springs, New York |
Sunday, Aug. 10 |
5:00 – 6:30 pm |
Saratoga Special Stakes (G2) |
Saratoga Race Course |
Sunday, Aug. 17 |
5:00 – 6:30 pm |
Sword Dancer Invitational Stakes (G1) |
Saratoga Race Course |
Sunday, Sept. 14 |
5:00 – 6:30 pm |
Ricoh Woodbine Mile (G1) |
Woodbine Racetrack, Toronto |
About FOX Sports 1
FOX Sports 1 is America’s new national multi-sport channel that launched on August 17 in approximately 90 million homes and boasts nearly 5,000 hours of live event, news and original programming annually. The channel has several pillar sports: college basketball and football, MLB (in 2014), NASCAR, NFL (ancillary programs), international soccer, UFC and Golden Boy boxing, and adds USGA events, including the U.S. Open, and FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2015. FOX SPORTS LIVE is FOX Sports 1’s flagship 24/7 news, opinion and highlights program, providing around the clock coverage through regularly scheduled programs, hourly updates and an information rich ticker. Original programs include: FOX FOOTBALL DAILY; NASCAR RACE HUB; FOX SOCCER DAILY; CROWD GOES WILD, a new live sports entertainment talk show hosted by Regis Philbin; and the groundbreaking BEING: documentary franchise. FOX Sports GO, a new authenticated mobile sports experience for iPhone, iPad, Android devices and the web, serves as the channel’s digital extension. The app offers more than 1,100 live games and events from FOX Sports, FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports 2 and FOX Sports’ 22 regional sports networks, as well as scores, highlights, news, stats and analysis. For more information, visit msn.foxsports.com/foxsports1.
About Santa Anita Park
Santa Anita Park is a Stronach Group company, North America’s leading Thoroughbred racetrack owner/operator. The Stronach Group racetracks include Santa Anita Park, Gulfstream Park & Casino, Golden Gate Fields, Portland Meadows, Laurel Park and Pimlico Race Course, home of the world-famous Preakness. The company owns and operates the Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida, and is one of North America’s top racehorse breeders through its award-winning Adena Springs operation. The Stronach Group is one of the world’s largest suppliers of pari-mutuel wagering systems, technologies and services. Its companies include AmTote, a global leader in wagering technology; Xpressbet, an Internet and telephone account wagering service; and Monarch Content Management, which acts as a simulcast purchase and sales agent of horse racing content for numerous North American racetracks and wagering outlets. The Stronach Group is also a major producer of televised horseracing programming through its HRTV cable and satellite network and is North America’s premier supplier of virtual online horseracing games, as well as a leading producer of social media content for the horse racing industry.
About The Jockey Club
The Jockey Club, founded in 1894 and dedicated to the improvement of Thoroughbred breeding and racing, is the breed registry for North American Thoroughbreds. In fulfillment of its mission, The Jockey Club, directly or through subsidiaries, provides support and leadership on a wide range of important industry initiatives, and it serves the information and technology needs of owners, breeders, media, fans and farms. It is a founding member of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities and the architect and sole funding source for America’s Best Racing, the broad-based fan development initiative for Thoroughbred racing. You can follow America’s Best Racing at americasbestracing.net as well as on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, and Instagram. For more information, visit jockeyclub.com. |