Express Train Outduels Warrant in Santa Anita Handicap
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Photo: Benoit Photo
Express Train (outside) inches past Warrant in the Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita Park
The photographers were buzzing: "He's posing in the winner's circle!" And the camera shutters began clicking madly.
The surprise wasn't that the favorite, Express Train , had won the March 5 Santa Anita Handicap presented by Yaavama' Resort & Casino (G1). It was that trainer John Shirreffs snuck into the back of the pack of people posing with the horse. Shirreffs famously never stays for photos, preferring to stand out on the track, inspect his horse, and then walk to the test barn with him.
But this was the Santa Anita Handicap, a race Shirreffs had never won. And there he was, trying to hide in the back row, but caught for posterity nevertheless.
Express Train, Shirreffs, and owners Lee and Susan Searing deserved to win the race. They had come close before. Midcourt , owned by the Searings and trained by Shirreffs, finished third in 2020, and Express Train ran second last year.
Following victories in the Dec. 26 San Antonio Stakes (G2) and Feb. 5 San Pasqual Stakes (G2), Express Train went off as the 11-10 favorite in the field of seven. Carrying top weight of 124 pounds, he broke from the gate in good order and settled in the second group of three as American Theorem set the early pace.
Initially entered in both the seven-furlong San Carlos presented by FanDuel (G2) and the 1 1/4-mile Santa Anita Handicap, American Theorem completed the first quarter-mile in :23. Spielberg , first out of the gate from the rail, was second, not far behind American Theorem, while Warrant , a graded winner from Louisiana trained by reigning two-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, ran third.
Jockey Victor Espinoza let Express Train run easily in fourth on the outside, well in the clear.
Heading into the second turn, jockey Flavien Prat asked Warrant, who grabbed the lead. But Espinoza also had Express Train in full flight, and Express Train took over at the top of the stretch.
If the San Pasqual had provided the blueprint, Express Train would have drawn away for an easy win. Warrant, however, was made of sterner stuff. He battled back, and he and Express Train bobbed heads throughout the stretch. Express Train couldn't shake free of the invader, but he also refused to let him pass. Express Train ultimately edged Warrant by a head in 2:03.22 while giving him three pounds.
"As soon as he's in front he knows he's got it," said Espinoza. "He just gave me a little bit of a hard time at the end to get me excited and pump up my muscles. I thought it was an exciting race. He is a powerful horse and he needs to find rhythm. It doesn't matter how wide I go on the turns as long as he is comfortable enough to stretch his legs and do his thing."
The pair dominated the rest of the field, as demonstrated by the nine-length margin between Warrant and third-place Stilleto Boy .
"I thought he was going to away from Warrant, but Warrant kept digging back in," said Shirreffs.
Lee Searing had words of praise for Warrant, saying, "When Warrant came to him, I knew he was going to get head and head with that horse. But that's a horse that shipped in and that's a good horse."
Searing has been coming to Santa Anita for the Big 'Cap since 1956. He remembers seeing horses like Round Table and Swaps, and he said that he has only missed a few while he and Susan raised their kids and started their business. So winning the race meant plenty to him. And yet his first thoughts were of Shirreffs.
"When they said that John Shirreffs had never won the Santa Anita Handicap, that kind of sits with me even before me and my family," Searing said. "To own a horse and to win a Santa Anita Handicap after all the years coming to this great place, it doesn't get any better than that."
Victor Espinoza shares a moment with Express Train en route to the winner's circle
Searing spent $500,000 for Express Train at the 2016 Keeneland September Yearling Sale and admits he was looking for a horse that could run in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodfor Reserve (G1). When circumstances kept Express Train from the Triple Crown trail, the Searings sat back and watched Shirreffs develop him into a leading older horse.
"We've got three or four back in the barn that aren't going to make the Derby trail also," Searing said. "They may not be this horse, but John is doing the same thing with them."
Express Train's connections enjoy the trophy presentation for the Santa Anita Handicap
With the Big 'Cap victory, Express Train became a millionaire. He also became the first horse since Farma Way in 1991 to capture the San Antonio, San Pasqual, and Big 'Cap in the same season.
Dixiana Farm bred Express Train, a son of Union Rags —I'm a Flake , by Mineshaft , in Kentucky. Unplaced in four starts, I'm a Flake is out of multiple graded winner November Snow . Since producing Express Train, I'm a Flake has a 2-year-old colt by Accelerate and was bred back to Union Rags.