Eddie Logan Lures BC Alums Speed Boat Beach, Nagirroc

Speed Boat Beach  will look to add a third stakes win on grass for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert when he takes on seven rivals, led by the grade 1-placed Nagirroc , in the $100,000 Eddie Logan Stakes Dec. 30 at a mile on turf at Santa Anita Park.

Speed Boat Beach, winner of the five-furlong Speakeasy Stakes on the Santa Anita turf course in October, added another stakes triumph on Dec. 4 when edging Game Time  by a half-length in the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes (G3T) going a mile on grass at Del Mar. Sandwiched between those two wins was a ninth-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint (G1T) at Keeneland Nov. 4.

Speed Boat Beach will have a new rider on Friday as Ramon Vazquez takes over for Flavien Prat, who is on eastern shipper Nagirroc for trainer Graham Motion. By Bayern , the Caperlane Farm-bred Speed Boat Beach was a $200,000 purchase by his owners from the Really and Truly Thoroughbreds consignment to this year's Ocala Breeders' Sales Company March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training. 

Nagirroc comes west following a solid third-place effort in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf (G1T) at Keeneland Nov. 4.  He vaulted into the Breeders' Cup after winning the Futurity Stakes (G3T) on grass going six furlongs at Aqueduct Racetrack. The son of Lea  , who is owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Madaket Stables, and William Strauss, has worked once since his arrival at Santa Anita.

In the DeMille, Game Time dueled with Speed Boat Beach throughout and came up just short in a game effort under Umberto Rispoli. Trained by John Sadler and owned by Hronis Racing, the Not This Time   colt broke his maiden one start earlier at Santa Anita when racing a mile on grass on Oct. 10.

Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez will replace Rispoli, who is named to ride Classical Cat  for trainer Phil D'Amato.

As for Michael House's Classical Cat, he is exiting a sharp allowance win when going a mile on grass for the first time on Oct. 23 at Santa Anita. Prior to that effort, the Mendelssohn   colt won his debut sprinting on dirt at Del Mar in August and came back to finish seventh in the Runhappy Del Mar Futurity (G1).

The Eddie Logan is named in honor of Santa Anita's original shoeshine attendant, who operated his shoeshine stand at The Great Race Place from its opening in 1934 until shortly before his death at the age of 98 on Jan. 31, 2009.  Logan, who often referred to himself as a "Footman," was one of the most popular employees to ever work at Santa Anita.

G Laurie Leads 11-Horse Lineup in Blue Norther

G Laurie , third in the Johnnie Walker Natalma Stakes (G1T) at Woodbine in her most recent start, has come west seeking a stakes victory in Friday's $100,000 Blue Norther Stakes against a deep field in a mile affair on the Santa Anita turf.

Prior to her promising run in the one-mile Natalma, G Laurie debuted with a romping six-length victory going a mile and one sixteenth on grass at Colonial Downs on Aug. 23 for trainer Motion. The Oscar Performance   filly arrived at Santa Anita earlier this month and worked a bullet last week in completing four furlongs in :48.

Madaket Stables' G Laurie will be ridden by Juan Hernandez, who won four races on opening day of the winter meet, Dec. 26, including two grade 1s. G Laurie adds blinkers.

Manhattan Jungle  is one of three trained by Michael McCarthy in the Blue Norther. Twice a stakes winner in Europe, Manhattan Jungle came stateside for the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) at Keeneland and checked in eighth after pressing the pace for previous trainer Amy Murphy Nov. 4. She is owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and will be ridden by Hall of Famer John Velazquez.

The local contingent has several that are exiting the Jimmy Durante Stakes (G3T) at Del Mar at the mile distance Dec. 3. Leading that group is Decorated My Life , who finished second at 20-1 in the Durante when making her U.S. bow for trainer Simon Callaghan. Owned by CYBT and Michael Nentwig, the Irish-bred daughter of Mehmas  was 1-for-4 in her native country prior to shipping to the United States

Joe Bravo, who was aboard for the Durante, retains the mount on Decorated My Life.

Also exiting the Durante is Thebestisyettobe , who drew in from the also-eligible list after Showgirl Lynne B scratched.

Entries: Eddie Logan S.

Santa Anita Park, Friday, December 30, 2022, Race 3

• STK
• 1m
• Turf
• $100,000
• 2 yo
• 12:59 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
1	1Malibu Coast (KY)	Lanfranco Dettori	120	Michael W. McCarthy	8/1
2	2Tostado (IRE)	Juan J. Hernandez	118	Vladimir Cerin	4/1
3	3Classical Cat (KY)	Umberto Rispoli	120	Philip D'Amato	4/1
4	4First Peace (KY)	Mike E. Smith	120	Mark Glatt	5/1
5	5Nagirroc (KY)	Flavien Prat	118	H. Graham Motion	9/5
6	6Game Time (KY)	John R. Velazquez	120	John W. Sadler	6/1
7	7Speed Boat Beach (FL)	Ramon A. Vazquez	122	Bob Baffert	5/2
8	8Ah Jeez (KY)	Tiago Josue Pereira	118	Doug F. O'Neill	8/1

Entries: Blue Norther S.

Santa Anita Park, Friday, December 30, 2022, Race 9

• STK
• 1m
• Turf
• $100,000
• 2 yo Fillies
• 4:02 PM (local)

PP	Horse	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer	M/L
98	1Showgirl Lynne B (KY)	SCRATCHED	0	UNKNOWN	-
1	2Naughty Lottie (KY)	Kent J. Desormeaux	118	J. Keith Desormeaux	30/1
2	3Ragtime Rose (KY)	Kyle Frey	118	Jeff Mullins	15/1
3	4Decorated My Life (IRE)	Joe Bravo	118	Simon Callaghan	4/1
4	5G Laurie (KY)	Juan J. Hernandez	120	H. Graham Motion	5/2
5	6Manhattan Jungle (IRE)	John R. Velazquez	118	Michael W. McCarthy	4/1
6	7Broadway Girls (KY)	Edwin A. Maldonado	120	Doug F. O'Neill	10/1
7	8Tea N Conversation (KY)	Umberto Rispoli	120	Michael W. McCarthy	6/1
8	9Spanning the Globe (KY)	Kazushi Kimura	120	Michael W. McCarthy	20/1
9	10Pleasant Wave (KY)	Mario Gutierrez	118	George Papaprodromou	30/1
10	11Ami Please (KY)	Lanfranco Dettori	120	Doug F. O'Neill	12/1
11	12Thebestisyettobe (IRE)	Flavien Prat	118	Philip D'Amato	6/1