2025 San Felipe Stakes Betting Odds and Contenders Preview

The west coast spur of the road to the Kentucky Derby continues on Saturday, March 1, at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. The $300,000 San Felipe Stakes (G2) drew a field of six. The 1 1/16-mile race offers 50-25-15-10-5 Kentucky Derby qualifying points for the top five finishers, meaning the winner has likely punched their ticket to the Run for the Roses. Horses who run well in this and come back with another strong effort in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) or another major prep race will also be in a good position to make it to Churchill Downs.

Barnes, who has taken heavy interest in Kentucky Derby futures despite his relative inexperience, tries two turns for the first time for trainer Bob Baffert. The only other graded-stakes winner in the field is Journalism, who makes his first start since a comfortable victory in the Los Alamitos Futurity (G2) going this same distance back in December.

The San Felipe is part of one of the biggest cards of the spring meet at Santa Anita. It is one of four graded-stakes races on the card. Others include the Santa Anita Handicap (G1) for older dirt route horses, the Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1) for older turf routers, and the Buena Vista (G2) for filly and mare turf milers.

The San Felipe is the final local prep for the Santa Anita Derby, and it has a long history of producing live Kentucky Derby prospects. Triple Crown winner Affirmed (1978) won this race on the way to that glory, as did Kentucky Derby winners Sunday Silence (1989), Fusaichi Pegasus (2000), California Chrome (2014), and Authentic (2020). Other important recent horses to win the race include Point Given (2001), Bolt d’Oro (2018), and Life Is Good (2021).

San Felipe Stakes 2025 Information

• Race Date: Sunday, March 1, 2025
• Track: Santa Anita Park
• Post Time: 3:43 p.m. Pacific Standard Time
• Distance: 1 1/16 miles
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV, CNBC
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

San Felipe Stakes Odds

This is the field for the San Felipe Stakes, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and morning-line odds for each contender.

San Felipe Stakes Prep Results

The six entrants come out of five different races. The only race with more than one last-out runner is the San Vicente (G2) on January 4 at Santa Anita. The seven-furlong sprint, which was not a Kentucky Derby points race, was won by Barnes, the morning-line favorite for the San Felipe. Long shot Smooth Cruisein came in fourth in that race.

Two others come out of graded-stakes races that offered points toward the Kentucky Derby. Journalism makes his first start since winning the Los Alamitos Futurity on December 14. Rodriguez is the only horse who comes out of the Robert B. Lewis (G3), the previous points prep at Santa Anita. He finished second to champion Citizen Bull in that February 1 race.

The other two horses in the field come out of maiden special weight races. Mellencamp, a four-start maiden, most recently finished second behind the well-regarded Baeza in a dirt mile at Santa Anita on February 14. Berlin Wall crossed the wire second in a six-furlong sprint for California-breds on February 1, but he was promoted due to a disqualification that involved the first- and third-place finishers.

San Felipe Stakes Contenders

These are the contenders in the San Felipe Stakes, organized by post position:

1. Mellencamp: With four starts he is the most experienced horse in the field, though he is also the only maiden in the field. He wasn’t a bad second behind Baeza, a well-regarded relative to classic winners Mage and Dornoch, last out. And, he still has some upside due to age, distance, and the fact that he has run into trouble in several of his starts. Still, he faces his steepest challenge yet in this, and he may be in here just to maximize chances for stablemates Barnes and Rodriguez to get full Kentucky Derby points, since the points on offer drop once the field size is five or fewer.
2. Journalism: Two turns was just the ticket for this son of Curlin: He was only third in his sprint debut at Santa Anita, but graduated at a mile at Del Mar last fall and then won the 1 1/16-mile Los Alamitos Futurity. He rallied from midfield to break his maiden and then stalked in the Los Alamitos Futurity, suggesting some versatility with respect to pace. Umberto Rispoli returns from that last-out win, and if he picks up where he left off at the end of his two-year-old year, he might turn out to be the value of the field if the Baffert horses take the usual Baffert betting action.
3. Barnes: He has been a buzz horse since selling for $3.2 million as a yearling, and was in a Kentucky Derby Future Wager before he ever even raced. He is undefeated in two starts, including a decisive 5 ½-length score in the San Vicente last out. However, he has yet to try two turns yet—the only one of the four major contenders in this race who has not yet been tested over such a trip. Of course, Baffert has a good sense for stretching horses out in major races, meaning perhaps he could win anyway. But, the price won’t be much.
4. Rodriguez: The second-stringer from the Baffert barn, he chased around champion Citizen Bull last out, and now he finds another well-regarded stablemate to run after. Perhaps he is the one who gets the early lead, given his tendency to be forward and given that he did break his maiden while leading at every call. The rest won’t be far beyond him, but if they let him set a slow enough pace he has a shot to steal it.
5. Smooth Cruisein: Despite a slow break on debut he shocked a couple of the Bafferts in here, Mellencamp and Rodriguez, when he won in his six-furlong debut on October 27. However, he couldn’t pull a similar rabbit out of his hat on January 4 in the San Felipe, finishing a no-threat fourth behind Barnes in the San Vicente. The barn can sometimes pop at a price first-time route, though he needs a serious step forward if his more class-proven contenders show up on their game.
6. Berlin Wall: He graduated last out against California-breds in a six-furlong spring, being moved up to first after a disqualification involving the first- and third-place horses. This start will be a stiff test for him: it will be his first two-turn race, his first stakes try, and his first race against winners. He has a lot to find against the leading contenders in this race, and given the barn’s tendency to underperform both with graded stakes and last-out maiden winners, this does not look like the day for Berlin Wall.

San Felipe Stakes Past Winners Past Performances

San Felipe winners tend to come out of stakes races, though there is no single stakes race that provides a preponderance of the winners of the last race. (The last ten runnings of this date back to 2014, since the San Felipe was skipped in 2019 due to track issues at Santa Anita.) The now-discontinued Sham (G3) leads the charge with two: Authentic (2020) and Life Is Good (2021) both won the Sham.

Three of the six other winners who came from stakes came out of other three-year-old stakes: Forbidden Kingdom (2022) won the San Vicente (G2), Dortmund (2015) won the Robert B. Lewis (G3), and California Chrome (2014) won the state-bred California Cup Derby. Three others came out of juvenile races. Mastery (2017) and Practical Move (2023) were last seen winning the Los Alamitos Futurity, while Bolt d’Oro (2018) was third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1).

Only two of the last ten winners came out of non-stakes races. Danzing Candy (2016) came into the race out of an allowance win, and made his stakes debut in the San Felipe. Imagination (2024) also made his stakes debut in the San Felipe, and came out of a second-place finish in allowance company.

San Felipe Stakes Undercard

The San Felipe Stakes is the eighth of 11 races on Saturday at Santa Anita. It is one of the biggest cards of the meet, featuring four stakes races. In addition to the San Felipe, the card features the $300,000 Santa Anita Handicap (G1) for older dirt routers, the $300,000 Frank E. Kilroe Mile (G1) for older turf milers, and the $200,000 Buena Vista (G2) for filly and mare turf milers. The card features classy racing and solid fields all day long, making Saturday an excellent day to watch on FanDuel TV and bet online at FanDuel!

Santa Anita Park

Santa Anita Park began as a part of Rancho Santa Anita. After a series of owners, it was acquired by horse breeder Lucky Baldwin, who built the original Santa Anita Park in 1904. That facility closed in 1909 after a California law banning racetrack gambling, and burned down in 1912. Horse racing became legal again in California in 1933, after which the Los Angeles Turf Club was formed. They built a new track, the present Santa Anita, which opened on Christmas Day in 1934.

Santa Anita's main track is a one-mile dirt oval. The turf track inside of it is a 0.9-mile grass oval. A unique feature of that Santa Anita turf track is the downhill course, which juts out to the northwest over the far turn, crosses over the dirt, and then joins the turf oval. Santa Anita runs 6 1/2-furlong turf sprints over that course, and also uses it as a start for some of its longer turf routes.

San Felipe Stakes FAQ

Q: When and where is the San Felipe Stakes?

A: The 2025 San Felipe Stakes happens on Saturday, March 1 at Santa Anita Park. Carded as the eighth of 11 races, post time is scheduled for 3:43 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the San Felipe Stakes?

A: Trainer Bob Baffert has the most wins in the San Felipe with nine, most recently in 2024 with Imagination. He trains three of the six entrants in 2025: Barnes, Rodriguez, and Mellencamp.

Q: Who is the favorite for the San Felipe Stakes?

A: Barnes is the 1-1 morning-line favorite for the San Felipe. Between his San Vicente victory, trainer Bob Baffert’s tendency to take betting action, and the fact that he has been well-regarded since before his racing career began, he should hold as post-time favorite.

Q: Who is the best San Felipe Stakes jockey?

A: Jockey Chris McCarron has won the San Felipe the most times: seven, between 1982 and 1998, with that last win coming with star sprinter Artax. Mike Smith leads the jockeys in the 2025 editions with three wins in the race, most recently with Life Is Good in 2021. He can make it four wins if Mellencamp wins.

Q: Who won the 2024 San Felipe Stakes?

A: Imagination won the San Felipe in 2024 for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Frankie Dettori. Dettori does not return to the race this year, though Baffert trains three horses in the 2025 field. Juan Hernandez rides Barnes, Flavien Prat rides Rodriguez, and Mike Smith rides Mellencamp.

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