FrontRunner Stakes
- Location: Santa Anita Park, Aracadia, CA
- Inaugural Race: 1970
- Distance: 1 & 1/16 miles (8.5 furlongs)
- Track Type: Left-handed, Dirt
- Age Qualifications: Two-year-olds
- 2017 Purse: $300,000
- 2017 Race Date: Saturday, September 30th
Recent Frontrunner Stakes News
2017 Frontrunner Stakes Entries and Results
| POST | HORSE | JOCKEY | TRAINER | WIN | PLACE | SHOW |
|---|
4 | Bolt d'Oro | C. Nakatani | M. Ruis | 3.80 | 2.80 | 2.20 |
8 | Solomini | F. Prat | B. Baffert | 3.80 | 3.00 | |
2 | Take the One O One | J. Talamo | B. Koriner | 7.00 | ||
3 | Ayacara (GB) | K. Desormeaux | K. Desormeaux | |||
1 | Zatter | R. Bejarano | B. Baffert | |||
7 | Encumbered | M. Gutierrez | S. Callaghan | |||
5 | City Plan | D. Van Dyke | E. Harty | |||
9 | Continental Divide | V. Espinoza | J. Cassidy | |||
6 | Texas Wedge | E. Roman | P. Miller |
Exotic Payoffs:
- $2 Exacta (4-8) Paid: $12.80
- $1 Trifecta (4-8-2) Paid: $113.00
- $1 Superfecta (4-8-2-3) Paid: $638.50
- $2 Daily Double (3/4) Paid: $11.60
- $2 Pick 3 (6/3/4) Paid: $149.80
Watch the 2017 Frontrunner Stakes
The History of the Frontrunner Stakes
Originally staged by the Oak Tree Racing Association and first known as the Norfolk Stakes, the race was renamed the FrontRunner Stakes – after a popular area at Santa Anita racecourse – when Oak Tree lost the lease to race at Santa Anita.
The race has been a part of the Road to the Kentucky Derby series since the series was formed. Points on the table are awarded to the first four runners on a 10-4-2-1 basis. Triple Crown winner American Pharoah won the race in 2014, while others to win Classics the following year include Snow Chief, Lookin At Lucky, and Nyquist.
It’s also a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race, providing automatic entry for the winner to the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Two of the first three BC Juvenile winners – Chief’s Crown (1984) and Capote (1986) won this race, but only Nyquist (2015) has completed the double since.
Trainer Bob Baffert has won the race seven of the past 21 years, while Alex Solis was aboard the winner seven times – none of them on Baffert runners.