San Luis Rey Stakes – GIII
$100.000 For Four Year Olds And Upwards
1 1/2 Miles – Turf
Santa Anita Park – March 21, 2026

The twenty-first running of the marathon G3 San Luis Rey Stakes on Saturday has brought forth a field of eleven. It is a talented and accomplished group who will seek to hit the wire first and grab the winner’s share of the $100.000 purse with a couple of dark horses sprinkled in to add a little bit of intrigue.

1. Buffalo G (Nakamura Stables/J. Laprida) Won the G3 San Marcos Stakes here at Santa Anita on Valentine’s Day beating several horses he will see today, His reward? He will be asked to carry two pounds more than everyone else. He has won an impressive twenty races from his sixty starts and is truly what you would call a war horse. A win here would put him over $2,000.000 in career earnings.

2. Going Bananas (Delta Farms/K. Kimura) Talk about David and Goliath, the horse to his inside has won nearly $1,900.000 more. The good news though is he has been in the money in six straight races all of which has been on the grass. He has found really good form at the allowance level since switching surfaces and is seeking to take a step up in class. Will be interesting to keep an eye on.

3. Sunshine Superman (Barcelona Farms/D. Cohen) He is a stakes winner who has been a near miss runner up in several graded contests. Ran fourth on a wet track in his seasonal opener in January and will look to improve from that on what is expected to be a firm track on Saturday. He has performed well on wet tracks throughout his career so you can’t completely blame the weather on his last race. This race will give us a better gauge on his five-year-old form. He is another who will crack an earnings milestone if he wins. A win would put his earnings over $1,000.000.

4. Dangerous Fugitive (Night Rider Stables/E. Jaramillo) The seven-year-old is a familiar face in these marathon grass events and won the G3 San Juan Capistrano at Santa Anita going this same distance last June. Like Sunshine Superman to his inside, he can normally be counted on to be part of the battle when they hit the wire but failed to show that form in his 2026 debut when he finished eighth in the G3 McKnight Stakes in January. He has rebounded strongly from that kind of subpar effort in the past so don’t be surprised if he shows good form in this one.

5. Gold Vault (The Sidley Stud/J.J. Hernandez) He finished two lengths behind Buffalo G a month ago but is getting a two-pound weight shift and an additional quarter of a mile to close into. That could turn the tables on that rival but there are others here he will also need to contend with. Since shifting to the grass, he has won two of five starts. Both of his grass wins were stakes triumphs including the G2 Sycamore to close out his 2025. Given that the San Marcos loss to Buffalo G was his first race in four months, look at that as a tightener and expect him to be sharper here. 

6. Kegger (Ajm Stables/V. Del-Cid) He was claimed for $40.000 last April and won the G2 Bowling Green at Saratoga last summer in his third race for his new barn. He followed that up with a near miss nose loss in the prestigious G1 Sword Dancer also at the Spa.  Quite a claim, eh? Jealousy abounds with this writer. The six-year-old has maintained that sharp form since and he has put up two triple digit SRF speed figures in his last three races. His works are as fast as ever so look for him to be a closing threat when they come under the wire the second time. 

7. Dirtiest Sin (The Sidley Stud/J. Valdivia Jr.) He has won four of his eight grass races but has been off the board in his two stakes attempts. If you look way back in his past performances, you will see that he was stakes placed early in his career on dirt, but this will be his initial attempt in graded company on any surface. Claimed for $6.000 last August he has won two of three starts for the new barn since then. The new barn has found good form with the five-year-old by stretching him out. He will be going a mile and a half for the first time and the extra distance might help. His good efforts going long on grass combined with quick works are giving the new barn enough confidence to take a shot. 

8. Penal Hockey Party (Maxmillion Farm/E. Maldonado) Respect. You have to give respect to this seven-year-old veteran who has won six graded stakes races including two G1 events and amassed career earnings to date of $4,350.610. He won his 2026 debut when he won the Connally BC Turf in January announcing to the older male turf division that he is still a warrior to be reckoned with. What else do you say about a horse with his credentials? First graded attempt of the year and the one to beat. 

9. One Punch Line (Saratoga Stud/H. Berrios) A multiple graded stakes winner he has won on both dirt and grass. He has not hit the board though since he won the G2 Del Mar Handicap last August. Finished fourth in the G3 McKnight Stakes to start his year and has several really sharp works since then to show that he might have gained additional sharpness since then. 

10. Fanatical Empire (Bigchief Stables/K.J. Desormeaux) He was sold for $1.000 in the Smokey fire sale and then immediately flipped for the private purchase price of $375.000. Ungelded and royally bred he rewarded that purchase by winning the $1,000.000 G1 Forester Turf Classic on the soft Churchill Downs grass on Derby Day. He has not been able to find that form in five starts since but the five-year-old has been freshened up with nearly a five-month break and resurfaces here off of morning works where he has been running holes in the wind 

11. Great Vault (Winning Link Stables/U. Rispoli) There is no shortage of horses with impressive records and accomplishments in this race, and we find another G1 winner in Great Vault who has drawn the far outside post. Another Smokey Stover bred who was picked up for a bargain price, but it wasn’t in the dispersal. He had passed through the storied Smokey, Mb Stables and Spinetingling barns when he was bought privately by Winning Link for a modest $20.000. Since then, he has gone on to win only one time, but that win was the G1 Sword Dancer at Saratoga last summer where he bested fellow Cinderella story Kegger who has drawn post six today. He almost ended his 2025 with a win the G1 BC Turf where he missed by just a neck. Can jump up and surprise on the biggest of days apparently,

Seems a shame that a field of this depth and talent is going to battle it out for only $100.000. Regardless, it will be a fun race to watch from a fan perspective and will give us some insights on this division as we move through the year towards the Breeders Cup which, as a graded event, this race will contribute towards qualifying for. I said you have to respect Penal Hockey Party and you do but I am going to go with a gut feeling and pick Fanatical Empire off of his five months’ rest and his works. I will use Penal Hockey Party in second and round it out with Buffalo G and One Last Punch Line in third and fourth.

Categories: Grade III, STAKES ARTICLES