Thunder Road Stakes

The Thunder Road Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for horses age four and older, over a distance of 1 mile on the turf held annually in January at Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California. The event currently carries a purse of $100,000.

Thunder Road Stakes

Grade III race
Location	Santa Anita Park Arcadia, California, United States
Inaugurated	2004
Race type	Thoroughbred - Flat racing
Website	www.santaanita.com
Race information
Distance	1 mile (8 furlongs)
Surface	Turf
Track	Left-handed
Qualification	Four-year-olds and older
Weight	124 lbs with allowances
Purse	$100,000 (since 2014)

History

The race was inaugurated on 11 February 2004 as a handicap^[1] and was won by Singletary who was ridden by US Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza by a margin of one length in a time of 1:34.42.^[2]

The event was upgraded to a Grade III event for 2009 and was switched to the artificial main track because of weather conditions.^[1]

The event was not run in 2010 or 2012.^[3]

It was downgraded to listed status for 2013 through 2015 but was upgraded back to a Grade III event in 2016. It is currently run under allowance weight conditions with a purse of $100,000.^[1]

Records

Speed record:

• 1:31.78 – Tom's Tribute (2014)

Margins:

• 3+3⁄4 lengths – Hit the Road (2021)

Most wins:

• No horse has won this race more than once.

Most wins by an owner:

• No owner has won this race more than once.

Most wins by a jockey:

• 3 – Victor Espinoza (2004, 2006, 2015)
• 3 – Flavien Prat (2018, 2022, 2023)

Most wins by a trainer:

• 3 – Philip D'Amato (2017, 2022, 2023)

Winners

Year	Winner	Age	Jockey	Trainer	Owner	Distance	Time	Purse	Grade	Ref
Thunder Road Stakes
2024	Goliad	7	Kazushi Kimura	Richard E. Mandella	Ramona S. & Perry R. Bass II	1 mile	1:33.57	$101,000	III	[4]
2023	Earls Rock (IRE)	5	Flavien Prat	Philip D'Amato	Anthony Fanticola	1 mile	1:34.05	$103,000	III	[5]
2022	Count Again	7	Flavien Prat	Philip D'Amato	Agave Racing Stable & Sam-Son Farm	1 mile	1:34.12	$100,500	III	[6]
2021	Hit the Road	5	Umberto Rispoli	Dan Blacker	D K Racing, Radley Equine, Taste of Victory Stables, Rick Gold & Dave Odmark	1 mile	1:33.35	$100,500	III	[7]
2020	River Boyne (IRE)	5	Abel Cedillo	Jeff Mullins	Red Baron's Barn & Rancho Temescal	1 mile	1:33.78	$102,000	III	[8]
2019	True Valour (IRE)	5	Andrea Atzeni	Simon Callaghan	Qatar Racing Limited	1 mile	1:36.35	$100,351	III	[9]
2018	Om	6	Flavien Prat	Dan L. Hendricks	Sareen Family Trust	1 mile	1:33.54	$100,345	III	[10]
2017	Farhaan	8	Tyler Baze	Philip D'Amato	Matthew Schera	1 mile	1:33.18	$100,690	III	[11]
2016	What a View	5	Kent J. Desormeaux	Kenneth D. Black	Finish Line Racing, The Ellwood Johnston Trust, P. & S. Berumen	1 mile	1:39.01	$102,070	III	[12]
2015	Talco (FR)	4	Victor Espinoza	John W. Sadler	Hronis Racing	1 mile	1:34.26	$82,000	Listed	[13]
2014	Tom's Tribute	4	Mike E. Smith	James M. Cassidy	Tom & Marilyn Braly	1 mile	1:31.78	$79,750		[14]
2013	Battle Force	4	Corey Nakatani	John Shirreffs	Woodford Racing	1 mile	1:32.94	$78,700		[15]
2012	Race not held
Thunder Road Handicap
2011	Fluke (BRZ)	6	Joseph Talamo	Humberto Ascanio	Patricia Bozano	1 mile	1:33.77	$100,000	III	[16]
2010	Race not held
2009	Matto Mondo (CHI)	5	Mike E. Smith	Richard E. Mandella	Yatse Stables I	1 mile	1:34.61	$100,000	III	[17]
2008	Storm Military (ARG)	6	Garrett K. Gomez	Robert J. Frankel	Castleton Lyons & La Biznaga	1 mile	1:34.17	$81,150	Listed	[18]
2007	Sweet Return (GB)	7	Alex O. Solis	Ron McAnally	Red Oak Stable	1 mile	1:35.47	$80,050	Listed	[19]
2006	Senor Swinger	6	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	Robert & Beverly Lewis	1 mile	1:34.00	$81,450	Listed	[20]
2005	Laura's Lucky Boy	4	Pat Valenzuela	Vladimir Cerin	Ernie Moody	1 mile	1:34.39	$78,650	Listed	[21]
2004	Singletary	4	Victor Espinoza	Don Chatlos	Little Red Feather Racing	1 mile	1:34.42	$71,350		[2]

Legend:
  All Weather Track   Turf

See also

• List of American and Canadian Graded races

References

1. "Stakes profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
2. "2004 Thunder Road Handicap Black Type - (race 7)". Equibase. 11 February 2004. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
3. "THUNDER ROAD STAKES - MULTIPLE TRACKS". Thoroughbred Pedigree Online. 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
4. "2024 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 8)". Equibase. 3 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
5. "2023 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 10)". Equibase. 5 February 2023. Retrieved 5 February 2023.
6. "2022 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 1)". Equibase. 5 February 2022. Retrieved 10 February 2022.
7. "2021 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 8)". Equibase. 6 February 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
8. "2020 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 7)". Equibase. 8 February 2020. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
9. "2019 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 7)". Equibase. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
10. "2018 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 5)". Equibase. 10 February 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
11. "2017 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 7)". Equibase. 29 April 2017. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
12. "2016 Thunder Road Stakes Grade 3 - (race 9)". Equibase. 9 April 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
13. "2015 Thunder Road Stakes Listed - (race 11)". Equibase. 4 April 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
14. "2014 Thunder Road Stakes Black Type - (race 8)". Equibase. 6 April 2014. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
15. "2013 Thunder Road Stakes Black Type - (race 6)". Equibase. 6 April 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
16. "2011 Thunder Road Handicap Grade 3 - (race 8)". Equibase. 5 February 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
17. "2009 Thunder Road Handicap Grade 3 - (race 7)". Equibase. 7 February 2009. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
18. "2008 Thunder Road Handicap Listed - (race 8)". Equibase. 2 February 2008. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
19. "2007 Thunder Road Handicap Listed - (race 8)". Equibase. 3 February 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
20. "2006 Thunder Road Handicap Listed - (race 7)". Equibase. 8 February 2006. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
21. "2005 Thunder Road Handicap Listed - (race 7)". Equibase. 9 February 2005. Retrieved 31 January 2021.