EDITED SANTA ANITA PRESS RELEASE
ARCADIA, CA (Feb. 17, 2026)—Bred in Florida by successful Florida breeder Lance Colwell of Williston, Army Man faces a field of nine Sunday in the $100,000 Pasadena Stakes for 3-year-olds going one mile on the lawn at Santa Anita.
Last time out on Jan. 25 at Santa Anita going a mile and an eighth on the turf, Amy Man won by one-and-three-quarters lengths over Dinkum under a ride by Florent Geroux. This was his first win in four starts for owners West Point Thoroughbreds, Edwin S Barker, and Jeffrey Levinson.
Trained by Michael W. McCarthy, the horse is by Battalion Runner, a Grade 1-placed son of the Unbridled’s Song standing at Ocala Stud and is out of a Malibu Moon mare You’re the Best.
Colwell has also bred stakes winners Mattingly and Global Steve. He bred multiple graded stakes placed Cagliostro with Janice Clark.
Greenwich Village was also a winner on Jan. 25 in his grass debut, winning the Baffle Stakes in a sprint on Santa Anita’s hillside turf course. The Pasadena is his first test around two turns in the race.
Trained by Bob Baffert, Greenwich Village was a debut winner sprinting on dirt at Los Alamitos in December, then came back to finish fifth in the Grade 2 San Vicente going seven furlongs on the Santa Anita main track Jan. 10. Switched to turf for the Baffle, Greenwich Village prevailed by a neck when rallying from last under Juan Hernandez.
Greenwich Village is by Quality Road out of Houtzen, who was a star sprinter in her native Australia. Greenwich Village was bought for $350,000 at the 2024 Keeneland September yearling sale. Campaigned by SF Racing, Starlight Racing, Madaket Stable and partners, Greenwich Village will again have Hernandez in the irons.
Later Than Planned, trained by Phil D’Amato, finished a length back of Greenwich Village when third in the Baffle. It was his first start since finishing sixth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint on Oct. 31 at Del Mar. Prior to the Breeders’ Cup, Later Than Planned broke his maiden at a mile on turf and won the Speakeasy sprinting five furlongs on turf in October.
An Irish-bred son of Cotai Glory, Later Than Planned is owned by Little Red Feather Racing, Sterling Stables and Marsha Naify. He’ll be ridden by Tiago Pereira, who was also aboard in the Baffle.
Sammy Davis makes his turf debut for trainer John Sadler after being the beaten favorite in the California Cup Derby going 1 1/16 miles on Jan. 17 at Santa Anita. In the Cal Cup Derby, which was his first time around two turns, Sammy Davis set the pace and led into deep stretch before being overhauled by Start the Ride to lose by one and three-quarters lengths. This will be the first time facing open company for the California-bred.
Sammy Davis is by prominent turf sire Sir Prancealot. Owned by Legacy Ranch, he’ll have regular rider Hector Berrios in the irons.
The complete field with jockeys and weights includes: Smoovin Saturday—Ricky Gonzalez—124; Greenwich Village—Juan Hernandez—120; Caro Buono—Armando Ayuso—120; Sammy Davis—Hector Berrios—120; Later Than Planned—Tiago Pereira—120; Unrivaled Time—Diego Herrera—124; Brigante—Emisael Jaramillo—120; Army Man—Florent Geroux—120; Iriseach—Antonio Fresu—120; and Medici—Mirco Demuro—120.
Bust Out (Ae) ridden by Kazushi Kimura at 120 pounds is on the also eligible list.
First post Sunday is 12:30 p.m. PT. Carded race seven of 10 the approximate post time is 3:30 p.m. PT.
Army Man qualifies for the FTBOA Export Incentives program which offers $7,500 per Grade 1 win, $5,000 per Grade 2 or 3 win, 15% of earnings (up to $4,000) per non-graded stakes win, and 15% of earnings (up to $3,000) per maiden special weight and allowance win at North American racetracks in 2026 for FTBOA registered Florida-breds.
Tammy A Gantt contributed to this story.
Return to the February 21 issue of Wire to Wire
