There is a busy program at Santa Anita this weekend and taking up as much printers' ink or more are the happenings in the various courts.

Starting off with the ongoing drama of the drugs cases going on in New York Judge Mary Kay has sentenced standard bred trainer Chris Oakes to 3 years for supplying Navarro with illegal drugs – including administering drugs to XY Jet – and for doping his own horses.  Oakes has an admitted alcohol problem and the judge has stated that he needs to attend a course of treatment while in prison.

And the Baffert saga – or sagas – continue with the hearing of his appeal against his suspension by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in Franklin County postponed so that the hearing scheduled for 4 March can go ahead as a successful appeal in this case would render the second hearing moot.  At the same time Baffert et al are suing various racing bodies so the only winners in all this would appear to be the lawyers.

And in the California Supreme Court Priscilla and Carlo Vaccarezza have been awarded UD$1.5 million plus interest since 2014 in their medical negligence suit against vet Dr V Baker and the Equine Medical Centre for their treatment – and/or neglect of treatment of the filly Little Alexis prior to her run in the Breeders' Cup f&m turf in 2014.  She had been valued at $1.5 million prior to the race in which she ran 9th and was found to have a fever, abnormal blood results and a thrombosis following treatment by Dr Baker and his failure to attend to he properly before the race.  Judging by the assortment of drugs administered to the filly it is a miracle she could stand upright let alone run.

And to cap it off jockey Mychel Sanchez, a name with which we are not familiar, has been found guilty of betting against himself.  The US allows jockeys to bet on their own mounts and on races in which they are not riding which sounds like a recipe for trouble even if they are not allowed to be against themselves.

So to the actual races – we'll just look at the 3 Gr 1s from Santa Anita at this stage and they start with the Beholder Mile for f&m over 1600m which is now down to 5 runners with As Time Goes By ib 4/5 for Baffert-Prat and Envoutante 8/5 for McPeek – Velazquez.

The Frank E Kilroe Mile Gr 1 has got a decent field led by Count Again 7/2, Subconscious and Space Traveller on 5/1 and Flavius 6/1.

The Big 'Cap over 2000m sees Stilleto Boy on 5/2, Express Train who is going for a treble of handicaps having won the San Antonio and the San Pasqual on 8/5 and Warrant 4/1.