How to bet the Santa Anita Sprint Championship

The $200,000 Santa Anita Sprint Championship (G2) at Santa Anita on Sunday lacks quantity, with just five signed on, but the field's quality more than makes up for the lack of runners set to go postward. 

Sprint Championship Wagers

• $10 exacta box 1-5 ($20)
• $5 trifecta 1,5 with 1,2,5 with 1,2,5 ($20)

#1 Listenupshance has evolved into one of the top sprinters in the country since having the blinkers removed for trainer Doug O’Neill. The former $20,000 claimer has won or placed in six straight appearances with the hood off, led by a strong score in the deep Bing Crosby (G1) at Del Mar in his latest venture. An unlucky third in the True North (G3) two back at Saratoga, the Shancelot gelding finished a clear second in two stakes tries on the oval earlier this campaign, but is a better horse now and continues to train steadily in advance of his local return. The rail draw is not ideal, but the four-year-old is fast and figures to be the one to catch turning for home with Jaramillo in the controls. 

#5 Maximum Bourbon might have been a touch unlucky to have missed by a nose in the Bing Crosby most recently, but the lightly raced son of Maximum Security will surely get his graded win at some point for trainer Phil D’Amato. The four-year-old gelding has compiled a 6-4-2-0 mark on the dirt in his career leading up to Sunday, and he has room to improve with just seven career outings under his belt, too. He gets an ideal slot on the outside of the compact field for the dash, which will allow Umberto Rispoli to see how things unfold before asking his mount for his best. The Kentucky-bred has trained swiftly on the strip as of late, and wouldn’t be a surprise. 

#2 Imagination, one of two in the field for Baffert, beat a strong field in this race last campaign and will return to a surface where he has done some of his best running. The Into Mischief five-year-old, second in the 2025 Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1), has tussled with some of the best one-turn horses in training in 2026 and could get back to his best on Sunday while coming in fresh. The late runner comes into a field with ample early foot signed on to aid his closing kick, and his top showing could be good enough to win this with Juan Hernandez in the stirrups.