Three trainers dominate a large field for Saturday’s Santa Anita Derby

A common complaint around the backstretch — especially from the small barns — is that all the best horses end up in the hands of just a few trainers.

Saturday’s $1 million Santa Anita Derby, the last major prep race before the Kentucky Derby, not only validates that theory, it spray paints it against the clubhouse.

Of the 13 horses entered to run the 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-olds, nine are in the hands of three trainers, all Kentucky Derby winners.

It’s likely that the richest race of the meeting wouldn’t have happened this way if Mastery, the superhorse-in-waiting, hadn’t taken a bad step a few yards after dominating the field in the San Felipe Stakes a month ago.

Mastery would have been the Santa Anita Derby favorite, and if he won, the likely favorite in the Kentucky Derby. The colt from the Bob Baffert barn suffered a crack in the left front leg and is out of the Triple Crown races.

That left the Santa Anita Derby with no can’t-miss favorite, so the field filled up fast.

Doug O’Neill, who won the Kentucky Derby with I’ll Have Another in 2012 and Nyquist last year, has four horses in the race. Baffert, who has had four Kentucky Derby champs including Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, entered three horses in the hopes of finding one good enough to run on the first Saturday in May.

And, John Shirreffs, who won the Kentucky Derby with Giacomo in 2005 and the trainer of Zenyatta, has entered two horses.

“I think if Mastery was running in it, Iliad would have run for sure but the other three might have taken a different route,” O’Neill said. “[What happened to Mastery] opened up the door to a lot of horses that they thought could have some success on Saturday.”

As a general rule, trainers don’t like to run multiple horses in their barn for the same purse money. One of the horses usually gets shipped. But given the wide-open nature of this race, it was worth taking the chance and saving the shipping money.

Iliad has been installed as the 7-2 morning-line favorite. He finished second 6 ¾ lengths behind Mastery in the San Felipe. O’Neill’s other horses are Term of Art, third in the San Felipe, So Conflated and Milton Freewater.

In a bit of palace intrigue, owner Kaleem Shah unexpectedly moved his horses from Baffert’s barn to that of O’Neill and Art Sherman just before the end of last year. O’Neill ended up with Iliad.

Shah has had only one horse in the Kentucky Derby, Dortmund, who finished third in 2015. He was among those horses moved from Baffert to Sherman, where he has struggled in two starts.

“Kaleem’s put a lot of money in the sport,” O’Neill said. “It would be really cool to be part of a successful Derby campaign with Kaleem, and I know it would mean everything to him.”

Baffert has had 26 Derby starters, including one in eight of the last nine years. Reach the World, despite having never run a stakes race, seems to be the horse with the most potential.

The tell is that Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith — “Big Money Mike” as Baffert calls him — will be aboard.

The colt worked five furlongs in 46.60 seconds on Tuesday. It was the fastest of the 14 horses going that distance.

“He’s a horse Mike wanted to stay on,” Baffert told online horse-racing network XBTV. “He thought when the light goes on [in the horse] he wants to be on him. So, we’re waiting for the light to go on. He’s got to step up. … He needs to get in the race.”

Baffert also will be running American Anthem, who was a star in his barn until a disappointing 10^th place in the Rebel Stakes. Baffert called the race a “head-scratcher.”

Irish Freedom is his remaining starter. He has run only two races, including a fifth place in an allowance race won by Battle of Midway, who is also in the Santa Anita Derby for Jerry Hollendorfer.

The second favorite on Saturday is Gormley, running for Shirreffs. This talented, at times, colt has alternated good performances. He won the Grade 1 Front Runner, then followed it with a lackluster seventh in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He won a stirring battle with American Anthem in the San Vicente, then a fourth in the San Felipe.

Shirreffs is also running Royal Mo, who will have Gary Stevens aboard.

Gormley (25 points) and Iliad (20) just have to finish fourth or better to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. The first two finishers are also guaranteed a spot at Churchill Downs. Generally, a point total in the high 20s gets you to the starting gate. The first four finishers in the Santa Anita Derby get 100, 40, 20 and 10 points.

The Santa Anita Derby is the eighth race on an 11-race card. First post is noon.

john.cherwa@latimes.com

Twitter: @jcherwa