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Santa Anita for Saturday 3 February 2018

We seem to have good cards both today and for Super Bowl Sunday. We shall see.

Because of the early post for the Super Bowl our selections will be posted no later than 8 a.m. pacific time on Sunday.

Best of luck as always!

 

race 1    below average clarity

12  Slick Trick   difficult post to deal with but this filly ran an exceptionally strong turf sprint MSW debut.....she broke slowly and then ran quite wide.....adjusted for trouble fig was 4 1/2 lengths better than par.....bred extremely well for a turf route......3 reassuring works .....hard not seeing her tough if she doesn't get caught 4 wide or worse on the 1st turn

6  Super Good   owns good early turf speed and her best of two lifetime grass races (a 2nd and a 3rd) was her MSW debut......so......fresh off of a three-month layoff might be right up her alley

1  Cooperate   not sure if this invader from France is ready fitness wise off of her 3 month layoff but if she is she should fit in this spot well

4  Heliocentricity

7  Movie Moment

13 AE  Pacific Strike

2  Heaven Escape

 

race 2    average clarity

1  Curly's Rocket   handled today's one post quite nicely in his 2nd lifetime start dueling thru-out and just missed the winners circle by a nose......two sharp 4F drills since......back in short........another forward move seems likely

6  Core Beliefs   solid MSW debut for this Peter Eurton three-year old cold getting bumped 2 or 3 lengths early and showing plenty of life after that.......1st time on Lasix for his 2nd start......and..... with a sharp speed 4F drill since his 13 Jan debut......and thru the years Eurton is much more dangerous with 2nd time starters although not as much so of late

5  Once On Whiskey   prolonged work regiment for this Bob Baffert MSW 1st time starter (Bob also trains our top selection) and with both speed and endurance building works put in......dangerous sort

 

race 3    above average clarity

1  Roy H   not much until 2017 when he became something special ........and his last three of four 6F sprint races (and all at 6F) are "off the charts good".......and considering his trainer is Peter Miller it is highly likely that he will be up for another Grade 1 like big effort......and folks this is a Grade 2

3  Americanize   very solid sprinter who has never missed the board in eight dirt sprint races with 3 wins, 4 seconds and a third.....very nice sprinter in his own right but he will need his best ever and/or an off day from our top choice to take down this race

2  Bobby Abu Dhabi   SCRATCHED OUT OF THE RACE    just popped his lifetime best and the effort is definitely deserving of a shot in a Graded race.....and Peter Miller loves going 1-2 when he has two entered like he does here

 

race 4    average clarity

7  Tweeting   believe this filly will be up to her effort run on 1 Oct which was run off of a 2 + month layoff.....that race was very strong and hidden by a wide trip.......good works and this time running off of 2 1/2 month layoff.......1st on the hill is a ? mark

1  Tizanillusion   needs ample time between starts and Sadler shows patience and gives it to his five-year old mare.....she is very consistent but does have a small tendency to hang with 2 wins and 7 2nd's in 12 turf races

4  A Little Bit Me   four-year old filly has a very good opportunity of sitting pretty in a ground saving one or two path trip stalking the lead.....dangerous sort from the (heating things up) O'Neill barn

2  Tink's Twirl

3  Mongolian Shopper

8  Salten Sapity

 

race 5    average clarity

4  Lombo   MSW win in his last was impressive running 3 wide up of a solid pace and still managed to win going away.......back quick and yet was able to work a decent 4F.......Prat is up with Desormeaux electing to rider for his bro and Prat will likely go after the lead and try to wire the field

1  Ayacara   Desormeaux lands here on this colt who owns one strong route race/number in 4 route races and it was his only dirt route he ever ran at Santa Anita........very dangerous late runner

7  Peace   both races run at SA are weak figs despite running 1st and 2nd.......his race at Dmr is very strong and would likely win this race........tough call but definitely dangerous

5  Shivermetimbers

2  Pepe Tono

3  Dark Vader

 

race 6    average clarity

3  Mercer Island   layoff drop downs from the Miller barn are often deadly........and drop makes sense as this gelding only earned $6K for Miller and company last year........time to cut into the red ink

4  Southern Thunder   wide journey in his last hides a much improved race.......rider upgrade and a bullet work since his last......all systems go for a lifetime best for Mullins and company four-year old gelding

2  Reverend   solid layoff run and the effort is hidden by a slow start and a 3 wide trip.....somewhat of a suspicious drop but if he is OK and he handles his 1st ever around two turns he should be a major player as well

6  Roosevelt

8  Moonlight Blue

 

race 7    above average clarity

5  Itsinthepost   last 7 races in G2 affairs have led to 4 wins and 2 2nd's and all with T C Baze in the saddle.....that and this six-year-old gelding is 5 for 14 on the SA turf and only 2 for 16 elsewhere.......easy to make top selection

2  Free Rose   rider upgrade today and Talamo won on this Baltas five-year old the only time he rode him......should be prominent from the opening bell.......gelding has a good history running off of relatively short rest.......28 days since his last qualifies for that

6  Flamboyant   another who performs best on the Santa Anita turf........ran 2nd in a G2 4 weeks ago at Santa Anita.......and.....the a.m. preparatory work is subtlety better this time out than it was prior to his last......good jock on a late runner in Van Dyke

4  Isotherm

1  Prince of Arabia  SCRATCHED OUT OF THE RACE

 

race 8    average clarity

3  Accelerate   very consistent sort and he has fired 3 very solid Graded races since the blinkers were added 4 races back......this appears to be the softest group he has to deal with in very long time......should be tough

9  Top of the Game   loves the SA dirt as he is 4 for 4 on it and 0 for 10 everywhere else....that and the 9 furlong distance appears to fit him well.....dangerous sort especially with regular rider Desormeaux sticking around

2  Mubtaahij   Baffert six-year-old is a rather inconsistent sort but if he brings his "A game" (especially at a distance that seems to suit him) he has a shot in this spot

5  The Lieutenant

1  Pavel

7  Irish Freedom

 

race 9    average clarity

8  Beau Square   decent works prior to his latest led to an OK effort on the hill.......that race was run off of a 7 week break.......works since the race are much more impressive........better in shorter rest.........rather sure she runs better than an OK race today

1  Gone to Town    took to the SA hill in a big way as she graduated in style by 4 widening lengths at the wire.......might feel awfully good for Palma to wheel her back in 19 days for today's race.......seems like a major player

5  Gotham Desire   nice win in her last overcoming a tough trip with 1st time blinkers and 1st time on the turf (and it was on the hill).......3 reassuring drills since.....not out of the win picture here by any means

10  Del Mar Ann

7  Sturdy One

11  Bowie

 

 

Posted on February 3, 2018 at 10:56 am by richs · Permalink
In: Free Information, Selections