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Santa Anita for Saturday 21 May 2022 and Preaknes-G1
Preakness Stakes at Pimlico is included along with the 10 race SA card. Pick 6 carryover now stands at $366K. Next publication is Friday 27 May
Best of luck as always!
Race 13 Preakness at Pimlico
5 Early Voting Chad Brown's colt will likely want the lead and he has a decent chance of grabbing it here on a track that most often is conducive to route speed.......trainer likely passed the Derby because it.........good speed jock in Jose Ortiz remains aboard and he knows this colt well having been up for all his races
8 Epicenter really like how well this smooth runner cooperates with Rosario on his back.......sat too close to the brutal pace in the early stages or could have won the Derby......colt has been extremely consistent......has to go off of form not to be a major factor when push comes to shove in the late stages of this prestigious race
2 Creative Cause very dangerous trainer with a price shot in "big" races in Kenny McPeek........solid alw race at CD on Derby day......time/effort on the 1st Saturday in May suggests he is ready for the "big boys"
4 Secret Oath brutal trip against the boys in the Ark Derby two races back for this Wayne Lukas youngster or she had a shot at winning it......jock change for the Grade 1 Ky Oaks (quite the upgrade) and she won rather convincingly......late runner should be very dangerous in the late stages if she gets a decent pace set up front
1 Simplification jock change to Johnny Velaquez with Jose Ortiz logical taking our top choice......look for this colt to show much more speed today sitting 2nd or 3rd down the back stretch.......if the pace is reasonable he could have a shot to run'em down in the stretch and at a handsome price
Santa Anita
race 1 below average clarity
5 Santos to Wilson good history for this gelding in turf sprints when he has contact to the front and it appears that he should get that today unless he breaks poorly........two sharp back to back 4F drills and for a trainer in E Kruljac who is very reliable when he shows solid works
6 Baladi Mike McCarthy's three year old gelding is too flat in the late stretch racing at 7F or 8F so turning back 2 furlongs for today's 6F grass race should help his cause......and he likely exited his last race in good shape for top jock Hernandez to ride him back
2 Cherubic Factor
race 2 average clarity
4 Absolutely Zero very dangerous looking a.m. work for this Doug O'Neill two year old 1st time starter.......rather sure this Cal-bred filly is meant and ready to roll for O"Neill and company
1 Smokin Cheena like the last two drills spaced 6 days apart and that they were 1/2 furlong further than today's 4 1/2 furlong distance........mom has tossed 4 two year old winners from 5 starters.......one would surmise that this two year old filly should finish up well with 10F of work in only 6 days
5 Classymademoiselle
race 3 average clarity
5 Lil Light Headed on the right end of the learning curve and realistically placed for his 4th lifetime start........four year old does switch surfaces from conventional dirt to the turf but his pedigree to handle the transition is rather good
1 Inch numbers sure fit well in this spot and he should finish up well from the rear of the field and with only 4 foes to negotiate.....but.......it is hard to place this one as our top pick as despite his decent turf figs he is (10 0 1 2) on the turf
2 Like the Wind
race 4 average clarity
3 No Limitation two year old MSW debut was on the grass last August and was quite good and disguised in its strength........likely hurt in his next start 2 months later on the dirt........J J Hernandez rode in the race and he rides once again today hinting this colt is ready fresh off of the bench just like he was for his debut.......that and by my book his pedigree for the dirt is slightly better than for the turf
1 Pioneering Papa after two solid races to start his career he tossed a dull race as compared to his 1st two racing endeavers.......no drill showing since his last and put up for a tag albeit a $100K tag.......if he rebounds he should win but I rate it only 50/50 that he does
5 Don't Talk
race 5 average clarity
1 Johnny Podres running lines hint this Steven Miyadi gelding will like the switch back to route racing which he has shown that he can handle in the past........good post and an OK turf jock in Kyle Frey who has been getting "live" mounts from Miyadi over the last couple of months
5 Explosive believe the 4 horse potentially is quicker than the 5 horse but he has come from off of the pace in his last 3 races......if 4 once again is taken back this O'Neill five year old gelding should be on the lead and difficult to wheel in with the meets top gun up
2 Stotland
race 6 average clarity
3 Zahra exits a very key race and drops back in claiming to where she scored a nice win in the 27 Feb version of this race.......she ran a real number that is 3L better than par for the F & M 10K level and ran it off of 37 days rest......36 days since his key race 4th......hmmm
2 Warren's Memorable needs to turn back time to winter 2020/21 when she ran 3 good races on the SA dirt that fit well here and two of them were at today's one mile distance........recent works hint trainer Lewis has tweaked something for the better......7 lbs bug girl has been firing in a big way on some price shots of late including a top choice winner yesterday for The Racing Digest
4 Zabava
race 7 average clarity
3 Velvet Slippers "race fill" in her latest so toss the race out........filly has a good history with ample time between starts and get plenty off time off for today's endeavor........all three one mile dirt races are solid......so if this filly handles her 1st ever on the sod she should be a ton in this soft field of nw2 other than affair
6 Counterparty Risk consistent turf route mare out east was picked up at sale last November for a cool $400K.......and it seems like a good move as she is best on firm turf and will get plenty of that in S Cal
4 Freedom Flyer
race 8 below average clarity
3 Thrive need to lead to win type has a good shot to get what he needs and with a good route speed jock aboard.......and when Michael McCarthy legs up Victor Espinoza his stock is usually quite "live"........that and this four year old gelding has a good history of running well 2nd out after a "fresh" run
2 Granada Flavor SCRATCHED OUT OF THE RACE four year old is 8 weeks fresh for today's race and that is often a good thing in this drawn out 6 month SA meeting where the fields get small (like today) and it likely is no picnic working in the Racing Secretary's office........work regiment supports the notion this can is ready
6 Prince Magician
race 9 average clarity
4 Leggs Galore 8 for 11 on the grass and the only time this mare got to race down the SA hill in a turf sprint she arguably ran the best effort/fig of her career.......she runs well fresh and she is 2 1/2 months fresh today.......and Gonzalez rides once again and he sure has shown that he loves this D'Amato five year old
3 Bella D very sharp nw alw win in her latest running an effort that is deserving of today's run in a small Stakes race.......she comes from far back and with only 5 foes to negotiate so she should encounter very little traffic
2 Hear My Prayer
race 10 average clarity
4 Comradery not much in his last race at 9F but his effort two back at 8F is very strong and disguised by not the best of trips........continues to train like he is a happy healthy individual and he draws the meets top gun in J J Hernandez for the 1st time........seems quite dangerous
2 Hurricane Cloud brutal trip given by a jock who seldom rides in the afternoon......10L of trip trouble and beaten by 9 1/2L........giant jock upgrade 1st out for Papaprodromou 1st following his $40K claim........that and Papa appears to have the trump card for this gelding as the works since the claim are impressive......highest ML in the race.......such a deal
7 Coast of Roan
6 Encoder
5 City Rage
