Stoney Fleece's last win came win he got his nose down first in the Alcatraz Stakes at Golden Gate Fields.
Seven of the eight Cal-breds rolling the 6 ½-furlongs down the hillside turf course are listed between 7-to-2 and 6-to-1 on the morning line in an evenly matched edition of the $100,000 Sensational Star Stakes.
Making his stakes debut, it’s a bit of a surprise to see Circa’sgoldengear installed as the favorite off a pair of defeats, including finishing last in a field of five over this layout on January 20. It was the first time in four starts the six-year-old son of Golden Gear did not finish in the exacta coming down the hill, but he does retain the services of hill dynamo Joe Talamo back in with state-breds for the first time in seven starts.
A long string of stakes tries continues for Stoney Fleece, as the son of Decarchy makes the second start of his four-year-old season while tackling stakes competition for the 13th straight time. One of a trio listed as the 4-to-1 co-second choice, he’s won just once since capturing the Generous Stakes (Grade 3) at Hollywood Park as a juvenile, while missing by just a neck in last year’s Baffle Stakes in his only previous try on the hill.
The other two listed at 4-to-1 are Ain’t No Other, who moves back to Rafael Bejarano and adds blinkers for the first time looking for his first win in his sixth try coming down the hill, and Cat Talk, also making his stakes debut after scoring by a nose against allowance optional claimers off a long layoff on January 12 in his first spin over this layout.
Even 12-to-1 long shot Coach Bob is in with a look trekking back down to Southern California in razor sharp form off a win and a nose defeat at Golden Gate Fields last month. The four-year-old son of Bertrando ventured south last year and pulled a 22-to-1 front-running surprise on the main track before tiring to fifth beaten just over a length in the Baffle Stakes and may be able to clear the field early breaking from the outside post.
We’re off to the races!
Late Pick 4 -
Leg 1 – Race 6 (5,6,8) – A split of the fourth race with three-year-old Cal-bred maiden fillies coming down the hill and we use the trio of No. 5 Yawannagokid, No. 6 Of Royalty and 8 Jade With Envy.
Leg 2 – Race 7 (2,3,5) – An apparent pace less race where No. 5 Branding could seize the lead on the stretch out.
Add No. 3 Qiaona as the only multiple winner in the field and No. 2 Spellbound off an impressive maiden score.
Leg 3 – Race 8 (ALL) – All eight in a wide open Sensational Star.
Leg 4 – Race 9 (4,6,7) – The only dropper in this bottom-level claimer, No. 7 Rockin’ Hard Gals can stretch out effectively off a pair of even sprint tries. There should be a touch of value to close the week with favored No. 4 Pure Blush likely to get hammered at the windows after not posting a work since February 6.
No. 6 She’s Actceptional also tries a route after a pair of sprints and is worth inclusion for a trainer hitting at 40% with runners stretching out.
Recap – (5,6,8) w (2,3,5) w (ALL) w (4,6,7) – Total cost of ticket = $108
Yesterday’s Result – (-$144)
Total for current Santa Anita meet – (+$415.10)
Total from 12/26/10 – 12/16/12 – (-$2,090.45)
Pick 5 –
Leg 1 – Race 1 (3,5,6) – Lightly raced No. 3 Miner’s Daughter stretches out for the first time as a five-year-old off an impressive maiden breaker on January 4 for Bob Baffert.
No. 5 Pink Blossom dug in to finish as the runner-up to Eblouissante in her last and No. 6 Include the Cat got stopped cold in the lane in her last and Garrett Gomez is back aboard to make amends.
Leg 2 – Race 2 (3,5,8) – The top two finishers from a week ago can fire right back with No. 3 Miles Heir and No. 5 Global Glow.
No. 8 Morganouska gets major upgrades in the riding and training departments off the claim.
Leg 3 – Race 3 (3,5,6) – Three of the five remaining runners in this second-level allowance optional claimer on the main track with No. 3 Blueskiesnrainbows, No. 5 Great Warrior and No. 6 Castaway.
Leg 4 – Race 4 (4,6,7) – Another full field of three-year-old Cal-bred maiden allowance fillies coming down the hill and we try to get by using another trio with No. 4 Atta Girl Alma, No. 6 Mark of a Gem and No. 7 Lucky Student.
Leg 5 – Race 5 (2,5,8) – Our first-ever ticket using three runners in each leg concludes with No. 2 Bluegrass Reward, No. 5 Scorpion Time and No. 8 Joe Carl.
Recap – (3,5,6) w (3,5,8) w (3,5,6) w (4,6,7) w (2,5,8) – Total cost of ticket = $121.50
Yesterday’s Result – (-$180)
Total for current Santa Anita meet – (+$2,014.40)
Total from 7/20/11 – 12/16/12 – (+$13,891.70)
Best Bet of the Day – Can now be found in the Pros Picks section at www.santaanita.com.
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Good luck!
