Best Present Ever has lost three straight since winning her third in a row with a decisive five-length win in the Campanile Stakes at Golden Gate.
The final graded stakes before next week’s Breeders’ Cup festivities sees a solid group of ten 3-year-old fillies at a mile on turf in the $100,000 Autumn Miss Stakes (Grade III), formerly run as the Harold C. Ramser.
With the prospects of a massive windfall of Breeders’ Cup success ahead, Bob Baffert and Rafael Bejarano look to stay hot with tepid 7-to-2 morning line favorite Lady Ten. The 3-year-old daughter of Rock Hard Ten has a win, place and show in ungraded stakes over her last three starts and Bejarano is allowed to ride despite serving the final day of a 3-day suspension because this is a graded stakes.
Leading rider and turf dynamo (we’ll keep finding new superlatives to describe his ability) Joe Talamo climbs aboard 4-to-1 second choice Best Present Ever for the first time off a runner-up finish in the Cal Cup Distaff two weeks ago. The 3-year-old Unusual Heat filly won three straight races earlier this year before finding the waters too deep in a pair of Grade I events.
Speaking of water, Open Water is back in California as the 9-to-2 co-third choice after a fifth-place finish in the Garden City (Grade I) at Belmont Park on September 15. The 3-year-old daughter of Include is still looking for her first win since moving to the barn of Eric Guillot in March, but has finished in the money in a trio of graded stakes races.
Also at 9-to-2 is Vionnet, who overcame breaking from the outside post to win impressively over this layout in a first-level allowance on October 11. It is a bit of a concern that the 3-year-old daughter of Street Sense by the wonder mare Cambiocorsa hasn’t worked back since her last race, but she showed she can compete with classy graded stakes fillies by running second to Lady of Shamrock in the China Doll Stakes in March.
We’re off to the races!
Pick 4 -
Leg 1 – Race 6 (1,3,7,8) – No. 1 In High Regards and No. 3 Baby Blake are threats on the front end while No. 8 Crown Over gets Talamo off a troubled trip and can motor late.
No. 7 Goyathla is still a maiden and tries turf and two turns for the first time, but faced better in his last.
Leg 2 – Race 7 (1,2,4,5,6) – Five bottom-level females that have never won twice with No. 1 Tiz a Brite Miss, No. 2 Tip Your Hat, No. 4 My Diane, No. 5 Swift Storm and No. 6 Secret Genius.
Leg 3 – Race 8 (1,3,6,9,10) – Use the four mentioned above with No. 1 Vionnet, No. 6 Lady Ten, No. 9 Best Present Ever and No. 10 Open Water, along with No. 3 Charm the Maker stretching out to her preferred two turns off a solid comeback effort down the hill.
Leg 4 – Race 9 (1,8,9) – No. 1 Turn On the Brites crushes this field on paper, but she has the rail and ice-cold connections to deal with.
Both No. 8 Debits and Credit and No. 9 Shoeshine Johnny can improve off dismal debuts.
Recap – (1,3,7,8) w (1,2,4,5,6) w (1,3,6,9,10) w (1,8,9) – Total cost of ticket = $150
Yesterday’s Result – (-$15.95)
Total for current Santa Anita meet – (+$1,015.50)
Total from 12/26/10 – 9/5/12 – (-$2,966.60)
Pick 5 –
Leg 1 – Race 1 (ALL) – An average at best group of maiden allowance fillies at 1 1/8-miles on turf where the all button is our friend.
Leg 2 – Race 2 (1,4,5) – A short field of juvenile maidens where of course we use the pair from Baffert with No. 1 Manando and No. 5 Shakin It Up along with No. 4 Caballo Del Cielo, who moves to Steve Asmussen after showing sharp speed in a pair of sprints at Del Mar this summer.
Leg 3 – Race 3 (1,9) – Of the realistic contenders, No. 1 Arabian Storm and No. 9 Afleet Deal have had the most success on dirt.
Leg 4 – Race 4 (4,6,7) – No. 6 Unusual Hottie was way too far back early in her initial spin down the hill in the Cal Cup Distaff on October 13, but with that race in tow we’ll expect Garrett Gomez to have her closer in a race void of much early speed. The 3-year-old daughter of Unusual Heat has finished in the money in all eight tries on turf and could be set for another big step forward in her second start off the layoff.
Add the consistent hard-knocking older mares No. 4 Jet Blue Girl and No. 7 Missdealornodeal.
Leg 5 – Race 5 (2,5,7,9) – Four bottom-level maiden claimers at the abbreviated sprint distance with No. 2 Axle, No. 5 Bull Time, No. 7 Where’s Henry and No. 9 John Bully’s Bob.
Recap – (ALL) w (1,4,5) w (1,9) w (4,6,7) w (2,5,7,9) – Total cost of ticket = $216
Yesterday’s Result – (+$92.05)
Total for current Santa Anita meet – (+$613.10)
Total from 7/20/11 – 9/5/12 – (+$17,380.65)
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Good luck!
