Goldencents can establish himself as the top Derby contender on the West Coast if he continues his brilliance in today's Sham Stakes (G3).
The 2013 Derby trail begins with a short field of five three-year-olds at a mile on the main track in the $100,000 Sham Stakes (Grade 3), while six older horses travel 1 1/6-miles in the $150,000 San Pasqual Stakes (G2).
Already having earned $722,000 thanks to his clear victory in the $1 million Delta Jackpot, Goldencents is the 4-to-5 morning line favorite in the Sham making his first start at Santa Anita. The Into Mischief colt appears to be the top dog in a loaded Doug O’Neill barn hoping for a repeat victory in the Kentucky Derby.
It’s no surprise that his two main challengers come from the barn of nemesis Bob Baffert, with Den’s Legacy and Manando listed as co-second choices at 3-to-1.
Manando will do his best to match speed with Goldencents early, while Den’s Legacy could be the beneficiary if they hook up after closing nicely to finish third in the Cash Call Futurity (G1) three weeks ago.
Coil is the 2-to-1 favorite in the San Pasqual seeking his seventh career win in his fourteenth and final start as he is headed to stud duty at Magali Farms for 2013. The five-year-old son of Point Given trained by Baffert is a multiple Grade 1 winner having earned over $1 million, but makes his first start around two turns in over a year and enters off a pair of defeats in Grade 1 events.
Baffert sends half the San Pasqual field with 5-to-1 shot Jaycito looking to snap his five-race losing streak in graded stakes after running the best race of his career in an allowance at Hollywood Park on December 1 and Bank the Eight the longest shot in the field at 8-to-1 in search of the form that resulted in a smashing 5 ¾-length allowance win while earning a 109 Beyer two starts back at Hollywood Park.
We’re off to the races!
Late Pick 4 -
Leg 1 – Race 6 (2,4,6,9,12) – No. 12 Storm in Blairsden will be winging on the front and could get brave, but he can’t be trusted entirely so we’ll spread with No. 2 Porfido, No. 4 Lamm, No. 6 Make Us Proud and No. 9 Quindici Man.
Leg 2 – Race 7 (ALL) – If No. 6 Coil can keep No. 4 Ultimate Eagle honest early, it becomes anyone’s race so we’ll use them all.
Leg 3 – Race 8 (2,5,11) – No. 5 Klisz was super impressive in his local debut winning across town in a sprint with Mike Smith aboard. Smith sticks with No. 2 Husband’s Folly looking for consecutive wins, but Klisz should be just fine with Rafael Bejarano hopping on.
No. 11 Power Foot made up decent ground in his last three tries against graded stakes company and should appreciate the opportunity to work through his conditions.
Leg 4 – Race 9 (2,4,5,10,13) – Some of the slowest horses on the grounds close the day and we’ll use five of them with No. 2 Courageousandbold, No. 4 Pumpkin Pie, No. 5 Somenchantd Evenin, No. 10 Hidden Passion and No. 13 Secret Genius.
Recap – (2,4,6,9,12) w (ALL) w (2,5,11) w (2,4,5,10,13) – Total cost of ticket = $225
Yesterday’s Result – (-$70)
Total for current Santa Anita meet – (+$301.05)
Total from 12/26/10 – 12/16/12 – (-$2,090.45)
Pick 5 –
Leg 1 – Race 1 (1,3,4,6,8,9) – Three-year-old maiden claiming fillies without much talent travel a mile on the main track and we spread with No. 1 Warren’s Fantasy, No. 3 Sassy Brunette, No. 4 Bluejoy, No. 6 Warren’s Lorie S., No. 8 Diamond Flush and No. 9 Supercilious.
Leg 2 – Race 2 (1,2,5,6,8) – A solid maiden allowance sprint where Baffert is loaded again with No. 2 Chasintheaces, No. 5 Secretsatmidnight and No. 6 Spirited Touch.
We’ll add No. 1 Caballo Del Ciello with plenty of speed breaking from the inside and the best form of those with experience and No. 8 Bench Press debuting for John Sadler with an impressive work tab.
Leg 3 – Race 3 (1,2) – No. 2 Goldencents is the most likely winner, but if he gets hooked up early things could set up for No. 1 Den’s Legacy to pull the upset.
Leg 4 – Race 4 (7,8) – No. 7 Solar Eclipse returns to a turf course where she ran third coming down the hill twice last year after a troubled start in her first two-turn try on Hollywood Park’s main track. In a field without much apparent early zip, she could be the one to get to the front uncontested and should be fit entering off four works accentuated by a pair of six furlongs.
Double up with No. 8 Exchange Student off a pair of runner-up finishes.
Leg 5 – Race 5 (4,5,8,9) – Four-year-old claimers sprint six furlongs and we use four of them with No. 4 Buds Pal, No. 5 Muchos Besos, No. 8 Tummel and No. 9 Yes It’s Snowing.
Recap – (1,3,4,6,8,9) w (1,2,5,6,8) w (1,2) w (7,8) w (4,5,8,9) – Total cost of ticket = $240
Yesterday’s Result – (-$252)
Total for current Santa Anita meet – (+$4,627.35)
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!
