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Players Edge Newsletter – January 27, 2012

January 26th, 2012

BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 27, 2012 Gulfstream Park – Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 27, 2012 Santa Anita – Sensational Star and Valentine Dancer
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 27, 2012 Gulfstream Park – Sunshine Millions Turf
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 27, 2012 Santa Anita – Crystal Water
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 27, 2012 Santa Anita – Grade 1 Santa Monica
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 27, 2012 Thoroughbred Racing Action
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 27, 2012 Harness Racing Action

Gulfstream Park – Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf

Start of the Luck Pick-6

The start of the Luck Pick-6, which carries a $1-minimum, on Saturday is the Filly & Mare Turf at Gulfstream Park. The nine-furlong race drew a field of nine; let’s take a look.

The morning line favorite for the race is Unbridled Humor at 5-2. The Graham Motion-trained mare is coming off a fourth place finish in the Grade 1 Matriarch at Hollywood Park in late November and while Motion is not known to have his horses cranked off the layoff, Unbridled Humor is two-for-two off breaks. Add to the fact that the Distorted Humor-mare won her debut and she enters the Filly & Mare Turf as the one to beat.

Unbridled Humor started her career off at four different tracks in three different states with four straight wins. After an allowance win at Delaware by eight lengths she was thrown into stakes competition and was seventh in the Grade 1 Diana at Saratoga. After that she won the Grade 3 Noble Damsel at Belmont before finishing second in the Grade 3 Athenia at Belmont and fourth in the Matriarch.

The drop in class for the mare helps her chances, but she will need to bring her A-game on Saturday to contend with the other mares.

Romacaca is the second choice on the morning line and she will try to get back into the winner’s circle after a third place finish in the Grade 2 Ballston Spa at Saratoga. Prior to the Ballston, Romacaca had won five straight and seven of her last ten. In seven career starts over the Gulfstream turf course Romacaca has four wins and one second making her a must-use in the pick-6.

With Speak Easy Gal and Hooh Why expected to set the pace plus Unbridled Humor, Romacaca and Trip for A.J. pressing the pace the race may set up for a closer. The best of the closers appear to be Askbut I Won’ttell and Romin Robin.

Askbut I Won’ttell put in a “dull effort” in her last race, an eleventh place finish in the $60,000 South Beach at Gulfstream Park in mid-December, but is a Grade 3 winner and has a win over the course. In last year’s Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf she was second behind Trip for A.J.

Romin Robin only has one win in her last ten starts and is only one-for-twelve over the Gulfstream turf course, but she was fourth in the race last year and she can pop with a big race. In July she was second in the Grade 3 Modesty Handicap at Arlington Park. She will most likely be a long price on Saturday, but could hit the board.

Zapparition, cutting back from eleven-furlongs, and Ventania, the longest shot on the board, round out the field. Zapparition ran well in her last race, but that was a slow run marathon. It is good that jockey Javier Castellano stays with the Ghostzapper-mare.

Post time for the Filly & Mare Turf is 4:10 ET.

Santa Anita – Sensational Star and Valentine Dancer

California-bred Turf Stakes

The bookends on the Santa Anita Sunshine Millions card are both on the turf with the Sensational Star for four-year-olds and upward on the downhill turf and the Valentine Dancer at one mile over the main turf course.

The Sensational Star is up first, post time 4:30 ET, and is expected to have one of the shortest prices on the card. It is the second leg in the Luck Pick-6.

Caracortado made his first start down the hill an impressive one and the past performances on the paper do not do the run justice. The five-year-old gelding was a pole behind in the early stages and coming into the stretch prompted track announcer Trevor Denman to call that the just did not fire, but Caracortado was far from being done.

After a wicked pace duel between Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint Champion Regally Ready and course specialist Mr. Gruff the race was set up to be won from off-the-pace. Caracortado exploded the final sixteenth of a mile making up six lengths and drawing off to win by just over a length.

He is the horse to beat on Saturday and would have won for fun if not for the entry of Compari, who is five-for-six at Santa Anita including a win down the hill. Compari will get first run on the leaders coming into the stretch and will have to hold off Caracortado’s late run. Ain’t No Other is the pace of the race and could round out the trifecta.

Two races later is the Valentine Dancer for fillies and mares and drew a field of ten. Unzip Me is the morning line favorite at 5-2, but will be making her first start on the turf around two-turns and is not the race mare she once was.

If this race was also down the hill then Unzip Me would be just as heavy of a favorite as Caracortado, but at one mile the race opens up a bit.

Halo Dolly is the second choice on the line shipping south for trainer Jerry Hollendorfer from her Northern California home base. She has won eight of fourteen career races including one at Del Mar in August.

La Sombre comes off a sprint race and could be the pace-setter in the Valentine Dancer. Her win in her last race, a state-bred allowance, was flattered when the second place mare Meltarib came right back to win in her next start.

With Unzip Me and La Sombre with Halo Dolly, Antares World and California Nectar not far behind, the pace should be a decent one. Secret Cove could also add more pace from her inside post so let’s look at the best of the closers.

Chokecherymary is a solid 10-1 on the morning line and picks up a good turf jockey in Corey Nakatani in the irons. Cayanna is 15-1 on the morning line and has only been out-of-the-money in two of her thirteen career races.

The Valentine Dancer, post time 5:30 ET, is the finale of the two-track pick-6 and looks like the a race to spread and hope for a price.

Gulfstream Park – Sunshine Millions Turf

Little Mike, Big Talent

The third leg of the Luck Pick-6 on Saturday, after the Sensational Star at Santa Anita, is the Sunshine Millions Turf for older horses. Like the fillies and mares the boys will be going nine-furlongs for a purse of $150,000.

The morning line favorite for the race is Little Mike, who is looking for his fourth straight win and fifth in six starts at Gulfstream Park. Off since April 2011 to December 2011 Little Mike came back to the races with a gutsy nose victory over Yankee Fortune in a high-level allowance race.

Prior to the layoff Little Mike had won the Grade 3 Appleton Turf and Canadian Turf at Gulfstream Park. The only two blemishes on his turf record were a sixth place finish in the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap and a second in a $60,000 turf stakes at Aqueduct.

Little Mike is the pace of the race and horse to beat, but still must prove he can get the nine-furlongs.

Teaks North beat the favorite last year in the Gulfstream Park Turf Handicap and will try to do the same thing on Saturday. After the Turf Handicap Teaks North would go on to win the Grade 3 Monmouth Park and Grade 1 United Nations, both at Monmouth Park, later in the year.

Eddie Castro and Jose Valdivia won on the five-year-old gelding last year, but the jockey on Saturday will be one of the country’s leading riders John Velazquez. He is going to have his work cut out for him and will need to time his ride just right to run down the favorite.

The toughest part of this race is trying to figure out which horse or horses can complete the tri and superfectas.

Slews Answer is 6-1 on the morning line and has run well over the turf course, but has yet to really face horses of this caliber. In his last race, a $125,000 stakes race on the Calder turf, he finished fifth behind Bad Debt, Roman Tiger and Livingston Street. Roman Tiger was disqualified and put behind Slews Answer, but the point is that the Graham Motion gelding needs to step up.

All three of those horses as well as Stay Red are in the Sunshine Millions Turf and each could hit the board. Roman Tiger probably does not want to go this far, Stay Red might want longer and Livingston Street is winless in 14 starts at Gulfstream.

Bad Debt is the most likely candidate to pick up the lead if Little Mike fades down the lane. He has made a living sitting just off the pace-setter in his prior races and you can’t count out a horse that has won ten of 26 career starts.

Beckham Bend will be right there with Bad Debt and gets a rider upgrade to Kent Desormeaux. Look for Kent to put his mount in the race early and is a good number at 15-1 on the morning line. Not sure if this matters, but only Beckham Bend and Stay Red are the only non-geldings in the field.

Allie’s Event has been second or third in five straight starts and will be running late under jockey Daniel Centeno. Two starts back the gelding was third behind Little Mike in the allowance race.

Bell by the Ridge and Blazen are the 20-1 outsiders.

The Sunshine Millions Turf race goes to post at 4:50 ET, up next is the Crystal Water at Santa Anita.

Santa Anita – Crystal Water

Can Thirtyfirststreet hold off Holladay Road?

The middle Sunshine Millions race at Santa Anita is the Crystal Water for four-year-olds and upward going a mile and one-sixteenth on the main track. The $100,000 race drew a field of six led by 2-1 morning line favorite Thirtyfirststreet.

Thirtyfirststreet is coming off the most impressive run in his thirteen-race career. In the two-turn allowance race the colt by Good Journey stalked the early pace then drew of down the lane to win by over six lengths. It was his second win in three starts over the Santa Anita main track and will be tough to be if he runs back to that race.

The concerns with the favorite is that he has not won back-to-back races since his second and third career race and he has not had a published work since that last race. When he did win back-to-back in late 2010 he had a month in between starts, but the race on Saturday is only sixteen days later.

Thirtyfirststreet showed a new dimension in the allowance race with his early stalking position and that may be the trip he gets in the Crystal Water.

Bluegrass Reward has route speed and has been on the lead in two of his last three races while Legal Separation and Macho Dorado are stretching out from sprints.

Bluegrass Reward has won two of his last three with the only loss coming when he did not make the lead. The best of his two wins came at Santa Anita in a state-bred allowance race in October. Jockey Joe Talamo has been riding lights out recently and you can never count out a Mike Mitchell-trained horse.

Legal Separation will always give you fight down the late and will try to take that two-turns for the first time in his 24-race career. The five-year-old gelding is not a win machine, but has been in-the-money in sixteen of those 24 races.

Macho Dorado freaked in his first start over a fast dirt track and was claimed by Bob Hess Jr., who immediately throws him back into stakes competition. In two stakes for his previous trainer the four-year-old gelding was eighth both times. Jockey Corey Nakatani has found himself on a couple of speed horses this meet and with Macho Dorado is likely to be battling with the early lead again.

The expected fast pace sets the race up for the two closers, Spud Spivens and Holladay Road. In six career races at Santa Anita Spud Spivens has only hit the board twice with no wins. Holladay Road, on the other hand, loves the Great Race Place.

Five times Holladay Road has run at Santa Anita with two wins and one second. Four of those races were when the track was synthetic, but his run in early October over the track proved he can be as successful on the dirt. Since being claimed by Julio Canani in July, Holladay Road is less than two lengths away from being four-for-four.

If Thirtyfirststreet is going to win then he has to avoid a pace duel and will need to hold off the late-running Holladay Road.

Post time for the Crystal Water on Saturday is 5:00 ET and is the fourth leg of the Luck Pick-6 between Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park.

Santa Anita – Grade 1 Santa Monica

Teddy’s Promise Looks for Four Straight

The Sunshine Millions is only one aspect of the Saturday card at Santa Anita as there are two others stake races on the day. Early in the card is the Grade 3 Santa Ysabel for three-year-old fillies, but the highlight of the day is the Grade 1, $300,000 Santa Monica for older fillies and mares.

The seven furlong sprint drew a field of seven with two fillies coming off of impressive scores. The first of those fillies is Teddy’s Promise, who will likely be the post-time favorite.

To begin her career Teddy’s Promise was under the care of trainer David Hofmans and ran well enough to score two wins in eight starts. Since being switched to the Ron Ellis barn; however, the Salt Lake-filly has really thrived.

After finishing third and second in her first two races for Ellis Teddy’s Promise has visited the winner’s circle three times in a row. She started her streak in October at Santa Anita then won an allowance race at Hollywood Park before taking the Grade 1 La Brea over the track and distance in her last.

In the La Brea Teddy’s Promise was one of the longest shots on the board, but was an easy winner, drawing off to win by just over two lengths. In fifth place that day was Include Me Out, another Ron Ellis-trainee, who came right back this past Sunday to win the Grade 2 La Canada.

Also behind her in the La Brea were Home Sweet Aspen and Sugarinthemorning, who are both back to try to turn the tables on the favorite. Home Sweet Aspen will be forcing the pace under jockey Joel Rosario while Rafael Bejarano will have Sugarinthemorning at the back of the pace early on.

The other filly who is coming off an impressive win is the Richard Mandella-trained Rumor. Rumor was always cut out to be a star for the Hall-of-Fame trainer after winning her debut by almost seven lengths in 2010 at Santa Anita. The Indian Charlie-filly has run seven times in her brief career and has yet to finish worse than second.

Her most recent win was in the $79,000 Kalookan Queen Handicap at Santa Anita on New Year’s Day. In the Kalookan Queen she was mid-pack early on, but made a strong move to hit the lead coming into the stretch then drew off to win by just over two.

Trying to separate the two is going to be difficult, but note that the La Brea and Kalookan Queen came in back-to-back days with Rumor scoring the higher speed figure. The pace in the Kalookan Queen was also quicker, but both fillies ran their six furlongs in about the same time.

The difference between the two was in the final part of the race. If you just take the raw numbers then Teddy’s Promise would have blown right by Rumor late in the race. It’s going to definitely be a jockey’s race on Saturday with the top two looking best.

Bella Diamante and Big Tiz round out the field and both have races that would put them in a position to get third.

Post time for the Santa Monica is 7:00 ET and goes as race nine on the ten-race card.

Thoroughbred Racing Action

Weekend Stakes Action

Great racing action from across the country this weekend.  Watch these races all on BetAmerica.com.

Saturday – January 28

  • Gulfstream Park: Sunshine Millions Classic, $400,000, 4yo & up, 9f
  • Gulfstream Park: Sunshine Millions Turf, $150,000, 4yo & up, 9f turf
  • Gulfstream Park: Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Turf, $150,000, 4yo & up f&m, 9f turf
  • Gulfstream Park: Sunshine Millions Sprint, $150,000, 4yo & up, 6f
  • Gulfstream Park: Sunshine Millions Filly & Mare Sprint, $150,000, 4yo & up f&m, 6f
  • Gulfstream Park: Sunshine Millions Distaff, $300,000, 4yo & up f&m, 9f
  • Santa Anita: Santa Monica Stakes – G1, $300,000, 4yo & up f&m, 7f
  • Santa Anita: Santa Ysabel Stakes – G3, $100,000, 3yo f, 8.5f
  • Santa Anita: Crystal Water Stakes, $100,000, 4yo & up, 8.5f
  • Santa Anita: Sensational Star Stakes, $100,000, 4yo & up, 6.5f turf
  • Santa Anita: Valentine Dancer Stakes, $100,000, 4yo & up f&m, 8f turf
  • Sam Houston: John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes – G3, $200,000, 4yo & up, 9f turf
  • Laurel Park: Dancing Count Stakes, $75,000, 3yo, 6f
  • Oaklawn Park: King Cotton Stakes, $50,000, 4yo & up, 6f
  • Turfway Park: Forego Stakes, $50,000, 4yo & up, 6.5f

Sunday – January 29

  • Gulfstream Park: Holy Bull Stakes – G3, $400,000, 3yo, 8f
  • Gulfstream Park: Forward Gal Stakes – G2, $200,000, 3yo f, 7f
  • Santa Anita: Wishing Well Stakes, $75,000, 4yo & up, 6.5f turf

Harness Racing Action

Weekend Stakes Action

Great racing action from across the country this weekend.  Watch these races all on BetAmerica.com.

Saturday – January 28

  • The Meadowlands: Presidential Stakes, $100,000, 3yo & up open pace
  • The Meadowlands: Complex Stakes, $75,000, 3yo – 5yo open pace
  • The Meadowlands: Clyde Hirt Stakes, $75,000, 4yo h&g pace

Players Edge Newsletter – January 20, 2012

January 19th, 2012

BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 20, 2012 Fair Grounds – LeComte Stakes
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 20, 2012 Santa Anita – Palos Verdes
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 20, 2012 Gulfstream Park – Kitten’s Joy Stakes
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 20, 2012 Fair Grounds – Colonel Bradley Handicap
BAPlayersEdge1 MainHdlinesStar Players Edge Newsletter – January 20, 2012 Thoroughbred Racing Action

Fair Grounds – LeComte Stakes

On the Derby Trail in Louisiana

The first big test for the three-year-olds in Louisiana with dreams of running on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs comes this Saturday with the 68th running of the LeComte. The Grade 3 race is part of the three-year-olds stakes series at Fair Grounds, which culminates in the Louisiana Derby on April 1.

This year’s LeComte drew a full field of thirteen with one entry and will go as race eleven on the thirteen-race card. Post time 5:55 ET.

The morning line favorite for the two-turn race is Shared Property at 4-1. Shared Property has not run since early October when he was sixth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. In the Grade 1 the gelding was void of any early speed before putting in a late run. Prior to that race Shared Property won the Grade 3 Arlington Washing Futurity over the synthetic track at Arlington Park and a maiden race over the conventional dirt at Ellis Park.

Off of his two stakes races Shared Property is the class of the field, but contention runs deep. After the top choice there are five betting interests between 9-2 and 6-1 on the morning line.

Seven Lively Sins is 9-2 on the morning line coming in off of back-to-back Grade 3 races. Two starts back the Stormy Atlantic-colt ran in the one-turn Iroquois and finished a respectable second. Then, in his first start around two-turns he was fourth in the Jackpot at Delta Downs.

Exfactor is next at 5-1 on the line and he exits the local prep for this race, the Sugar Bowl. In the Sugar Bowl Exfactor stalked the early pace then was game down the lane and just prevailed by a nose of Laurie’s Rocket. Laurie’s Rocket just finished fifth in the Smarty Jones at Oaklawn Park on Monday, which did not exactly flatter the form.

The entry of Dan and Sheila and Z Dager as well as Hammers Terror and Capetown Devil are all 6-1 on the morning line and all have a shot.

Dan and Sheila comes out of a maiden score at one-mile at Gulfstream Park and is an attractive enough mount for John Velazquez to come over for trainer Todd Pletcher. Z Dager goes for the same owner, Zayat Stables, but is trained by Steve Asmussen. Z Dager broke his maiden in his last race, which was at Fair Grounds over the distance of the LeComte.

Hammers Terror and Capetown Devil also have wins over the course and distance and both look like good three-year-old prospects. Hammers Terror has been on every one’s radar since his debut in late September at Arlington Park and even though he is bred for the turf he proved in his last he can run well on the dirt.

Capetown Devil ran a better speed figure than Hammers Terror in his last race, but they were run on different days about a month apart.

The other interesting horse in the lineup is the 8-1 Mr. Bowling for trainer Larry Jones. Mr. Bowling has not run since finishing third in the Grade 3 Iroquois at Churchill. Prior to that he won the Dover Stakes at Delaware Park, which was at the same distance of the LeComte.

The pace scenario is going to be the most important aspect in handicapping the race. Many of these horses have run their best races on or near the pace, which could set it up for a closer. Ted’s Folly doesn’t have the graded class of the others in the field, but he will be doing his best running late. The third place horse in his last race came back to win his next start, an allowance race at Oaklawn Park, and the second place horse was a very good second to the perfect trip winner in the Smarty Jones.

Ted’s Folly may be a lot higher than his 10-1 morning line and could be a bomb in the gimmicks.

Santa Anita – Palos Verdes

Amazombie Back to the Track

The feature race on Saturday at Santa Anita is the 60th running of the Grade 2 Palos Verdes. The six-furlong sprint drew a field of eight led by the Eclipse Award-winning Amazombie.

Amazombie had an outstanding 2011 campaign with five wins in nine starts including the Grade 2 Potrero Grande, Grade 1 Ancient Title and Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Sprint. For his efforts the gelding was recently named Male Sprinter of the year.

A winner of ten races and over $1.5-million in his career, Amazombie is likely to be a short price on Saturday. In five career starts at Santa Anita he has three wins and a second. Both the Ancient Title and Potrero Grande were over the track as well as the Sunshine Millions Sprint, which he won in January 2011.

Those looking to beat the favorite should look to a couple of speed horses as the track has been playing very well to speed since the meet opened in December.

The speed of the speed is Euroears, who drew post eight for the six furlong sprint. Euroears is an eight-year-old who has made have of his 22 starts since turning six in 2009. The Langfuhr colt won the Palos Verdes last year in wire-to-wire fashion, but must improve off of his last three races, two of which were last place finishes by double digit lengths.

Courtside is another speed horse and when left on the lead he can be dangerous. In the Cal Cup Sprint Courtside was send off at 9-2, but won easily and had something left in the tank. In three starts at Santa Anita the four-year-old gelding has two wins including a win on a sloppy, sealed track, which may be the case on Saturday.

Add to the fact that Courtside comes in with two bullet workouts on the 9th and 15th and he looks like one to take seriously on the rise in class.

Frumious ran in the Cal Cup Sprint against Courtside and chased him around in the early stages before finishing sixth, but has come back to win two straight races and his last race was a smasher. In that race, at Santa Anita, Frumious made the lead through swift fractions, :43.80 for the half mile, and won by just over a length. The speed figure he earned in that race is only topped by Amazombie, Euroears and M One Rifle.

M One Rifle comes in to the Palos Verdes on a four race losing streak and his only win in his last nine races came in a five-furlong sprint at Hollywood Park. The six-year-old gelding may be a better horse over the synthetics as evident by his zero-for-two record on the dirt.

Completing the Grade 2 field are Galientos, Mensa Heat and Canonize. Scheduled as race eight on the nine-race card, post time for the Palos Verdes is 7:07 ET.

Gulfstream Park – Kitten’s Joy Stakes

Three-Year-Olds on the Turf

Saturday’s feature race at Gulfstream Park is the Kitten’s Joy for three-year-olds on the turf. A field of eight entered the two-turn affair with two horses dropping from Grade 1races.

Lucky Chappy has been off since early November after finishing fourth in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. The Juvenile Turf was his second race in the U.S. after finishing third in the Grade 3 Bourbon at Keeneland.

Prior to coming to the U.S. for Team Valor the High Chaparral colt was running in Italy. The Irish-bred won two of his three races there including an $89,500 stakes races. In Italy Lucky Chappy was running near the front, but has found the U.S. pace to be swifter.

At the mile and one-sixteenth distance of the Kitten’s Joy, Lucky Chappy will just be getting started. He may be better suited once the distances increase.

Cozzetti drops from the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park, which was run over their Polytrack surface. Prior to the CashCall the Cozzene colt won a maiden race over a sloppy main track at Churchill. To start his career Cozzetti ran twice over the turf with a fourth place, beaten one length, his best finish.

A return to the turf may be what Cozzetti needs for a return to the winner’s circle. By Cozzene he is out of a Lemon Drop Kid-mare, which gives him turf breeding on both sides of his pedigree.

Italo, Argentine Tango, El Roman, Howe Great, Empire Builder and Scorcher all have runs over the Gulfstream Park turf course with Italo and Empire Builder exiting the Dania Beach Stakes.

Italo won the Florida-bred Appleton Juvenile Turf Stakes at Calder in mid-November then finished seventh, beaten just under three lengths, in the Dania Beach. In the Dania, Italo was “steadied early” and that caused him to be rank, but probably did not cost him a better placing.

Empire Building finished in front of Italo in the Dania Beach and simply ran around the track a bit one-paced. He is likely to improve off that race, which was his first off a two-month layoff. His best hope is to get good early position off Howe Great, who is expected to set the pace.

Howe Great broke his maiden at Parx then shipped down to Gulfstream Park for a successful stretch out over the turf. That race was a non-winners of two-lifetime race, but the Kitten’s Joy came up light on speed and jockey Edgar Prado could enjoy an easy front-running score.

Post time for the race on Saturday is 4:45 ET and is the third leg of the late pick-4, which starts in race eight at 3:49 ET.

Fair Grounds – Colonel Bradley Handicap

Grade 3 Older Turf Runners

The LeComte is not the only graded stakes race on the Saturday card at Fair Grounds as the 26th running of the Grade 3 Colonel Bradley Handicap will also take place.

The Colonel Bradley is a two-turn turf race and drew a very competitive field of eight. Just like the LeComte there are several horses grouped close together in the morning line with six between 3-1 and 6-1.

Suntracer, at 3-1, is the morning-line favorite and is looking to win his second straight race, and third overall, on the Fair Grounds turf. The last race for Suntracer was perhaps his best yet. Sent off at nearly 3-1 the Kitten’s Joy-colt was last year, but put in a torrid late run to win going away. Off two months since then he comes into the Colonel Bradley a fresh horse and the one to beat.

Strike Impact is the second choice on the line and he will be positioned in front of the top choice early. An eight-year-old gelding Strike Impact has won sixteen of 60 career races, but has yet to crack the top spot over the Fair Grounds turf. He may be better on the Churchill grass, but can hit the board in the Bradley.

Baltimore Bob and Mr. Vegas come out of a common allowance race on the turf at Fair Grounds and should once again be dueling out on the front end.

Of the two Mr. Vegas gets top billing as he won that race by a length and is a perfect two-for-two over the course. If they can set an easy pace on the lead then the closers will have their work cut out to run them down late.

Lonesome Street was once a horse that would be part of the pace, but since his win at Indiana Downs in June he has been a horse that comes off-the-pace. After the Indiana Downs stakes score Lonesome Street was fourth in an allowance race at Saratoga then was second in the Unbridled stakes on the grass at Louisiana Downs. The Unbridled was in mid-September and the Colonel Brady will be his first start since then.

Glenwood Canyon is an interesting horse that will be making his first start on the turf after running his last 26 races on either dirt or synthetic. The son of Silver Deputy is not exactly bred for the turf, but any time you have a trainer hitting at 30% then you must look closer. Do keep in mind that Glenwood Canyon is also entered in the ninth race on the day, the Louisiana Handicap, which is on the main track.

Rounding out the field are Heavenville and Dubious Miss with post time scheduled for 3:58 ET.

Thoroughbred Racing Action

Weekend Stakes Action

Great racing action from across the country this weekend.  Watch these races all on BetAmerica.com.

Saturday – January 21

  • Santa Anita: Palos Verdes Stakes – G2, $150,000, 4yo & up, 6f
  • Santa Anita: Megahertz Stakes, $75,000, 4yo & up f&m, 8f turf
  • Gulfstream Park: Kitten’s Joy, $100,000, 3yo, 8.5f turf
  • Fair Grounds: LeComte Stakes – G3, $175,000, 3yo, 8f 70f
  • Fair Grounds: Colonel Bradley Handicap – G3, $100,000, 4yo & up, 8.5f turf
  • Fair Grounds: Silverbulletday Stakes, $125,000, 3yo f, 8f 70f
  • Fair Grounds: Louisiana Handicap, $100,000, 4yo & up, 8.5f
  • Fair Grounds: F.W. Gaudin Memorial Stakes, $75,000, 4yo & up, 6f
  • Fair Gournds: Pan Zareta Stakes, $75,000, 4yo & up, 5.5f turf
  • Tampa Bay Downs: Manatee Stakes, $50,000, 4yo & up, 7f
  • Golden Gate: California Oaks, $100,000, 3yo f, 8.5f
  • Sam Houston: Star of Texas Stakes, $100,000, 4yo & up, 8.5f
  • Sam Houston: Groovy Stakes, $50,000, 3yo, 7f
  • Sam Houston: Spirit of Texas Stakes, $50,000, 4yo & up, 6f
  • Sam Houston: Richard King Stakes, $50,000, 4yo & up, 9f turf

Sunday – January 22

  • Santa Anita: La Canada Stakes – G2, $150,000, 4yo f, 8.5f
  • Santa Anita: San Pedro Stakes, $75,000, 3yo, 6.5f
  • Gulfstream Park: Sweetest Chant Stakes, $100,000, 3yo f, 8f turf
  • Oaklawn Park: American Beauty Stakes, $50,000, 4yo & up, 6f
  • Sunland Park: El Paso Times Handicap, $50,000, 3yo, 6.5f

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