Newsletter

Santa Anita Gets Wet

The Big Cap at Santa Anita

Around the Track

Derby Future Book – Pool 2

Thoroughbred Racing Action

Harness Stakes Action

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Santa Anita Gets Wet
Rain, Rain, Go Away

This Saturday Santa Anita will host four Graded Stakes races including the Santa Anita Handicap, however, just like last weekend when heavy rain for the track to close, this weekend of racing looks to be a wet affair…again. A 70% chance of rain is forecast for Saturday and a 60% chance of showers for Sunday.

With its Pro-Ride synthetic track surface, Santa Anita has lost five days this meet since its December 26^th start. Track officials battle drainage issues and even have contemplated switching the tracks surface back to its original dirt. While in its premier part of its meet, Santa Anita cannot weather any additional lost days due t rain. Last weekend’s closure moved the Grade III Sham Stakes for three year-olds to this Saturday. Horsemen initially wanted the Sham to be run this past Wednesday; track management re-scheduled it for Saturday. Now the Sham is in peril of being rained out again.

Four other stakes races are scheduled for this Saturday; the Santa Anita Handicap, The Santa Anita Oaks and the Frank Kilroe Mile Handicap, which is scheduled for the turf.

The Big Cap at Santa Anita
A Full Field of Fun

This Saturday’s entrants for the Grade I $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap will have not just the possibility of wet weather but a full field of evenly matched rivals. This should make handicapping such a race fun.

Each horse looks good on paper, some are switching from turf to synthetic for the first time, and some just look funny running (sorry St. Trinians)

The 1 ¼ mile race will be run on the Pro-Ride synthetic surface and with a field of 14, one of the top horses in the race, Misremembered, who was second in his last three starts will have to overcome post number 13.  Since winning the Indiana Derby, Misremembered has posted runner-up finishes in three consecutive races, the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs and the Malibu and Strub Stakes at Santa Anita, the latter as the 7-10 favorite. Martin Garcia will be in the irons for the first time. Misremembered has four wins and four seconds in 10 lifetime starts with earnings of $738,589.

Others top standouts are the Irish-bred Loup Breton, winner of the San Marcos Handicap on turf in his last start; San Pasqual Handicap victor Neko Bay; the funny running mare St Trinians, who captured the Santa Maria Handicap (gr. II) most recently; and grade I winners Mast Track and Marsh Side.

Neko Bay, Loup Breton, Mast Track and Marsh Side each accepted the high weight assignment of 117 pounds, an indication of just how evenly matched this field appears to be. St Trinians, with a sex allowance, is the field’s light weight at 113.

Loup Breton, group I-placed in France prior to transferring Southern California last fall, and will be trying a synthetic surface for the first time in the Big ‘Cap. The 6-year-old Irish-bred son of Anabaa has won two of three starts here, including the 1 1/4-mile San Marcos by a half-length over a “good” turf in late January.

Garrett Gomez will ride again. Loup Breton has won three times at the 10-furlong distance while compiling a lifetime mark of 5-4-2 in 21 starts with earnings of $677,614. He is favorably drawn in post six for Gomez, who has never won the Santa Anita Handicap.

St Trinians, who was originally targeted for the Santa Margarita Invitational on March 13th, became a Big ‘Cap contender rather than face the champion mare Zenyatta. The Santa Margarita Invitational is Zenyatta’s 2010 debut race. If St Trinians is successful, she would be the first female to win the race in 73 renewals. Bred in Great Britain, where she raced through 2008, St Trinians has exceeded all expectations in Southern California by winning her four starts by a combined 16 1/2 lengths. The 5-year-old mare has won seven of her 11 lifetime starts and $268,587.

Jeranimo has won two of three starts and finishing fourth in a troubled trip in the Sunshine Millions Classic. The 4-year-old was on the Triple Crown trail briefly last year before heading to the sidelines in April for six months. He finished third in Santa Anita’s San Felipe Stakes.

Neko Bay registered his first graded-stakes win in the San Pasqual on January 9th when he rallied five-wide in the 1 1/16-mile test to win by nearly two lengths. The 7-year-old son of Giant’s Causeway has won five races in his career, all at Santa Anita (in nine tries). Overall, he has finished in the money in 11 of 13 starts while banking $323,020. Neko Bay is one of two entered by trainer John Shirreffs, who also has Mast Track in the field.

The 6-year-old Mast Track formerly owned and bred by trainer Bobby Frankel, won the Native Diver Handicap and recently faded to sixth in the San Antonio Handicap. The 2008 Hollywood Gold Cup appears to be the pacesetter here in the Big Cap.

7-year-old Marsh Side will get another shot on the synthetic track following a seventh-place showing in the San Antonio. Marsh Side has not had an official victory since he captured the 2008 Canadian International (Can-IT) eight races ago.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer entered a pair in Dakota Phone, who just missed by a head to Dubai World Cup (UAE-I) hopeful Richard’s Kid in the San Antonio, and grade II winner Rendezvous, third in the San Fernando Stakes. Multiple graded winner Delightful Kiss, most recently third in Gulfstream Park’s Donn Handicap and Grade III Canadian winner Pool Play ship in and merit consideration as part of a contentious group.

The full field for the Santa Anita Handicap is below:

PP	Horse	A/S	Jockey	Wgt	Trainer
1	Pick Six (KY)	6/H	A O Solis	114	D L Hendricks
2	St Trinians (GB)	5/M	J Rosario	113	M R Mitchell
3	Rendezvous (KY)	4/C	J Talamo	114	J Hollendorfer
4	Neko Bay (KY)	7/H	M E Smith	117	J A Shirreffs
5	Eagle Poise (KY)	4/C	T Baze	114	W I Mott
6	Loup Breton (IRE)	6/H	G K Gomez	117	J C Canani
7	Mast Track (KY)	6/H	D R Flores	117	J A Shirreffs
8	Pool Play (ON)	5/H	C Sutherland	114	M E Casse
9	Marsh Side (KY)	7/H	M A Pedroza	117	N D Drysdale
10	Tiger’s Rock (KY)	4/C	D Cohen	114	M W McCarty
11	Dakota Phone (KY)	5/G	V Espinoza	114	J Hollendorfer
12	Delightful Kiss (FL)	6/G	J C Leyva	115	P D Anderson
13	Misremembered (KY)	4/R	M Garcia	116	B Baffert
14	Jeranimo (FL)	4/C	R Bejarano	116	M Pender

Around the Track
Info for the Race Handicapper

Breeders Cup

A Breeders’ Cup board member has indicated that the organization is leaning toward selecting a permanent host site for the World Championships, but the Breeders’ Cup backed away from the comments.

Breeders’ Cup representatives planned to meet March 3 to discuss the host-site plan. Officials indicated that Santa Anita Park meets the criteria of major media market, ability to accommodate crowds, good weather, and generating revenue through attendance and pari-mutuel handle. The only area in which it falls short is its racing surface, currently synthetic.

Breeders’ Cup officials have reached out to many in the industry, including Churchill Downs Inc. and the New York Racing Association. A Breeders’ Cup board member said NYRA is still battling financial problems, and Breeders’ Cup “can’t make any money” when the event is held at Churchill Downs, adding “Churchill will not deal with you on revenue and is probably the worst organization from a horseracing standpoint.”

Santa Anita Park

Turf specialist Loup Breton will try a synthetic surface for the first time in Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap. A winner of the San Marcos Stakes on January 24th, the 6-year-old Irish-bred has an all-turf record of 5-4-2 from 21 starts, and $677,614 in career earnings. Although he’s a newcomer to a synthetic surface, Loup Breton is well acquainted with the Big ’Cap distance of 1 ¼ miles, as he has posted three wins from 11 lifetime tries. Garrett Gomez, America’s leading rider by money won the past four years, will be seeking his first-ever win in the Big ’Cap, while the Peruvian-born Canani will pursue a Big ’Cap double, as he won the race with longshot Martial Law in 1989.

Saturday’s nine race program will be highlighted by the Gr. III, $150,000 Sham Stakes for 3-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles. The field for the Sham will be redrawn and run this coming Saturday, March 6 after heavy rains cancelled racing. The Sham is an important steppingstone to the Gr. I Santa Anita Derby on April 3. The cancellation marked the fifth such weather related closure of the current winter/spring meet which began on December 26th.

Oaklawn Park

The Apple Blossom Invitational is looming next month and Oaklawn Park is getting ready to send out invitations to fill eight spots to compete against Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta for the April 9^th race. Nominations for the Apple Blossom range from champion Stardom Bound to multiple Group 1 winner Bambera, who since January has been in training with Pablo Andrade at Calder

This ‘Race for the Ages’ is on track with the next step is getting past March 13, when both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta are scheduled to make their seasonal debuts. Rachel Alexandra is to run at Fair Grounds, and Zenyatta at Santa Anita. The owners of both horses have indicated their intent to run in the Apple Blossom next.

Derby Future Book – Pool 2
Mutuel Field Still Odds on Favorite

As spring rolls on, the clock ticks a little louder while looking at this year’s crop of Derby hopefuls. With a win in the Fountain of Youth Stakes, Eskendereya leaped to the forefront of the Churchill Downs’ 2010 Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2 to join Lookin At Lucky are the co-second choices at 6-1.

Eskendereya closed at 22-1 in Pool 1, Lookin At Lucky, the 8-1 favored individual in Pool 1, is scheduled to make his 2010 debut in the March 13 Rebel Stakes (gr. II) at Oaklawn Park.

Betting on Pool 2 is set to open at noon EST March 5 for wagering at racetracks and satellite wagering centers, along with TwinSpires.com and other on-line wagering platforms. Wagering will conclude at 6 p.m. March 7.

2010 KENTUCKY DERBY FUTURE WAGER

Pool 2 (March 5-7)

1	Aikenite	50-1
2	American Lion	30-1
3	Buddy’s Saint	12-1
4	Caracortado	12-1
5	Connemara	20-1
6	Conveyance	12-1
7	D’Funnybone	20-1
8	Dave in Dixie	30-1
9	Discreetly Mine	30-1
10	Dublin	15-1
11	Eskendereya	6-1
12	Jackson Bend	20-1
13	Lookin At Lucky	6-1
14	Nextdoorneighbor	30-1
15	Noble’s Promise	50-1
16	Odysseus	20-1
17	Radiohead	20-1
18	Rule	50-1
19	Setsuko	20-1
20	Sidney’s Candy	20-1
21	Super Saver	50-1
22	Tempted to Tapit	30-1
23	Vale of York	30-1
24	All Other 3YOs	7-2

Thoroughbred Racing Action
Weekend Stakes Action

Spring is knocking on the door and Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park offer up top-flight racing action including last weeks postponed Sham Stakes. Watch and wager on these stakes races…all on BetAmerica.com.

Friday – March 5

• Delta Downs: Goddess Stakes, $100,000, 4&up, f/m, 8.5f.
• Delta Downs: Gulf Coast Classic, $100,000, 4&up, 8.5f.

Saturday – March 6

• Fair Grounds: Gentilly Stakes, $60,000, 3yo, Louisiana-bred, 8.5f (turf).
• Fair Grounds: Sarah Lane’s Oates Stakes, $60,000, 3yo f, 8f (turf).
• Gulfstream Park: Herecomesthebride Stakes –G3, $150,000, 3yo f, 9f (turf).
• Gulfstream Park: Palm Beach Stakes – G3, $150,000, 3yo, 9f (turf).
• Laurel Park: Wide Country Stakes, $50,000, 3yo f, 7f.
• Oaklawn Park: Azeri B.C. Stakes – G3, $100,000, $50,000, 4&up, f/m, 8.5f.
• Oaklawn Park: Razorback B.C. Handicap – G3, $100,000, 4&up, 8.5f.
• Santa Anita: Santa Anita Handicap – G1, $750,000, 4&up, 10f.
• Santa Anita: Frank E. Kilroe Mile Handicap – G1, $250,000, 4&up, 8f (turf).
• Santa Anita: Santa Anita Oaks – G1, $250,000, 3yo f, 8.5f.
• Santa Anita: Sham Stakes – G3, $150,000, 3yo, 9f.
• Santa Anita: Pasadena Stakes, $60,000, 3yo, 8f (turf).
• Tampa Bay Downs: Challenger Stakes, $50,000, 4&up, 8.5f.
• Turfway Park: Wintergreen Stakes, $50,000, 4&up, f/m, 8f.

Sunday – March 7

• Santa Anita: Joe Hernandez Stakes, $55,000, 4&up, 6.5f (turf).
• Sunland Park: SPRC Claiming Stakes, $30,000, 3&up, 6f.

Harness Stakes Action
This Weekend’s Stakes Action

BetAmerica.com still has great harness action from the East Coast to the West Coast, from Canada and the U.S. Watch and Wager on these Harness stakes races this week:

Friday – March 5

• Meadowlands: Overbid, $50,000, FFA Mare, Pace
• Yonkers: Hopeful, $10,000, 3yo, Filly, Pace

Saturday – March 6

• Meadowlands: Four Leaf Clover, $25,000, 4 & Under, Pace

Sunday – March 7

• Meadowlands: Horse & Groom, $20,000, Open, Trot