1/7-8 (SA): San Gabriel (G2), Sham, Las Cienagas (G3's); Santa Ynez (G2)
 

3rd (1:30) Las Cienegas S. (G3)

About 6 1/2 Furlongs (Downhill turf) | Fillies and Mares | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $100,000

1 Cadet Roni Bejarano R 122 L
2 Paquita Coqueta (CHI) Prat F 120 L
3 Lajatico (GB) Van Dyke D 120 L
4 Prize Exhibit (GB) Smith M E 120 L
5 Watch This Cat Nakatani C S 120 L



7th (3:30) Sham S. (G3)

1 Mile | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $100,000

1 American Anthem Smith M E 119 L
2 Term of Art Talamo J 124 L
3 Bird Is the Word Ulloa Perez G G 119 L
4 Colonel Samsen Prat F 121 FTL
5 Gormley Espinoza V 124 L
6 Big Hit Gonzalez S 119 L
7 Blabimir Gutierrez Mario 119 L



9th (4:30) San Gabriel S. (G2)

1 1/8 Miles (Turf) | Open | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $200,000

1 Blue Tone Desormeaux K J 120 L
2 Point Piper Gutierrez Mario 122 L
3 Flamboyant (FR) Prat F 122 L
4 Syntax (IRE) Talamo J 120 L
5 Itsinthepost (FR) Baze T C 120 L
6 Conquest Daddyo Contreras L 120 L
7 A Red Tie Day Nakatani C S 120 L
8 Quick Casablanca (CHI) Ulloa Perez G G 122 L
9 Twentytwentyvision Smith M E 120 L
10 Perfectly Majestic Espinoza V 120 L
11 Ring Weekend Van Dyke D 125 L
12 Some in Tieme (BRZ) Pereira T J 122 FTL

If Doug O'Neill and Jerry Hollendorfer weren't playing games with the entry box, the Santa Ynez could end up being an interesting race.

Thoughts on American Anthem?

Life and death to beat a maiden claimer in debut. I'll wait for Beach Bum, though he appears to have hit a road bump.

To be fair, I had bad information. I was under the impression Little Juanito debuted in a maiden claimer. American Anthem's race had a few next out winners, though one was at Los Al, another was put up on DQ, and the other finally got it right 4th time out when just edging his stablemate that previously had put up goose eggs.

SUN 8th (4:00) Santa Ynez S. (G2)

7 Furlongs | Fillies | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $200,000

1 Resilient Humor Desormeaux K J 120 L
2 Sandy's Surprise Gutierrez Mario 120 L
3 Unique Bella Smith M E 120 L
4 Carrie Linares M G 120 Blk-On L
5 Princess Karen Bejarano R 120 L
6 Noted and Quoted Garcia M 124 L
7 Go On Mary Theriot H J II 120 L
8 Shane's Girlfriend Prat F 122 L
9 It Tiz Well Van Dyke D 120 L

I am with you, I was hardly impressed with the horse in the race and certainly I never heard much about this horse going in so its not like he was that highly thought of...can win but seems like a spot to find someone else due to the inflated odds on this one.

American Anthem improved alot today. Looked like a serious runner.

The third place horse caught my eye as well, even though he was beaten a mile.

It might be a bit of a wait Mr. Tomasi...........Beach Bum has quarter cracks.
No Derby for him.

just not sure about either of those horses moving forward...i am getting to be a skeptic in my old age.

Well the runner up lacks a lot compared to the winner. You have a G1 winner who ran in the BC vs a maiden winner. I thought American Anthem ran great today all things considered.
Sorry to hear that about Beach Bum, he is good.

The CA 3yo crop is very suspect at the moment. The two principle colts, Klimt and Gormley, were absolutely buried in the BC on their home track. Big Gray Rocket was unceremoniously drubbed in the Champagne. Hot Sean was leveled in the Delta Jackpot (by a horse who wasn't in the same zip code as division leader Classic Empire). Klimt now has a new trainer and his form has gone in reverse, never mind his pedigree which is not noted for longevity.

For half a second, I was convinced that Mastery was better than all the grumblings after his Del Mar win when he showed an impressive stretch gear when taking the Los Alamitos Futurity. Then, Irap, the winless runner-up in that race, ran back in a soft maiden field last week and couldn't even hit the board.

As for the Sham, that was a gut-busting stretch drive, so even if those colts have improved, they could have easily left any reserve in the sea of mud at Santa Anita (despite what Steve Haskin has to say about Baffert's training methods). Compound that with those ubiquitous WinStar silks and one can foresee American Anthem traveling the path of many a Elliot Walden-directed classic contender, i.e. tossed into various preps on a whim before a total meltdown a week or two before the Kentucky Derby.

Beware the dreaded "We are turning him out at WinStar for 30 days".

That horse that ran today seems ok though.

If you are talking about the Unique Bella, it is good news. The filly crop is worse than the male crop nationally, and not just in CA.

should make for some good betting!