SA (12/29): Gr. I La Brea stakes
 

9th Race - Santa Anita Park - Saturday, December 29th, 2007 STAKES.

7 Furlongs Dirt. Purse $250,000. La Brea S. (Grade 1).
FOR FILLIES, THREE YEARS OLD. (Foals of 2004). (04:07 PM) (14)
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This is the girls' version of The Malibu stakes.

Look Deep

La Brea a career-maker. But for who?
By STEVE ANDERSEN

Sindy With an S, winner of the Grade 3 Safely Kept Breeders' Cup Stakes at Laurel, aims for her first Grade 1 in Saturday's La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita.
ARCADIA, Calif. - A win in Saturday's $250,000 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita would be a career-defining race for any of the 14 3-year-old fillies entered in the Grade 1 race.

The difficulty is isolating which of them is most likely to win the seven-furlong race.

There are eight stakes winners in the field, but only two graded stakes winners - Ashley's Kitty (Grade 3 Railbird Stakes at Hollywood Park in May) and Sindy With an S (Grade 3 Safely Kept Breeders' Cup Stakes at Laurel in October).

The field includes two promising but lightly raced fillies - Frisk Her, a minor stakes winner at Aqueduct earlier this month, and Glorified, unraced since a second-place finish in the Honest Lady Stakes at Hollywood Park in July, her third start.

In an open race, the role of favorite may go to Dawn After Dawn, who was third in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes and fourth in the Kentucky Oaks last spring and won an optional claimer in her California debut at Hollywood Park last month.

The optional claimer was Dawn After Dawn's first start since July and first start for trainer John Sadler, who was both pleased and alarmed by the performance. Dawn After Dawn led by a length with a furlong remaining, but began to pull herself up under jockey Garrett Gomez in the final sixteenth. She won by a head over Swiss Diva, another starter in the La Brea.

Gomez retains the mount in the La Brea, and will keep after Dawn After Dawn if she makes the lead in a race certain to be run at a strong pace.

Sadler said that Gomez will try not to make the lead too early on Dawn After Dawn.

"There should be plenty of pace," Sadler said of the La Brea.

One likely pacesetter is Dearest Trickski, Sadler's other starter, who seemed like an unlikely candidate for this sort of race a few months ago. Dearest Trickski was claimed by Sadler and owner Tom Mankiewicz for $32,000 at Del Mar in August, and has subsequently won three consecutive races - a $50,000 claimer, an optional claimer, and an allowance race.

The La Brea is the stakes debut for Dearest Trickski, who has won 7 of 11 starts.

"We'll find out in the next couple of races how good she is," Sadler said. "She doesn't have any conditions. She's got a lot of speed. I'm a little concerned about the distance."

A fast pace will help several fillies, including Ashley's Kitty, Glorified, and Sindy With an S, all of whom will not be far from the front.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/91206.html

I think this might be the new front runner for worst grade one in the history of the game.

Unspoken Word looks intriguing in this soft race. After winning her first two, she ran into a bevy of Grade 1 calibur turf fillies (Lear's Princess, Rutherienne, Makdeshkawhatever) in her next three starts. Been pretty productive, but has a tendency to give up the lead down the lane. Most of those were at 8.5f, so she might appreciate the cutback, particularly if she settles a bit further off the pace than she does in the routes. Been working well in CA for Hollendorfer and Bejarano is familiar with her.

Use Sindy With An S. and Glorified in the exotics. Pinata is the big bomb for the multi-horse bets, she always leaves herself way too much to do, but in this extended sprint, with a bunch of speed, and dubious talent lining up, she could chug along for 4th or maybe even 3rd.

no winner of this race will be a less deserving grade I winner than Sutra.

She's got that locked up for a good while I think.

At least she was a 2yo. This is an unaccomplished field of almost 4yos. I'm with King on this, I just hope there will be 2yo Cal Breds to outrun them like there was on the Malibu card.

That is "for WHOM?" Prepositional case.

Dearest Trickski for me

Backing the high weight in here.
Sindy with an S.

I like her chances as well as her odds too.

SCRATCHED: #4 Silky Smooth

Look Deep is tempting at the price
but I'm concerned that she's wind up getting parked around the turn from that post.

I'd prefer keying Ashley's Kitty and Tyler Baze up and down and all around.

ODDS GUNNA BE CRAPPY...Assistant trainer touted heavily today.You can bet that HRTV talking heads will repeat it all day long Saturday.

If Frisk Her is 8/1 or higher I'm betting her.

Cathrine's Hope,and Sindy with an S don't want 7f.Not if they are anywhere near the front in mid race sub 45.

What a brutal field for a G1. There are about 8 horses in here that have no business in graded company. Sindy with an S will get bet down and I want no part of her, Dawn after Dawn is a little scary with Gomez but only beat the 30-1 Swiss Diva by a head in the last, Glorfied is improving but I will need more than 7/2, don't know what to do with Frisk Her but will have to cover in the P4, Look Deep might be a nice overlay.

Leaning Dearest Trickski depending on how much she get pounded down. Should get a clear lead and I will take my chances. Could have claimed her for 10k in April and now jumping to a G1. Probably box with Ashley's Kitty who likes this distance and is one of the few with a graded stakes win.

I was thinking Macadamia in a shocker, but i see she's cross-entered in the Monrovia (nice little field with Audacious Chloe, Alexandra Rose and Strong Faith. Shreik is entered in that one as well...).

If she's in? Macadamia. If not? Swiss Diva, Glorified underneath.