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Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS
Just because of how the Sham fits on the Stakes Schedule (two weeks before the 8.5 furlong San Felipe, four weeks after the 8.5 furlong Bob Lewis, and three weeks after the 7f San Vincente) - and the fact that it's a Grade 3 while the three other stakes are Grade 2's - it is the one single race every year that is guaranteed to be run at a snail's pace.
The only good horses it ever attracts are the ones who want to stay. You would think a few trainers would catch on and point a cheaper speed horse for this race - you never get more than one to enter though - and some years you get none. And they always totally outrun their odds.
It really does underline how dumb trainers are - that year in and year out - more slow plodding cheaper horses are pointed for this race than speedy cheaper horses. Those types obviously always run HORRIBLE because they get no pace.
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I'm not familiar with his entire record, but doesn't Victory Pete fit the bill as a cheaper speed horse? Coast Guard would have worked too, but his soundness issues have apparently come to the fore.
The SA 3yo stakes program is as muddled and diluted as the BC is sure to become. The Sham used to be a restricted stakes in mid-February, catering to horses coming out of allowance races or bridesmaids from graded stakes (eg, Ferdinand and General Meeting). The Santa Catalina (now the Robert Lewis) was also restricted, and run in early January, but apparently SA wanted to suck the life out of the concurrently run El Camino Real Derby up north, which generally drew a strong field littered with promising SoCal horses. The heart of the program used to be the 7f San Vincente in February, followed by the San Rafael and San Felipe in early and late March respectively. Typically, these drew good-sized fields (with several horses using both preps) as opposed to the 5-horse fields (often with matching inconclusive results) that all 5 stakes now draw.
Of course, once the synthetics are firmly in place, there should be enough sound horses (or at least imported Euro poly horses) to fill a 3yo stakes every week...