3/1-2 (3yo): Miracle Wood; Sham/Baldwin; Battaglia; TX Heritage
 

9th (4:07) Miracle Wood S.

7 Furlongs | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $70,000

1 Cudjo Castellano A Jr 116 LA
2 Vanderkaay Napravnik A R 122 LA
3 Tricky Start Rodriguez E D 116 LA
4 Regal Solo Fogelsonger R 122 LA
5 Malibu Kid Rose J 116 LA
6 Gattopardo Pimentel J 116 LA
7 Springs Road Pimentel J 116 LA
8 Cave's Valley Caraballo J C 122 Blk-On LA
9 Apple Special Castillo O O 122 LA



SA 7th (3:00 PCT) Sham S. (G3)

1 1/8 Miles (All Weather Track) | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $200,000

1 El Gato Malo Flores D R 120 L
2 Success Fee Baze M C 116 L
3 Coast Guard Bejarano R 116 L
4 Trevor's Clever Baze T C 116 L
5 Victory Pete Talamo J 116 Blk-On L
6 Colonel John Gomez G K 118 L
7 Reflect Times (JPN) Smith M E 116 Blk-On L



TP 11th (5:45) John Battaglia Memorial S.

1 1/16 Miles (All Weather Track) | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $100,000

1 Beneficiary Stokes R A III 115 L
2 Instill McKee J 121 L
3 Big Glen Lopez J 121 L
4 Mr. Harry Troilo W D 115 L
5 Dixie Decision Sarvis D A 115 LA
6 Halo's King Castanon J L 115 LA
7 Your Round Lebron V 115 L
8 Absolutely Cindy Mojica O 116 LA
9 Cherokee Triangle Mena M 121 LA
10 Best Buddy Hernandez B J Jr 115 L
11 Briarwood Circle Husbands P 115 L



HOU 8th (10:02 CST) Texas Heritage S.

1 Mile | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $50,000

1 1 Repent Pardner Collier J Lovell Michelle 122 L 15-1
2 2 Sarah's Man Marquez C L Young Bob 122 L 30-1
3 3 Bullet Brew Figueroa J Asmussen Steven M 122 L 10-1
4 4 Texas Fever Nolan P M Stidham Michael 122 L 3-1
5 5 Real Appeal Graham J Amoss Thomas 122 L 5-2
6 6 C E P A's Forum Eramia R E Calhoun W. B 122 L 10-1
7 7 Lone Star Special Hamilton Q Pish Danny 122 FTL 20-1
8 8 Yes He's Best Walker B J Jr Bennett Don 122 L 6-1
9 9 Crook's Bodgit Rodriguez F T Barger John 122 L 20-1
10 10 Devereux Bridgmohan S X Asmussen Steven M 122 L 5-1
11 11 Hello From Heaven Escobar M Locke John G 122 L 12-1
12 12 Authentic Jones Purcell K Cook Don C 122 L 30-1



SA (3/2) 8th (4:00 PCT) Baldwin S. (G3)

About 6 1/2 Furlongs (Downhill turf) | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $100,000

1 Ten Meropa Baze T C 115
2 Sea of Pleasure Flores D R 117 L
3 D. Double You Bejarano R 117 L
4 Nevada Worrier Court J K 115 L
5 Sky Cape Nakatani C S 117 L
6 Doc On the Rock Baze M C 115 L
7 Standing High Quinonez A 115 L
8 Italian Rules Rosario J 117 L
9 Returning Espinoza V 115 L

Got to go with the Colonel in this one. Im starting to think my future bets was like a hex i put on the poor horses i bet on. UUGGGHH. Hopefully Colonel will show up and put on a good show. Doesn't need to win just "run a good race" show some want to.

If I place any money on this race it will somehow involve Victory Pete.
I know he hasn't cracked the exacta in any of his four non-turf starts, and he is stretching out to 9f despite the fact that his sire was a sprinter, but I look for him to be competitive here at what will probably be a big price.

Coast Gaurd a SCR from Sham
 

Will go in El Camino Real instead..

so what will coast guard scratching do to the complexion of the race?

Takes the only real pace out of the race. I guess Victory Pete could inherit the lead but it wouldn't surprise me if Flores just sends El Gato Malo and dares them to catch him. He doesn't seem to want to rate anyway.

It opens it up even more for my boy Victory Pete to wire the field.
Of course he could still fade late and one or two of the classier horses might run by him, but if you are playing exotics, don't let the extremely slow figures scare you off of Pete.
He'll be in contention.

i see that reflect times also is adding blinkers. maybe pete won't be left alone early....

Battaglia field
 

Steve,

Wasn't Mark Casse's "Miner's Claim" pointing to the Battaglia?
I'm surprised he's not entered there.

I was impressed with Victory Pete when he ran in the California Derby at Golden Gate Fields - he's a beautiful horse (I actually have a picture of him from that race hanging in my office). I worry that he will fade in the stretch, I think El Gato Malo will cruise by him like he's standing still... but I'll still be doing a El Gato Malo/Victory Pete exacta a few times :D

Cherokee Triangle looks interesting against this group

Is Keith Kinmon purposely trying to ruin his filly?

To answer my own question, Bloodhorse is reporting that Miner's Claim had a temperature, and Casse decided not to enter him.

Just curious...
Why do you say the horse cant rate?
The races I watch of him look like he
does what is asked of him. He seems
versatile, just dont know how far
he can go...

I dont really see much the horse has
done wrong in only three races.

I'm taking Cherokee Triangle in the Battaglia. Last two on a yielding turf course are throwouts, IMO.

Wow was I wrong.

That was some run from that gal over the boys! Your Round was my pick thought he was home free!

5 horses in the Sham...
properly named (not horse) I guess.

Bunch of preps like the FOY would
be nice. I guess we wont get this out
west. I understand trying to avoid
the horses that appear superior but
ya gotta try somewhere.

And I learned nothing again.
Horses just trotting around.
Bout as dull as it gets.

A sham.

Yeah, not sure what to take from that one. John got the jump and El Gato Malo never caught up.

50 seconds for the half...not sure what we can gleam when it's run like that.

Considering the relative mediocrity of this crop, I think we learned that the top two are legit Derby contenders THIS YEAR.

The only thing I learned is Gomez our rode Flores. Still no clue how bad or good those two are.

I have no idea what to make of this race. I wonder if those fractions were right. They went:

24.87
50.04
1:14.35
1:38.27
1:50.15

If those fractions are correct, then this was a much better race than the Fountain of Youth. That means that Colonel John finished his last 3f in about 35 4/5 and his final 8th in 11 4/5 and El Gato Malo finished a little faster than that. I'm ok with the finish here even though disappointed that El Gato Malo didn't go by. Liked the way that both horses finished although I guess good horses are supposed to finish like that when they go that slow early. I would have liked to see the rider of EGM get out and take the race to them though. It was nearly impossible for him to run down a good horse like Colonel John under those conditions.

My Prediction
 

This years Derby winner will wire the field...mark my words. So far every race has been very slow on the lead. I say a fast horse with stamina will reign.

Spyder

So Colonel John wins his come back race against four other horses. He had to work hard the last 3/8's of the race. The Santa Anita Derby is five weeks away. What's next for him? Is it straight to the SA Derby then the Kentucky Derby? I just listened to the post race interview and Harty just babbled some nonsense about not getting in the horses way. I have a feeling the connections believe they have a great horse and they'll run in the SA Derby then go to the Kentucky Derby. He doesn't look like a serious Derby/TC horse to me. But I've been wrong a few times.

I thought perhaps one of those two would show something special.
But with 5 horses and no one really pressing any kind of pace
we got to see another trot and run fast at the end.
Tiny Turf race. Almost like neither horse/jock/connections was willing to show
his hand.

So they pick up a small amount of purse money and move on Santa Anita Derby next I guess?

I still think these two fill out the tri in the Derby behind War Pass.

A fast horse with stamina = ???

:D

awesome, i had put colonel john in my rttr, so glad he came thru with a win-which counts, unlike war pass in that work the other day.

I'm really liking a longshot in the Baldwin Stakes, Italian Rules. Yet to try grass, but sire Tribal Rule has a very high 1st out Turf win%.
Italian Rules failed on Sunshine Millions day on the Santa Anita polytrack mess that was,but had defeated a next out winner in the Golden Gate stakes win on synthetic

Alot of riders are jumping around in this race. Might be a real surprise winner. Too tough to call.

I wish we could see them both go on dirt next. Enjoyable race I thought though.