This week, the Public Handicapper contest features four races: two at Turfway (a track I’ve never handicapped before…), one at Oaklawn, one at Santa Anita — and all for three-year-olds.  There’s no need for too much jibber-jabber.  Let’s just dive into the races!

Oaklawn

Gazebo Stakes (three-year-olds, 6 furlongs on the dirt)

It’s never fun to pick a race apart only to realize that the only horse you want anything to do with in the race is going to be complete chalk.  Alas, this was what I found in this race full of three-year-old speedball sprinters.  Some are coming up from the maiden ranks, some are dialing back in distance from longer stakes attempts, and they all have one thing in common: they’ve done their best work either on, or no more than a length or two off of, the lead at all times.  They’re not all going to get all the way up there, so to win this race, a horse needs two things: to be able to contend if he’s not the one horse who gets the lead to start, and to be able to go six furlongs faster than anyone else in the field can.

Only one horse in this field has shown speeds that consistently excel with this field, combined with the ability to win from a few lengths back.  That’s the 2-1 favourite, Boji Moon.  I will be surprised if he’s not bet down to odds-on by post time, but in a win-only handicapping competition, I would want a horse who has a shot to win.  If I were playing an exacta, I’d consider filling that second rung out with Dunkin Bend or Kendall’s Boy.  Dunkin Bend is coming in off of a two and a half month lay, but the cut back to his preferred six furlongs combined with the move to a more successful barn at this track should bode well for his return.  Kendall’s Boy is coming off an absolutely terrible run in the Southwest, but has been showing steady improvement in sprint races.  Cutting back to six furlongs here, combined with the experiences against classier competition, could be good for hitting the board against this field.

Santa Anita

Pasadena Stakes (three-year-olds 1 mile on the turf)

This race has an interesting mix of horses: some Derby prep runners who likely preferred the turf all along, some turf sprint runners who are trying the stretch out to a mile, and even a couple of horses coming straight here out of maiden wins.  There isn’t a ton of early speed in this race; the only ones in the field who really prefer to be on the lead are Diamond Bachelor, Quotient, and No Ma’am.  Enterprising is likely to stalk pretty close back from that crowd, and then the rest will be likely to chase from further back, and try to make a move later.

Quotient is fascinating here.  He is one of only two horses (No Ma’am being the other) who are coming into this race from a maiden win.  Quotient broke his maiden last time out (his second career start) at Santa Anita on the turf, hanging just off the lead for most of it before kicking ahead late.  What makes this interesting is the distance of the maiden race: 1 1/8 miles on the Santa Anita turf.  He showed that he’s not only got the speed to hang with this field, but stamina to spare given that this is only a mile race.  He is my prime choice.

Two of the other horses up front, Diamond Bachelor and Enterprising, warrant particular mention.  Diamond Bachelor has had two straight not-so-good races: the Breeders Cup Juvenile last fall and the Robert B. Lewis last month.  However, both of those were on the dirt, and both were at 1 1/16 miles.  He racked up two wins, as well as a 3/4 length second behind Aotearoa, in his three races at a mile on the turf.  The combination of the return to his preferred distance and surface, with the fact that this is his second race off of a three-month lay, bodes well for him here.  Enterprising, another horse who is returning to his much-loved turf miles after a couple of attempts at longer races on the Golden Gate Tapeta surface, has shown some of the best speed of the field.  He drops in class here, and is a definite contender, albeit at what’s destined to be a low price.

If the early pace goes faster than expected and sets up for one of the closers to get his nose up on the wire, look to Puppy Manners.  The outside post isn’t great, but he is helped by the fact that he doesn’t have to get extremely far back to close — so his ability to close isn’t quite as desperately dependent on pace as others.  He likely won’t have too much ground to cover, and may prevail for a share at a good price no matter what.

Turfway

Bourbonette Oaks (three-year-old fillies and mares, 1 mile on the synthetic)

I like Aurelia’s Belle here, a lot; she is my top choice here.  She only has a maiden win to her name, but has hit the board in three graded stakes races since: the Old Hat, the Forward Gal, and the Davona Dale.  She’s returning to the polytrack; her maiden win was at six furlongs on the main track at Keeneland.  She also gets back Channing Hill, the same jockey who rode him in that maiden win.  Getting her preferred spot a few lengths off from the lead shouldn’t be a problem, since she has plenty of speed to do it and is breaking from the four gate.

Cheerful Contender interests me here as well.  She ran her first two career races on the synthetic at Woodbine, winning her second out at 1 1/16 miles by six lengths.  She didn’t have a great time in the Martha Washington at Oaklawn — her first attempt at a stakes, and her first trip on dirt.  She was off a bit slow and never really got up there.  However, in her last start, she won an allowance at 1 1/16 miles at Oaklawn.  Here, she’s cutting back to a mile, and is switching back to the synthetic.  There isn’t a ton of early speed here: other than her,  it’s just Zensational Bunny and possibly Sloane Square or Katie’s Eyes.  If she can get up on or near the lead early, a good possibility with only two slower horses inside of her at the start, she could contend.

Spiral Stakes (three-year-olds, 1 1/8 miles on the synthetic)

This race is interesting, since there are a lot of speed horses, and a lot of closers.  The end of this race could be a free-for-all between the speed horses who can stay and the closers fighting to get up there.  Two of the buzz horses going into this race are ones who like the early speed a lot: Solitary Ranger and Coastline.  However, there are concerns about the nine furlong distance here, and both of them have tended to lose ground at the end of their mile and a sixteenth races.  Solitary Ranger is also stepping up in class from his last few starts.  They are both talented horses, but I have doubts about whether either of them are going to handle the distance.  I’m going to look elsewhere.

He is going to be very chalky, but I do like Tamarando here.  He has never run a bad race, and all four of his career wins are on synthetic tracks.  Furthermore, he is one of only two horses in the field (the others being Asserting Bear and Smart Cover) who has even run 1 1/8 miles, which he did in his El Camino Real Derby win.  This is his first time shipping out of California, but he has shipped between the northern and southern California circuits, so the ship should not be a huge issue.

Another horse who interests me a lot here is All Tied Up.  The question here is whether he will like synthetic; all of his races so far have been on the turf.  However, trainer Todd Pletcher tends to have success moving horses from the turf to the synthetic, and he retains Luis Saez, who rode him in his most recent win.  His two career wins have been in routes, 1 1/16 miles.  He has been gaining on the field near the end, which suggests he may handle the extra half furlong well.  Also, he has shown success from multiple race shapes, either a close stalking position or by closing from further back.  All Tied Up is stepping up to stakes company for the first time in his career, but assuming he likes the move from turf to synthetic, he’s a live longer shot here.

Smart Cover’s morning line is 20-1; he doesn’t seem a sure shot to win, but 20-1 seems like a significant overlay.  Sure, there are a few things going against him.  He has never run on the synthetic: he has been on the turf twice, and the dirt twice.  Last out, he had a terrible run in the Palm Beach Stakes at 1 1/8 miles: he stumbled out of the gate, and then didn’t fire on his closing run.  However, there are some explanations that suggest he could run better here.  The Pam Beach was his first race off of a six-month lay, since his second-place finish behind Cleburne in the Iroquois.  That race was at 1 1/16 miles, and he only lost by a fast-closing neck.  This suggests that he has the distance in him.  If he improves with this being second off the lay, he could spring a surprise here.