haven't posted a full card for a while, but here's what i'm looking at today from the track of the lakes and flowers.
r1: tapio. going to try and beat the two faves, king palm and jake skate with this son of forest wildcat, who stretches out off two good sprint preps down the hill at santa anita. i normally look for a horse who showed a bit more speed sprinting (remember, making up ground sprinting does not mean the horse will love routing), but court should have this one in decent position, third or fourth down the backstretch.
r3: fantastic spain is a total standout. he has no speed and this race came up soft in the pace department, but it doesn't matter, i expect mulhall to have this one ready to uncork a huge one today on his way to stakes company in the near future.
r6: cayoke. going to try and beat the long layoff returnee, hombre rapido and going to also play against marino marini, who absolutely burned me in the san carlos, i don't forgive easily- his last raced looked better than it actually was at keeneland and he'll be underlaid. cayoke has run well on dirt in dubai and now is well drawn to receive a nice stalking trip today. if alex can get him to settle just a bit, he should be powering home in the lane.
r8: thaumaturge. sahadi had some hoeps ofr this one a few years ago, but at least he's come back in good form since march. he is a long striding son of smokester who will probably like two turns down the road, but now gets 7 furlongs to work with. he should have plenty of foundation and need only deal with damar wayne to register a win here.
r10: danzig in the rain. i'm afraid of courtnall in here, but will back 'rain first time out of the box for o'neill. bianconi is turning into a good win early sire and this one should handle turf without too much trouble. if he's anywhere near the 12/1 morning line, i'd be shocked.
r1: tapio. going to try and beat the two faves, king palm and jake skate with this son of forest wildcat, who stretches out off two good sprint preps down the hill at santa anita. i normally look for a horse who showed a bit more speed sprinting (remember, making up ground sprinting does not mean the horse will love routing), but court should have this one in decent position, third or fourth down the backstretch.
r3: fantastic spain is a total standout. he has no speed and this race came up soft in the pace department, but it doesn't matter, i expect mulhall to have this one ready to uncork a huge one today on his way to stakes company in the near future.
r6: cayoke. going to try and beat the long layoff returnee, hombre rapido and going to also play against marino marini, who absolutely burned me in the san carlos, i don't forgive easily- his last raced looked better than it actually was at keeneland and he'll be underlaid. cayoke has run well on dirt in dubai and now is well drawn to receive a nice stalking trip today. if alex can get him to settle just a bit, he should be powering home in the lane.
r8: thaumaturge. sahadi had some hoeps ofr this one a few years ago, but at least he's come back in good form since march. he is a long striding son of smokester who will probably like two turns down the road, but now gets 7 furlongs to work with. he should have plenty of foundation and need only deal with damar wayne to register a win here.
r10: danzig in the rain. i'm afraid of courtnall in here, but will back 'rain first time out of the box for o'neill. bianconi is turning into a good win early sire and this one should handle turf without too much trouble. if he's anywhere near the 12/1 morning line, i'd be shocked.
