OZONE PARK, N.Y. - I'm giving you a horse Saturday, which is something I generally don't just come right out and do, because it's horse racing, after all, and anticipation and disappointment usually go hand in hand.
Not on Saturday. Cacique will win the Frank E. Kilroe Mile Handicap.
NEW YORK - In what is unquestionably the biggest day of racing so far this year, Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park present cards on Saturday that are filled with important stakes events.
It's Big Cap Day at Santa Anita, with the $1 million Santa Anita Handicap topping four stakes. There are six stakes at Gulfstream, headed by the Fountain of Youth, which attracted highly regarded Derby aspirant First Samurai.
Frank E. Kilroe Mile
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Looking for an alternative to likely favorite High Limit in Saturday's Santa Anita Handicap? You're not alone. Although 2 for 2 this year, he has yet to prove himself against top-class competition at the Santa Anita Handicap's distance of 1 1/4 miles.
So on whom should one settle? With Distinction? No, he seems like a sprinter. Texcess? No, he hasn't won in nine starts since winning the Delta Jackpot in late 2004. Wilko? No, he has similarly been absent from the winner's circle, losing eight straight since winning the Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2004.
Past performances for Saturday's Magna 5 races will appear at the end of the full-card file for the following tracks: Laurel, Golden Gate Fields, Gulfstream, Portland Meadows and Santa Anita.
Magna 5 races for this Saturday, March 4:
Leg A Laurel Race 9 4:48pm ET
Leg B Gulfstream Race 9 4:58pm ET
Leg C Santa Anita Race 5 5:12pm ET
Leg D Golden Gate Race 4 5:24pm ET
Leg E Gulfstream Race 10 5:29pm ET
PHOENIX - The racing world will get a nice boost if Giacomo runs big in next Saturday's $1 million Santa Anita Handicap.
For various reasons, most of the last 14 Kentucky Derby winners have not raced at 4 or made little impact beyond the Triple Crown.
horses are entered (before scratches), and we've some we like:
Oaklawn Park, , 5 1/2 Furlongs
The consensus has three horses from 7-to-2 to 6-to-1. We like another 6-to-1 horse, Better Vision, who earned Group 1 status with a six over Park BreezeFig going a quarter mile and a five over Par, Group 2 BreezeFig at one furlong at OBSMAR. His only start was a 55 Beyer. A good bet to finish in the money.
Gulfstream Park, , 6 Furlongs
NEW YORK - A pair of $250,000 stakes races, the Grade 1 Gulfstream Park Breeders' Cup Turf and the Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park, highlight Saturday's national stakes action. The Southwest was rescheduled for Saturday after Oaklawn suffered weather-related cancellations last weekend. The only other graded stakes on the schedule is the Grade 3 Las Flores Handicap, one of two $100,000 stakes races Saturday at Santa Anita.
Tampa Bay Breeders' Cup
ARCADIA, Calif. - Despite the perils of wagering on a race from an unfamiliar circuit, the Southwest Stakes on Saturday at Oaklawn Park looks too tempting for a California horseplayer to pass.
Ten runners entered the mile stakes, led by Lawyer Ron, a legitimate favorite whose four starts on dirt produced four runaway wins. The Southwest field also includes much-hyped Music School, a 2-for-2 son of A.P. Indy whose pedigree exceeds his accomplishments.
