Rampellini: Oaklawn Park horses to watch for week of Feb. 5
Mary Rampellini's horses to watch at Oaklawn Park for the week of Feb. 5.
Mary RampelliniFeb 05, 2015
Mary Rampellini's horses to watch at Oaklawn Park for the week of Feb. 5.
Past performances for horse nominated to the 2016 Triple Crown.
The concept that a good trainer, even an Eclipse Award-winning trainer, can be a bad bet in certain circumstances was introduced in our very first “Bet This, Not That” column, in which we noted Todd Pletcher’s numbers in Grade 1 stakes on turf (1 for 50 with a $0.13 return on investment over the past five years as of this writing, with the last winner coming in July 2012) and Bob Baffert’s stats in turf sprints at Santa Anita (1 for 39, $0.09 ROI, with last winner coming in February 2010).
Brad Free's horses to watch at Santa Anita for the week of Feb. 2.
Dave Litfin's horses to watch at Aqueduct for the week of Feb. 2.
Trip Notes for Jan. 31-Feb. 1: Endeavour, Sam F. Davis, Arcadia and more by Michael Hammersly.
The Super Bowl Sunday card at Santa Anita is highlighted by the Grade 2 San Vicente Stakes, which features the return of 2014 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile champion Texas Red. The San Vicente will be a race I will look to play, as well as the early double on the card.
Fully understand that TENNESEE (#7) can win this and ruin most of the value of this play, but I'll take a shot with HELIODORO (#3), who makes his second start for Nick Zito complete with works that suggest he's better than he showed in his debut. Also, POOL WINNER (#8) has some decent works for trainer Alan Goldberg (3).
The presence of Texas Red in the Grade 2 San Vicente, race 6, gives the late pick three appeal (races 6-8) as Texas Red can be your linchpin.
With the feature race, the Allen Jerkens Stakes, being a two-mile contest on the turf – the type of race rarely run in North America – this handicapper will steer clear of it and focus on other races instead. Betting it is just too much of a shot in the dark, with horses generally not having raced this far and jockeys being unaccustomed to riding in races of such length.