Closing day of the September meet is upon us, and that means mandatory payoffs in the traditional carryover wagers. In Churchill’s case, that is in the 20-cent-minimum Single 6 and the last-race $1 Super Hi Five.
After a wild Saturday of racing from coast to coast, I’ll play very sparingly Sunday at Santa Anita. Both of my plays will revolve around the feature on Sunday’s card, the John Henry Turf Championship. Not only will both plays revolve around that race, but they’ll both revolve around one horse in particular – Big Kick.
Due to small fields and modest quality for much of the Sunday card at Santa Anita, this handicapper will postpone action until about 4 p.m.
Trainer Chad Brown has five major contenders in Sunday’s Miss Grillo and Pilgrim, a pair of Grade 3, $200,000 stakes for 2-year-olds at 1 1/16 miles on the Widener course that highlight Sunday’s 10-race card.
The improving 3-year-old filly Russian Jewel (8-1) will meet second-level optional-claiming company over seven furlongs in her first turf start in the nightcap. She was recently second in the six-furlong Etobicoke Stakes behind the heavily favored shipper Pirate’s Trove, who has yet to lose.
The Sunday card has a maiden-maiden-maiden start in which all three morning-line favorites are less than imposing. I may take a mix-and-match approach, trying to work around Battle Red (1st, 2-1), Persuasive Devil (2nd, 2-1) and Buy Or Steal (3rd, 5-2) in multirace exotics.
Let’s take a swing at Belmont’s all-Grade 1 pick four, which starts with the Flower Bowl (race 7) at 4:07 p.m. Eastern.
With Grade 1 race after Grade 1 race being run Saturday at Belmont Park and Santa Anita, Saturday’s card at Churchill takes a backseat to those tracks. But the races Saturday at Churchill are still among the better ones of the September meet, with the Homecoming Classic and Jefferson Cup highlighting the day.
Shared Belief is strictly the horse to beat and will be my lone ‘A’ here. Should he win here in the Awesome Again, he will enter the Breeders’ Cup as the heavy favorite for the Classic and would likely stamp himself as the heavy favorite for Horse of the Year honors. He figures to work out another nice trip under Mike Smith, and it would be an ultimate shocker if he were to lose in this spot.
In addition to an early first post (12:30 p.m. Pacific) Saturday at Santa Anita, there is plenty to consider before attacking the 11-race card that has five Grade 1 races.
