Condo Commando, not fully cranked for her 3-year-old debut, overcame a bit of an awkward start to dominate her five rivals and record a 5 1/2-length, front-running victory in Saturday’s $100,000 Busher Stakes at snowy Aqueduct.
Based on quality and quantity, the racing Sunday at Santa Anita is modest. Therefore, a conservative strategy is recommended. If Sunday turns out to be a winning day, it will not be enough to brag about. If Sunday is a losing day, losses will be minimal. Below is how this handicapper plans to play.
Irish Mission will be bred this spring. Her trip to Kentucky was postponed so that she could run on Saturday in the Grade 3, $150,000 The Very One Stakes at Gulfstream Park, and she responded by winning her second straight race and third in her last five starts. In the process, she may have delayed her retirement by another race.
House Rules survived a stewards’ inquiry and jockey’s objection to earn the first graded stakes victory of her career in the 36th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Rampart, the first of eight Saturday stakes at Gulfstream Park.
California Chrome worked a half-mile in 48.80 seconds Saturday at Los Alamitos, his first workout since a second to Shared Belief in the $590,900 San Antonio Stakes at Santa Anita and his first workout in the buildup to the $10 million Dubai World Cup at Meydan Racecourse in the United Arab Emirates on March 28.
Tickets for the June 6 Belmont Stakes will go on sale Monday at 10 a.m., the New York Racing Association announced Saturday, and, unsurprisingly, there will be price increases.
Though the early races on the Gulfstream card look pretty formful, there may be some value in the middle part of the program. I'll try to hit the pick three, starting with race 7.
Champion Take Charge Brandi had a significant work Saturday morning at Oaklawn Park, as she continues preparations for the track's Grade 3, $150,000 Honeybee on March 7. Take Charge Brandi worked in a three-horse set shortly after Oaklawn opened for training and covered five furlongs on a track rated “good” in 1:00.40.
Some decent-sized, competitive fields in the middle of the card give a pick three (races 5-7) some appeal.
Race 1 DR. NEFARIO (1) can’t possibly be as bad as his first two starts, can he? His latest at Gulfstream might be particularly misrepresentative, as he was far too eager in the early going. Now he drops in for a first tag for the Silver Max connections and draws favorably on the hedge. At 12-1 on the morning line, he’s worth trying by tying him up with the two logicals, RUN SAICHI (6) and LET’S WRAP IT UP (10).
