Be prepared, best races of the day come early

ARCADIA, Calif. – A big mare in a small field, Midnight Jamboree towers over her allowance rivals Friday at Santa Anita, literally and figuratively.

At more than 17 hands, Midnight Jamboree is the type horse trainer Bill Spawr warned “You don’t want to fall off of.” It is a long way down. That is not likely to happen Friday when Mike Smith rides Midnight Jamboree in an entry-level allowance route that may set her up for a bigger target later this month.

“We want to run in the Santa Margarita,” Spawr said, referring to the Grade 2, $200,000 race on April 30. That seems ambitious for a 6-year-old eligible for the first allowance condition, but it makes sense. With multiple defections in the California distaff division, including the retirement of As Time Goes By, the category has turned shallow.

First things first. If Midnight Jamboree deserves a shot in a graded stakes, she should win the entry-level allowance that is race 2 on Friday. Fresh off a decisive victory in a starter allowance, Midnight Jamboree is likely to start favored in a five-runner field that includes last-out winner Dream Princess and Fi Fi Pharoah.

The allowance mile is positioned between split divisions of an intriguing turf route for maiden fillies and mares. Rhea Moon faces Isola Mia in race 1; Exit Soul looms an upset candidate over habitual bridesmaids Sunny Morning and Queen Ofthe Temple in race 4.

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From a betting perspective, the maiden turf races offer more appeal than the allowance feature. Small fields continue to plague the dirt program at Santa Anita, where almost 40 percent of dirt races this season have had five runners or fewer.

As for Midnight Jamboree, most 6-year-olds would have started more than 10 times.

“Her problem is her size,” Spawr said. “She’s had some minor issues. She gets little filling, swelling here and there, and never bad.”

Midnight Jamboree is currently thriving. Third in her January comeback, she won last out by more than four lengths and has worked well since.

Juan Hernandez, who rode Midnight Jamboree last out, stays with recent winner Dream Princess for trainer John Sadler, leaving Smith on Midnight Jamboree. Over the past month, Smith’s 36 percent win rate (8 for 22) is the highest in the colony. The last time Smith rode a dirt horse for Spawr at Santa Anita, it was another daughter of Midnight Lute – Midnight Bisou won the Santa Anita Oaks on April 7, 2018.

In the maiden turf races at 1 1/8 miles, Rhea Moon looks formidable in race 1. She finished second in her U.S. debut at one mile, running faster each successive quarter-mile, including a 22.51-second final quarter. Hernandez rides for trainer Phil D’Amato.

Exit Soul could upset race 4, despite missed training last month when she was sick. She recovered, and trainer Michael McCarthy holds her in such high regard he nominated the maiden to the Grade 3 Providencia on Saturday.

“I think she might be a pretty decent filly,” he said.

He also starts Khlass, a promising third in a sprint in her U.S. debut.