Bernier: How I'd play Santa Anita for Saturday, June 27

Closing Saturday of the Santa Anita Spring/Summer meet is highlighted by the Grade 1 Gold Cup, but it also features three other graded stakes. I will focus on the pick three sequence which consists of the Grade 1 Triple Bend, the Grade 2 Royal Heroine, and the Grade 1 Gold Cup.

RACE 7

SAHARA SKY (4) makes his second start in a calendar year, but he seems to be training well and his race in the Kona Gold in April was fantastic. He will get an additional half-furlong of real estate to work with here as well as a legitimate pace to close into. He should be flying home late.
SAN ONOFRE (2) has major talent and he should be viewed as a player here. My only concern with this gelding is the thought that he may be best suited between six and 6 1/2 furlongs; he will be trying seven here for only the second time in his career.
MASOCHISTIC (5) also hasn’t been seen since the Kona Gold in April, but his level of talent is evident. He will have to deal with more heat throughout the early portions of this race, and when you factor in the added half-furlong he will need to navigate that could be his undoing at a short price.

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A: 4
B: 2, 5
C: 1

RACE 8

As a whole I thought the Grade 1 Gamely was a pretty poor race, so I immediately went looking for a fresh face. It doesn’t hurt that I think one of the fresh faces is also the most talented mare in the field. STORMY LUCY (3) makes her first start since last September at Del Mar, and while she has been going for quite some time I truly think she’s classier than her counterparts and will prevail.
BIRDLOVER (4) has done nothing wrong in her career, and she’s in razor-sharp form. She will be forwardly placed again, and that may not work out well for her as there appears to be quite a bit of early foot signed on.
The same can be said about FANTICOLA (7); she likes to be forwardly placed and she will need to deal with other early speed. The only thing this mare has going for her is the cutback from nine furlongs to eight furlongs.

A: 3
B: 4, 7
C: 8

RACE 9

CATCH A FLIGHT (9) seems to be coming into his own for trainer Richard Mandella, and I think he’s becoming a legitimate threat in the older handicap division. This son of Giant’s Causeway possesses good tracking speed and should work out a very similar trip to the one he received in the Californian last out. If that’s the case the rest of the field could be in serious trouble.
The only other horse I will use here is HOPPERTUNITY (6), simply because he’s a grinder. That being said, I really didn’t love his Stephen Foster two weeks ago and trainer Bob Baffert’s numbers with runners wheeling back in less than two weeks in graded stakes events isn’t good (1 for 12; only winner was American Pharoah).

A: 9
B: 6
C: NONE