Carryover a $156K question
ARCADIA, Calif. - The pick six is never easy to hit. This winter at Santa Anita, hitting the pick six has never been as hard.
The wager eluded bettors again Sunday, generating the 24th carryover from 49 days of racing. The pick six historically carries over every five or six racing days in Southern California.
A challenging Wednesday card awaits bettors attacking the $156,646 carryover. None of the pick six races (3-8) includes an obvious single, and even the most probable winner on the card faces a tall order in the best race of the day.
Temple City has never raced on grass, but this improving 4-year-old's pedigree suggests a surface switch is appropriate when he runs a mile on turf in a second-level allowance that is race 7.
Carla Gaines trains the 2-for-3 Temple City, sired by Dynaformer and produced by a Danzig mare. That is as "green" as it gets. Temple City won last out on the main track, and his up-close running style is added benefit with the turf rails positioned at 24 feet.
Generally speaking, horses with tactical speed hold the advantage when the rails are up. On the other hand, turf routes have not been particularly formful this winter. Favorites have won just 19 percent of turf routes (13 for 69).
Temple City's main rivals include stretch-out Guns on the Table, the likely pacesetter; Fluke, a Group 2 winner from Brazil making his second U.S. start; and closer Shore Do.
In the second turf route on the card, California-bred maiden fillies race a mile in race 5. Catsalot must buck the course profile by rallying from behind in a race likely to unfold at a crisp pace. One-dimensional front-runner Kami D B C will show the way, but she has faded late in all three of her turf routes.
Ale's Pride and Cahuma Kid enter with the top speed figures, although there were earned in main-track sprints.
The four main-track races in the pick six also are difficult. Race 3 is a route for 3-year-old maiden-claiming fillies, including Red Hot Charlotte. Race 4 is a seven-furlong sprint for $12,500 claiming fillies and mares with three suspect droppers among the contenders.
Race 6 is a starter allowance at one mile with three last-start maiden winners as the choices, while race 8 is a restricted claimer in which 1-for-25 Aunt Pink could go favored.