Cistron back from layoff in turf sprint

ARCADIA, Calif. – Even though the hillside course has produced a stream of winners at double-digit mutuels this spring, bettors might need to aim lower in two allowance turf sprints Friday at Santa Anita.

Stakes winner Cistron returns from an extended layoff as the class of race 3, a third-level allowance/optional $75,000 claiming race in which his main rival is the downhill horse for course Anatolian Heat. Is there a live longshot? In a six-horse field, probably not.

Nine Point Nine moves up in class for race 7, a second-level allowance for fillies and mares. Nine Point Nine, a $50,000 claiming winner last out, faces the downhill horse for course Painting Corners, Quebec, and A Little Bit Me.

Favorites had won just seven of 35 turf sprints at the meet through Sunday, and more than half the $2 win payoffs were $10 or higher. In the first turf sprint on Friday, bettors are likely to focus on Anatolian Heat and Cistron.

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Cistron placed in four California stakes last year, shipped to Oaklawn Park to win a dirt stakes, and shipped to Penn National to finish third in a graded stakes race on turf. After 13 starts without a break from October 2016 to November 2017, Cistron needed a rest.

“He just got a little flat at the end of the last year,” trainer John Sadler said. “Nothing major wrong, but we said we’re going to turn him out.”

The freshening worked.

“He’s come back and trained really well, three straight [six-furlong workouts],” Sadler said. “This is the perfect spot to start him off.”

Sadler and Hronis Racing also entered Adens Dream, a private purchase racing above his conditions. Adens Dream, eligible to a second-level allowance, was entered in the third-level allowance to ensure the race would fill for Cistron.

The horse to beat in race 3 is Anatolian Heat, a two-time downhill winner dropping from a creditable fourth-place finish in a Grade 3 stakes. The others entered are Sycamore Lane, Fabozzi, and Wanstead Gardens.

Vladimir Cerin trains Nine Point Nine in race 7. Over the past two months, Cerin is 8 for 13 with last-start winners.

Nine Point Nine had returned from an extended layoff April 14 to win the $50,000 claiming turf sprint.

“She was fit, she’s sound, and some good races are in front of her,” Cerin said.

Nine Point Nine, 5 for 26, lost four times at the second-level condition.

“Some of those were longer distances,” Cerin said, adding that 6 1/2 furlongs on the hill “suits her pretty well.”

Nine Point Nine has tactical speed and is versatile. Candidates to set the pace in race 7 include the comebacker Painting Corners and A Little Bit Me. The other entrants are Quebec, Psycho Sister, Gone to Bali, and Bernina Star.

Cerin also starts the top contender Twirling Apples first off the claim in race 5, a $40,000 claimer down the hill restricted to non-winners of two races. Since last fall, Cerin is 6 for 11 first off the claim.