D'Amato has shot in all four Friday allowance races

ARCADIA, Calif. – Trainer Phil D’Amato has a lot going on during the 12-day stretch from Memorial Day at Santa Anita through Belmont Stakes Day at Belmont Park.

Hunt upset the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile on Memorial Day, and three more D’Amato-trained runners will target Grade 1 races on the Belmont Stakes card – Fault (Ogden Phipps), Spectator (Acorn), and Ransom the Moon (Metropolitan Handicap).

There is plenty more where those came from.

All four allowance races Friday at Santa Anita have a D’Amato tang, starting with race 2 favorite La La Land, followed by the exciting sprinter Touching Rainbows in race 3. India Mantuana is a longshot front-runner with theft on her mind in race 5, and the lightly raced Hope Wins enters race 8 with a legitimate shot.

Yes, Friday will be busy for D’Amato, the co-leader in the Santa Anita standings with 19 wins. His 2018 purse earnings of $2,849,923 rank 10th in the country. Those totals are likely to increase Friday since all four D’Amato runners are live.

Race 2 is a first-level turf-mile allowance for 3-year-olds, and La La Land might only need to repeat his runner-up finish last out in the Singletary Stakes to win. The Friday race suits La La Land better than the Rainbow Stakes for 3-year-olds on June 16.

“I was looking for a prep for the Oceanside,” D’Amato said, referring to the July 18 opening-day feature at Del Mar. “If I run in the [Rainbow], that’s against really tough horses. We have the condition, take advantage of it. That gives me nice spacing to the Oceanside.”

La La Land’s main rivals are the dirt-to-turf closer Pepe Tono, the impressive maiden winner Desert Stone, and the recently gelded Kylemore, whose pressing style could play well in a race with a murky pace scenario.

Race 3, a third-level allowance at six furlongs, includes the most probable winner on the card. Touching Rainbows improved last summer after being transferred to D’Amato, but after two dominating wins, he was turned out with a suspensory issue.

The gelding was off most of the winter and resumed working in February with an eye on the summer. Touching Rainbows crushed a second-level allowance by more than four lengths in his comeback April 27.

“He showed so much talent at Del Mar, we thought we’d save him and try to make him a graded stakes winner at Del Mar,” D’Amato said.

Touching Rainbows drew the outside post for Friday, and should be tough to beat with a front-running or pace-pressing trip. His rivals include the graded stakes-placed Blameitonthelaw, the comebacker Moe Candy, and Conqueror.

Race 5, a second-level turf route for fillies and mares at 1 1/8 miles, includes likely favorite Vasilika and The Tulip. Vasilika, who has won 4 of her last 5, should be tough to beat with a pressing trip. The Tulip will rally late.

The D’Amato-trained India Mantuana has a shot after a fifth-place sprint comeback.

“I think we’ll be on the lead and see if we can take it wire to wire,” D’Amato said.

Two turf races at this meet at the distance with the rails at Friday’s 30-foot setting produced one wire-to-wire winner (Majestic Eagle) and another (Desert Stone) who rallied from last.

Race 8 is a first-level turf mile for 3-year-old fillies in which Medaglia Gold and Pursuing The Dream are the top choices. D’Amato starts Hope Wins, making her first start since a maiden win on dirt nearly three months ago.

“She’s a smaller filly,” D’Amato said. “Out of that last race, she lost a lot of weight. She’ll come with a run, and we’ll see what kind of filly she is leading into Del Mar.”

It is clear what kind of stable D’Amato has leading into the summer, and on Friday at Santa Anita, Touching Rainbows leads the way.