Espinoza rides key mounts in pick six
ARCADIA, Calif. – A pick-six carryover with a Triple Crown theme? It will happen Thursday at Santa Anita, where a $111,444 carryover is up for grabs on races 3-8.
The sequence goes straight through the barn of trainer John Sadler, whose five runners Thursday include leading contenders in races 5, 6, and 7. All will be ridden by some guy named Victor Espinoza.
“We got the Triple Crown man,” assistant Larry Benavidez said. “Maybe the Triple Crown man can win three for us.”
Maybe he can win more.
Espinoza rides the Sadler trainee Sweet Profit in race 1, his first local ride since he guided American Pharoah to victory in the Belmont Stakes and a sweep of the Triple Crown.
American Pharoah is scheduled to return to trainer Bob Baffert’s barn Thursday morning, and by the time the pick six begins at 2 p.m. Pacific, most of the attention at Santa Anita will be on a massive pool expected to approach $750,000.
It starts in race 3, a route for claiming 3-year-olds. Race 4 is a $12,500 starter for fillies and mares on turf. Races 5-7 are all Espinoza and Sadler. The well-regarded 2-year-old filly Uptown Twirl debuts in race 5 at five furlongs for 2-year-old fillies; Diamond Cut is favored in a starter allowance, race 6; and Yiannis is the speed of a salty two-other-than optional-claiming sprint, race 7. The pick six ends with a $30,000 maiden claimer, race 8.
Races 5 and 7 would attract attention even without a carryover. The top contenders in the maiden race – Uptown Twirl and Right There – are so well regarded that they were nominated to the Landaluce Stakes on Sunday. The allowance sprint is deep, led by stakes winner Yiannis and highly rated allowance winner Cherubim. Below is a look at races 5 and 7.
KEY CONTENDERS
RACE 5
Uptown Twirl
◗ Sired by former Sadler trainee Twirling Candy, Uptown Twirl was purchased at a sale of 2-year-olds in training for $630,000 by Hronis Racing. The filly is a sibling to Anytime Magic, a Northern California stakes winner first time out in 2012.
◗ Uptown Twirl’s strong work pattern includes a sharp gate move Sunday in 47.40 seconds for a half-mile.
“She broke with two others and was quick enough,” Benavidez said. “She breezed nice.”
Right There (Beyer: 53)
◗ Keith Desormeaux trains Right There, the runner-up in her debut under jockey Kent Desormeaux. Sired by Eskendereya, Right There was the 2-1 favorite first out. The filly raced wide, finished on her own, and ran like she wanted farther than 4 1/2 furlongs. Two crisp works since suggest likely improvement while stretching out to five furlongs.
RACE 7
Yiannis (Last 3 Beyers: 80-88-70)
◗ The winner of the San Pedro Stakes in his second start, Yiannis set a blazing pace and tired to fourth in his most recent start in the Grade 3 Lazaro Barrera at seven furlongs. Sadler and Benavidez believe the shorter six-furlong distance of this race will benefit the colt in his first try against older.
“It looks like he’s the quickest in the race,” Benavidez said. “He’s had a really good past two weeks.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 2 Yiannis. Trainer John Sadler is 28-3-4-5 with a $0.71 ROI this year with 3-year-olds facing older horsesClick for more details. – Mike Hogan
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Cherubim (Last 3 Beyers: 95-49-60)
◗ The last-start 95 Beyer by Cherubim is the top recent figure in the field.
◗ That first-level allowance comeback was his first start in six months. Trainer Phil D’Amato believes he can run two alike.
“He’s training like he can,” D’Amato said. “We gave him time off, and he came back rejuvenated. But it’s a salty field with a ton of speed.”
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 6 Cherubim. Easy winner last out, but runners from that race have gone 7-0-1-0 in their immediate next starts. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan
Kafister (Last 3 Beyers: 67-87-87)
◗ David Bernstein trains Kafister, an 8-for-18 veteran who broke slowly from the rail last out in a two-other-than allowance, finishing last of four. That was almost two months ago, and Bernstein expects Kafister to fire first start back.
“He runs very well fresh,” Bernstein said. “In fact, his best races have been off a layoff. It’s a question of how tough is the race? It looks very tough to me. We’ll get a good trip, I would think.”
◗ Kafister is drawn in post 9 in the nine-horse field.
DRF FORMULATOR FACT: No. 1 Athens. Trainer George Papaprodomou is 158-11-19-22 with a $0.87 ROI over the past five years in dirt sprints, but 10-3-1-1 with a $2.64 ROI in those races with Joe Talamo aboard. Click for more details. – Mike Hogan