Favorites loom large in Desert Code

ARCADIA, Calif. – To find the winner of the Desert Code Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita, horseplayers only need to answer a few simple questions.

Early speed or late speed? Colt or filly? Joe Talamo and Bob Baffert, or Drayden Van Dyke and John Sadler?

The other wagering option is simply box the favorites and be satisfied with one of the lowest-paying exactas of the season.

Rafal and Ginger Nut tower over the $75,000 Desert Code Stakes, a turf sprint for 3-year-olds, with six entrants. Sure, an upset could occur. After all, chalk has been far from automatic lately at five furlongs on turf. Favorites had lost 16 of the last 18 into Friday.

No matter. Rafal, a front-running colt, and Ginger Nut, a late-running filly, enter the Desert Code with credentials superior to the remainder of the field. Their rivals include Alleva, Listing, Legends of War, and Strictly Biz.

The race centers on Rafal, up in class and switching surfaces following an impressive maiden win on dirt. Rafal, who squandered a seemingly insurmountable lead and finished third in his debut, did not stop second time out.

“He’s fast,” Baffert said, adding for emphasis, “He’s really quick.”

No kidding. Last out, removing blinkers, switching to Talamo and racing over a wet-fast surface, Rafal smoked the opening quarter-mile in 21.70 seconds and covered a half in 44.75. He was gone by 4 1/4 lengths.

The challenge Sunday is reproducing the effort moving from dirt to turf. “I’m a grass trainer now,” Baffert joked. “I saw the race come up, and said – ‘How many 3-year-olds can go five-eighths?’”

On dirt, none can as fast as Rafal. On turf, no one knows.

Although he is expected to set the pace regardless, Rafal will have an easier time if comeback speedster Strictly Biz scratches. His trainer Brian Koriner said the colt could opt for a different race.

While Rafal blazes away up front, the filly Ginger Nut is likely to trail early. Her closing style allowed her to win three of eight last year in England before Hronis Racing and Sadler purchased her and sent her to the U.S.

Based in California, Ginger Nut shipped for her first two starts. She finished a troubled fourth in her U.S. debut in February at Gulfstream Park, returned to Santa Anita, then shipped to Keeneland for an April stakes. She won the Limestone Turf Sprint by 1 1/4 lengths.

“She’s a nice filly,” Sadler said. “All she needs is a little setup, which you usually get [in a turf sprint]. She’s got a really good turn of foot.”

Sadler scratched Ginger Nut from the Grade 3 Monrovia on May 26 when the race was moved off turf. The Desert Code is her first start in two months. Van Dyke will ride Ginger Nut, the 5-2 program favorite, for the first time.

The Desert Code is race 6 on the nine-race card. The race is named after the David Hofmans-trained sprinter that won the inaugural Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint in 2008 on the Santa Anita hillside course.