Firm turf makes San Gabriel wide-open affair

ARCADIA, Calif. – As the chance of rain diminished, so did the chance of victory for Next Shares in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes on Saturday at Santa Anita.

Next Shares relishes wet turf. He won the Old Friends at Kentucky Downs in September and the Grade 1 Shadwell Mile at Keeneland in October on rain softened turf courses.

“He likes it a little bit soft; he doesn’t like it mushy,” trainer Richard Baltas said. “It rained two days before the race at Kentucky Downs, and he won. It rained two days before the Shadwell Mile, and he won.”

It did not rain before the San Gabriel, though the competition is easier than in his last race. Next Shares finished next to last in the Breeders’ Cup Mile on a soggy bog at Churchill Downs that he did not handle. He wants ground that is a little wet, not a lot. Unfortunately for him, the forecast changed.

The storm expected to arrive before the Saturday card is now likely to arrive after the card. On firm ground in the $200,000 San Gabriel, Next Shares is merely one of many with a chance.

Ten entered the 1 1/8-mile San Gabriel, race 7 on a card that includes the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, which features the standout 3-year-old Coliseum. There are no standouts in the San Gabriel.

Liam the Charmer and Chicago Style are Grade 2 winners; Big Bend and Big Score are Grade 3 winners; Cleopatra’s Strike is a Woodbine allowance winner; Platinum Warrior adds blinkers and switches riders. The others are Oscar Dominguez, Flamboyant, and Arms Runner.

A murky pace scenario complicates analysis. None of the San Gabriel entrants is a front-runner. As for class, the Grade 1 victory three months ago by Next Shares establishes him as the most likely winner, but only if he reproduces top form on firm turf.

KEY CONTENDERS

Next Shares, by Archarcharch
Last 3 Beyers: 89-107-99

◗ In addition to footing, miler Next Shares faces a distance challenge. Can he stay 1 1/8 miles? “I think so because he’ll do whatever you want,” Baltas said.

◗ Joel Rosario rides Next Shares for the first time.

Liam the Charmer, by Smart Strike
Last 3 Beyers: 4-99-97

◗ “You have to draw a line through the Breeders’ Cup Turf,” trainer Michael McCarthy said, referring to his loss by more than 61 lengths on “good” turf.

◗ Liam the Charmer’s win in the Grade 2 John Henry Turf Championship in September at Santa Anita might be good enough.

◗ Kent Desormeaux rides.

Cleopatra’s Strike, by Smart Strike
Last 3 Beyers: 89-86-85

◗ He was a private purchase after winning a second-level allowance/optional-claiming race at Woodbine. Now trained by Phil D’Amato, he enters the San Gabriel after not drawing in from the also-eligible list in a Dec. 28 allowance.

“He’s trained very well,” D’Amato said.

◗ Flavien Prat rides.

Platinum Warrior, by Galileo
Last 3 Beyers: 85-87-92

◗ His owner is Chinese businessman Zhang Yuesheng, who requested Platinum Warrior be ridden by Irish jockey Shane Foley. Foley rode him to a Grade 3 victory last May in Ireland. Blinkers on.

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