Free: Nationwide thoughts and opinions

ARCADIA, Calif. – Wintertime notes and opinions are piling up, from Santa Anita to Meydan to Oaklawn Park and Gulfstream Park. Stuff like this . . .

Distance test coming

Distance-skeptical about Forbidden Kingdom? His dam, by Five Star Day, did not race beyond six furlongs; her first three foals never won beyond six. But Forbidden Kingdom was downright dazzling in the seven-furlong Grade 2 San Vicente on Saturday at Santa Anita, especially compared to Flightline’s seven-furlong Grade 1 Malibu.

Flightline’s fractions – 22.01 and 44.48. Forbidden Kingdom – 21.86 and 44.49 on a similar surface. Forbidden Kingdom runs two turns in the Grade 2 San Felipe on March 5, and we’ll see about distance. Six of the last seven San Felipe winners led wire to wire.

Derby excitement missing

Every graded race for 3-year-olds this winter at Santa Anita feels hollow due to the Churchill Downs/Kentucky Derby ban of Bob Baffert.

He trains more than half the 47 horses that were nominated to Santa Anita’s first three graded Derby preps, including 11 of the 20 in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis on Sunday. If a Baffert runner wins, does the race even matter? This is not pro-Baffert or anti-Baffert, just acknowledgement of the winter detachment in California.

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Kafoo can upset

Hot Rod Charlie’s performance Friday in Dubai could validate the horse who beat him by a nose last out at Santa Anita. That is Express Train, an early favorite in the Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes on Saturday. Hot Rod Charlie runs Friday in the Al Maktoum Challenge at Meydan.

But watch out for Kafoo, a lightly raced colt proven at Meydan who finished well last out and benefits by the 1 3/16-mile distance. Kafoo, by Curlin, was produced by a California favorite – 2010 champion filly Blind Luck.

I’m looking for Kafoo to upset Hot Rod Charlie on Friday at about 10:20 a.m. Pacific.

Zero for 38 and counting

Someday a first-time starter sired by Shaman Ghost may win. Meantime, the stallion’s debut runners are 0 for 38 following Rocky Gibraltar’s odds-on defeat Saturday at Santa Anita.

Not sure who in their right mind would bet a Shaman Ghost firster at that price. Similarly, the Daily Racing Form analyst also underperformed last week at Santa Anita – 1 for 11 with odds-on selections. Embarrassing.

Baze gets down and dirty

The hottest rider Sunday at Santa Anita was the dirtiest on Monday. Tyler Baze went 3 for 3 Sunday, and worked three horses into kickback on Monday.

Baze was plastered with dirt after a sharp (unrecorded) five-furlong drill by Gracelund Gray, who rallied inside a rival in the stretch and galloped out super. She runs Sunday in the Grade 3 Las Virgenes. As for Baze, the last time he went 3 for 3 was July 9, 2004 at Hollywood Park.

“It was a Friday night, all three were [longshots], and I really didn’t want to drive over there,” Baze said. “I ended up winning on all three.”

Sometimes the hardest part is just showing up. Baze is tied for fifth in the Santa Anita standings.

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Safe at home

D. Wayne Lukas is on the Kentucky Oaks trail with Oaklawn Park-based Secret Oath, whose Martha Washington romp was her second straight. But can Secret Oath win on the road? Her dam rarely did.

Lukas also trained Absinthe Minded, a horse-for-course at Oaklawn, where she won 5 of 11. She was 1 for 24 everywhere else. No worries yet for Secret Oath. Her Oaklawn options are the Honeybee on Feb. 26 and Fantasy on April 2.

Pace sleuth

It was probably coincidence the horse that outran Knicks Go early in the Pegasus World Cup was ridden by Jose Ortiz, whose brother Irad Ortiz Jr. rode winner Life Is Good.

Stilleto Boy was asked for speed from post 3, effectively neutralizing Knicks Go in post 1. Tactics aside, Life Is Good would have won anyway from post 4.

Ahead of the game

Speaking of Stilleto Boy, he returned to California this week. Trainer Ed Moger Jr. did not rule out the Dubai World Cup, but said Stilleto Boy was likely to stay home.

“We’re thinking probably the Santa Anita Handicap,” Moger said referring to the Big Cap on March 5.

Since he was purchased at a horses-of-racing age auction last year for $420,000 by owner Steve Moger, the trainer’s brother, Stiletto Boy has earned $583,500.

Speed on speed

With the announcement that Flightline runs in the San Carlos at Santa Anita on March 5, the 2021 San Carlos winner Brickyard Ride seems more likely to face Cal-bred rivals in the Tiznow Stakes at one mile on Feb. 21.

But the San Carlos would sure be something if Flightline and Brickyard Ride hooked up. Brickyard Ride won the Cal Cup Sprint by setting the meet’s fastest fractions for six furlongs – 21.71 and 44.15 – and finished in a meet-best 1:09.54.

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Nowhere to go

The $100,000 Fran’s Valentine for Cal-bred fillies and mares is not until May 28, leaving a handful of talented Cal-bred route females with no appropriate race.

One idea, albeit unoriginal, is a late addition to the stakes schedule. A turf route for Cal-bred fillies and mares might attract stakes winners Closing Remarks, Cordiality, Leggs Galore, Mucho Unusual, Pulpit Rider, Warren’s Showtime, and stakes-placed Nardini and Sedamar.

Heads-up ride

Smart ride by Roimes Chirinos on Canoodling, who went 49 and change to upset the Grade 3 Megahertz at a mile on turf Saturday at Santa Anita.

Chirinos and Canoodling drifted out just enough to entice favorite Warren’s Showtime inside, but not enough to let her through. Canoodling won’t get the same trip next month in the Grade 2 Buena Vista. Leggs Galore, with 45 half-mile speed, is training super since her comeback win in a turf sprint stakes. The one-mile Buena Vista is up next.

On this date . . .

This date in Santa Anita history: Exactly 10 years ago, Feb. 4, 2012, a comebacking 3-year-old paid $88.60 after he ripped a mile and a sixteenth in 1:40.84 in the Grade 2 Robert B. Lewis Stakes.

I’ll Have Another would go on to win the Santa Anita Derby, Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes for trainer Doug O’Neill, owner J. Paul Reddam and jockey Mario Gutierrez before retiring with an injury. I’ll Have Another stands in California.