Hard to tell how Danas Best will run Friday

Two starts into his 2016 season, Danas Best has been a puzzle for trainer Phil D’Amato.

A 7-year-old gelding, Danas Best won an optional claimer at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Del Mar in August, but was last of eight in an optional claimer at 1 1/8 miles on turf at Santa Anita in October. D’Amato is unsure what to expect when Danas Best starts in an optional claimer at 1 3/8 miles on turf Friday at Del Mar.

“I’m asking myself the question,” he said. “I think the distance suits him. The class suits him. I expect the same kind of effort that we got two back.”

Owned by Mark Gorman, Slam Dunk Racing, and Sterling Stables, Danas Best ran in Group 1 stakes in Australia in 2013, but is better suited to optional claimers at longer distances in this country, D’Amato said.

“You get these horses from different countries and some acclimate better than others,” he said. “He fits his niche at that level and those distances.”

Danas Best is part of a field of 10 that includes the English shipper Landwade Lad and I’malreadythere, who was third in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity last December but is winless in six starts this year.

Race 7

KEY CONTENDERS

Danas Best, by Danasinga

Last 3 Beyers: 76-93-93

◗ Danas Best struggled in three turf stakes in late 2015 before being given a lengthy layoff. In the optional claimer at Del Mar in August, Danas Best closed from fourth to beat I’malreadythere by a half-length. At Santa Anita, Danas Best was never a factor under jockey Flavien Prat.

“Flavien said he didn’t have it,” D’Amato said. “He’s a finicky horse.”

Norberto Arroyo Jr. will have the mount Friday for the first time. D’Amato is hoping familiarity with the course will boost Danas Best.

“He’s won on that course at that distance and that should help him,” he said.

Fritz Johansen, by Unusual Heat

Last 3 Beyers: 91-84-87

◗ Fritz Johansen won a $25,000 claimer at Santa Anita in September, the day he was claimed by trainer Peter Miller. For Miller, Fritz Johansen is winless in two starts, but he was a game second in an optional claimer Nov. 19 at Del Mar.

Miller said Wednesday that Fritz Johansen is not a definite starter on Friday with the quick turnaround.

“We’re not 100 percent to run,” he said. “We are coming back quickly off a big race. As long as he’s doing good, we’ll take a shot.”

◗ The optional claimer will be the longest race of Fritz Johansen’s career, a concern for Miller.

“We don’t know if he can go that far,” Miller said.

Landwade Lad, by Dansili

◗ Landwade Lad won 2 of 16 starts in England and Ireland. This will be his first start in the United States, having joined trainer Mark Glatt’s stable this fall. Glatt has worked Landwade Lad twice and would have preferred a quicker workout than five furlongs in 1:07.60 last Saturday.

“He worked kind of slow,” Glatt said. “He wasn’t able to work in company. It’s hard to gauge where you’re at. He’s happy and he’s doing well.”