Indian Peak can anchor late pick four
With a little more luck (and, to be honest, professionalism), Indian Peak might have upset Azul Coast in the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby last month at Golden Gate Fields, and with any luck at all he should win the featured eighth race Saturday at Golden Gate.
Indian Peak is one of seven entrants in a first-level allowance race also open to $16,000 claimers, restricted to 3-year-olds, and carded at 1 1/16 miles on Tapeta. Indian Peak, a homebred Comic Strip colt trained by Quinn Howey, is a two-time winner but a California-bred first-level allowance victory doesn’t count against his eligibility to this race that’s not statebred-restricted.
That California-bred allowance win on Dec. 27 marked a considerable forward step for Indian Peak, who looked like a winner a long way out and powered home despite being taken very wide for his homestretch run. Indian Peak couldn’t produce his best form when switched to Santa Anita dirt for a California-bred stakes race in January, and in the El Camino Real, partly because he was somewhat overeager but also because a horse cut in front of him, he was checked into the first turn, got lit up a bit, and pulled too hard for his own good. Jockey Jose Hernandez held him hard behind a pokey pace, then launched a very wide move past the three-furlong pole that had Indian Peak head and head with the talented Bob Baffert-trained Azul Coast. Indian Peak, through a combination of ground loss, failure to settle, and, perhaps, a preference for a slightly shorter trip, flattened slightly late. He still ran well in defeat and has been given ample time between starts while posting very encouraging morning work.
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Indian Peak can serve as an anchor to a late pick four spanning races 6 through 9. Race 7, a $16,000 Tapeta claiming route for 3-year-old fillies, also looks like a manageable chink in the sequence, with Just Classy solidly preferred as a lone “A” on a pick four ticket. Just Classy beat a similar group in her most recent start, albeit with a perfect trip, but she appeared to idle after making the lead at the furlong pole and actually won by more like a length than the official half-length margin. She was claimed by trainer Genaro Vallejo, who is 4-0-2 with his last nine starters racing first after a claim and returning on 16 to 30 days’ rest.
Fish around with a backup or two in race 7, and be prepared to spread wider in race 6, an $8,000 maiden-claimer carded at one mile. The tepid top selection here is Capo Vino, who wound up much farther off the pace March 7 in her first route after a horse came out into her path entering the first turn as Capo Vino was dropping in looking for position. She was passively ridden for too long behind a slow pace and made up good ground between the three-furlong and one-furlong marker before flattening out. Still, include as many horses here as your bankroll can handle.
Race 9, an $8,000 nonwinners-of-two claimer also is tough, but there’s more substance here than in race 6, as well as an apparent surplus of early speed. Rey Coliman, a one-run closer, has gotten stuck in a series of false-paced routes and would appreciate a stronger early gallop. He’s the top pick, with rail-drawn Earnest, another late-runner, also worth including at a price.