Lostintranzlation, Fly to Mars look to rebound

ARCADIA, Calif. – In racing, there are good trips and bad trips. It is fitting this week to distrust the likelihood that a perfect-trip winner will repeat, and also fitting to upgrade the chances of two beaten favorites coming off bad-trip, forgivable defeats.

Justify won the Santa Anita Derby with a good trip, loose on the lead. Perhaps he will get another perfect trip this Saturday and win the Kentucky Derby, too. Leap of faith.

As for bad trips, they come in different forms, such as the cases of two key runners Thursday at Santa Anita that finished off the board last out. Lostintranzlation had severe traffic trouble; Fly to Mars was cooked in a pace duel.

Lostintranzlation runs in a first-level allowance route for California-bred fillies and mares. She is due for better luck, but also faces a surface challenge. She switches from turf to dirt.

Fly to Mars runs in a second-level allowance/optional $62,500 claiming turf sprint. The pace scenario is likely to be easier than his most recent start. If he clears the field setting softer fractions, he could be gone. Otherwise, it’s anyone’s race.

Lostintranzlation faces five rivals in race 5, including stretching-out Queen Bee to You, who could get the “Justify trip” and wire the field. Otherwise, Lostintranzlation can only hope for a better journey than last out.

Blocked from the five-sixteenths to the eighth pole, Lostintranzlation found room late. By then, the race was virtually over. Lostintranzlation, trained by Richard Baltas and ridden by Geovanni Franco, finished fifth as the favorite.

Fly to Mars runs on familiar footing in race 7. Trained by Peter Miller, he has won two of his four hillside starts. Last out, the front-runner was odds-on in a similar race. However, an opponent hounded him through a blazing pace and he finished fourth.

The pace rival that compromised Fly to Mars last out, Ann Arbor Eddie, is not likely to produce as much heat Thursday in his second start back from a layoff. His normal style is to rally from slightly off. That would leave Fly to Mars and apprentice Asa Espinoza as the speed.

Eight others will bank the pace will collapse. Bombard, a first-time gelding with an affinity for the hill and ability to fire fresh, returns from an 11-month layoff. Cimpl Man, the only horse entered for the optional $62,500 claim tag, will rally late.

Other contenders include Conqueror, Brandothebartender, Arms Runner, and Tristan’s Trilogy. First post Thursday returns to 12:30 Pacific.