Magic Mark, Solid Wager vulnerable favorites in Tiznow

ARCADIA, Calif. – Magic Mark might be the best two-turn horse in the field, and the sprinter Solid Wager certainly is the richest. However, both leading contenders for the $100,000 Tiznow Stakes on Sunday at Santa Anita face major challenges in the one-mile dirt race for California-breds.

Magic Mark, a two-time stakes winner, is most effective setting the pace. The trouble is that he will have company Sunday. Front-runners Indygo Holiday, Acceptance, and Avanti Bello help ensure a lively pace. None is likely to get an easy lead.

Solid Wager is a three-time stakes winner, including a Grade 3, with $472,921 in earnings, tops in the field. The problem is that Solid Wager is most effective as a closing sprinter. His stakes wins were sprints; he is 6 for 20 in sprints overall. Solid Wager is 2 for 12 in routes.

Despite obvious hurdles, Magic Mark and Solid Wager will attract much of the action against five others. According to weather.com, there is a 50 percent chance of rain Saturday night and Sunday morning.

Tiznow, Race 8

KEY CONTENDERS

Magic Mark, by Benchmark

Last 3 Beyers: 78-96-97

Ron Ellis trains Magic Mark, whose most recent win Aug. 24 at Del Mar was under circumstances similar to those he faces Sunday. Racing one mile in the Harry F. Brubaker Stakes and hounded through a fast pace, Magic Mark pulled away by 2 1/4 lengths.

Joe Talamo takes over the riding assignment on Magic Mark, whose regular rider, Drayden Van Dyke, is sidelined with a broken arm sustained in a spill Jan. 26.

Magic Mark makes his first start in three months. He has won six races and $357,969 from 19 starts and ranks 13th on the earnings list by progeny of Benchmark, a top California sire who was pensioned in 2014.

Solid Wager, by Birdonthewire

Last 3 Beyers: 91-98-94

Peter Miller trains Solid Wager, a dead-heat winner on a sloppy track in the Grade 3 Midnight Lute, a sprint, on Dec. 31. He broke slowly and finished last in a California-bred stakes in his most recent start.

Solid Wager has won eight races and $472,921 from 32 starts. A 6-year-old gelding, he has been trained by Miller throughout his career.

Patriots Rule, by Tribal Rule

Last 3 Beyers: 90-92-91

Upset candidate Patriots Rule and jockey Israel Ocampo get a beneficial pace scenario for the gelding’s closing style.

Most of his races have been on turf, including two stakes wins, but early in his career Patriots Rule won 2 of 4 on dirt. He is trained by Robertino Diodoro and assistant Sean Williams.