Palos Verdes matches Howbeit, Radical Right on mandatory payout day

ARCADIA, Calif. – There may be more accomplished sprinters in their respective stables, but the most significant one-turn horses running this week at Santa Anita are Mark Glatt-trained Howbeit and Peter Miller-trained Radical Right.

While multiple Grade 1 winner Dr. Schivel nears his first comeback breeze for Glatt, and two-time Breeders’ Cup Sprint runner-up C Z Rocket inches closer to his 9-year-old debut for Miller, Howbeit and Radical Right take center stage Sunday.

Howbeit and Radical Right are key starters in the Grade 3, six-furlong Palos Verdes, positioned as race 7 smack in the middle of the Rainbow pick six on mandatory payout day. Barring a single-ticket winner Friday or Saturday, the Sunday pool could reach $3 million chasing a jackpot that began the week at $287,716. The pick six sequence on races 4-9 includes a pair of $200,000 stakes.

Race 6 is the Grade 3 San Marcos Stakes at 1 1/4 miles on turf. Phil D’Amato trains four entrants, including late-running comebacker Say the Word, pace-presser Masteroffoxhounds and Prince Abama, whose unlucky trip last out is required viewing.

Race 7 is the Palos Verdes, and while none of the entrants compare to Dr. Schivel or C Z Rocket, the Palos Verdes’s importance to the pick six is obvious. What also seems obvious is Howbeit and Radical Right are must-use contenders.

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Howbeit won the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship in autumn, followed by a better-than-looked fourth in a salty allowance. Glatt also entered Escape Route in the Palos Verdes.

Radical Right is a gelding recently purchased at auction for $260,000. Late-runner McLaren Vale and front-runners Straight No Chaser and Hopkins also are entered.

Strangely enough, Howbeit will face easier in the Palos Verdes than the allowance.

Glatt’s allowance-race analysis is accurate. “Those horses in front of him that day fired especially well, and he was caught a little wide.”

The one-two-three finishers subsequently validated the race. Get Her Number finished second in the Grade 1 Cigar Mile, Ginobili dominated a $150,000 stakes at Oaklawn Park, and Forbidden Kingdom finished second in the Grade 1 Malibu Stakes. Howbeit faces easier Sunday at Santa Anita, where he has won four races.

Mike Smith rides Howbeit, whose closing style would play well if Straight No Chaser and Hopkins hook up. Glatt-trained Escape Route has not raced since June and is eligible to a softer spot.

“He may end up being a stakes horse this year, but it sure would be nice to try him back in a second-level allowance off a long layoff,” Glatt said.

With no guarantee an upcoming allowance will fill, Glatt brings back Escape Route in the stakes.

“I think he’s ready. He has run well off a long layoff in the past,” Glatt said. “Of course, that was much different company than he’ll be facing Sunday.”

As for Dr. Schivel, unraced since last March, Glatt said he is galloping and “very close to his first breeze.”

Radical Right is a newcomer to the California sprint division, and making his first start for Miller.

“I think he fits well with this group,” Miller said. “He’s training well, so we’re thinking he’s going to run well.”

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Speed figures earned by Radical Right in dirt races on the East Coast compare favorably to his rivals in the Palos Verdes, a stakes Miller has won four times. He is tied with Buster Millerick and Charlie Whittingham for most Palos Verdes wins by a trainer. Flavien Prat rides Radical Right.

Miller said plans are being formulated for C Z Rocket, the 9-year-old multiple graded winner working regularly for his first start since finishing second in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. C Z Rocket has won 12 races and more than $1.9 million.

Beyond the Palos Verdes, Glatt and Miller will meet again soon with California-based horses racing in Arkansas. Miller-trained Ginobili and Glatt-trained Hero Status are aiming to the Grade 3, $600,000 Razorback Handicap on Feb. 18 at Oaklawn Park.

◗ The pick six Sunday at Santa Anita begins in race 4, a Cal-bred filly maiden turf sprint in which eight-time starter Loyal to a Fault could go off a short price. Race 5 is a $40,000 claiming sprint for fillies and mares in which Violent Runner is the likely favorite. Race 8 is a hillside allowance in which August Melody looks solid; race 9 is a second-level allowance/optional-claiming turf mile led by Mecklenburg.

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