Pick six has $104K carryover, and two turf-sprint singles

ARCADIA, Calif. – A triple-digit carryover enhances an ordinary pick six Friday at Santa Anita, where budget-conscious bettors will find potential singles in a pair of turf sprints.

Average field size in the $1 pick six, races 3 to 8, ticks just above six per race. Not great. But with a carryover of $104,581 and more than $400,000 in new money expected, it’s worth taking a shot. The turf sprints with conspicuous favorites are races 4 and 8. Below is a look at the sequence.

Race 3: A $10,000 claiming dirt mile, the field has five starters and two standouts. Tembo returns from a short break as the likely favorite off four one-two finishes. The fastest on figures, Tembo will try to end an uncharacteristic 21-race drought for trainer Steve Knapp.

Granada Flavor looms the upsetter, dropping from $25,000 claiming in his third start back. Others are dropper Mastermind, Knapp-trained stretch-out sprinter Stay in the Game, and Flint Stroll.

Two-deep (Tembo and Granada Flavor) should get it done.

Race 4: A nonwinners-of-three starter allowance at six furlongs on turf includes Pink Ace as a potential single, although she has not raced since September and never on turf.

:: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports

“She’s fit and ready, she breezed [in 59.40 seconds] out of the gate the other day,” trainer Phil D’Amato said. “We’ve always wanted to try her on the grass. I’ve had multiple riders think that she’d like the grass.”

Pink Ace won both her sprints fresh – a debut victory last spring and a comeback win last summer. She is by Aikenite, whose progeny have won an above average 17 percent of their turf sprints. A front-runner, Pink Ace would be the first gate-to-wire winner of a six-furlong turf sprint this meet with the rails at the outermost 30-foot setting (from eight races).

Pink Ace’s main rivals are route-to-sprint closers Control Function and She’s a Joker. Pink Ace looks like a low-odds single.

Race 5: A $32,000 claiming sprint for 3-year-olds, the field is led by the only two-time winner, Midnight Love. The late-runner’s rivals are turf-to-dirt dropper Des Doigts and Lettheliquortalk, who returns to his preferred one-turn trip. Outgunned and Winning Big complete the five-runner field.

Three-deep (Lettheliquortalk, Des Doigts, Midnight Love) should be enough, though longshot stablemates Outgunned and Winning Big merit inclusion on a backup ticket.

Race 6: A starter allowance/optional $50,000 claiming turf sprint, the field is deep. Last-out runner-up Topolina shortens to six furlongs after blowing a three-length lead at 6 1/2 furlongs.

John Sadler-trained Perfect in Gray and Certitude figure prominently, in addition to last-out maiden winners Yellow Sun Dress and Ang N Ash.

Sadler claimed Perfect in Gray from a dominating maiden win on dirt.

“You’d think if she was on dirt, she’d be a short price,” Sadler said. “But I noticed [turf influence] in her pedigree, so I think it’ll be okay.”

The filly’s dam won eight turf races. Sadler also starts maiden Certitude, a turf sprint runner-up two back. “Sometimes a starter [allowance] is easier than a maiden special,” he said.

Sadler is right. Nonwinners-of-two starter races have been won many times by maidens.

Mark Glatt-trained Yellow Sun Dress and Eltonsingsanother are contenders, along with Ang N Ash.

That would be six-deep. The addition of longshot Cheekiest makes it a seven-runner “all” race.

Race 7: A $20,000 maiden-claiming dirt sprint, the must-use contenders are droppers Sabres and I’m Still In. Two-deep and cross your fingers.

Race 8: The California-bred turf sprint for fillies and mares will center on Grazen in the Sun. She won this race last time over two next-out winners and is aggressively spotted at the same level for the $20,000 optional claim tag. Owner-trainer Mark Glatt claimed her for $16,000 three starts back.

“I’ve already gotten a nice purse out of her, she is running for more than I gave for her, and I can run for another good purse,” Glatt explained.

Comebacking veteran Hotitude is her main rival. The pick six ends with Grazen in the Sun as a front-running single.

Quick juveniles debut

A half-hour before the opening leg of the Friday pick six, precocious juvenile fillies launch their careers in race 2. Angel From Above and Night Beacon top the five-runner field. Expectations are high for both fast-working fillies.

:: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.

Luis Mendez trains Angel From Above, a Maclean’s Music filly that jockey Adrian Escobedo has worked regularly. Mendez said Angel From Above drilled heads-up with R Heisman, a juvenile colt who ran super in his tough-trip runner-up debut last week when second to Bodacious. Mendez said Angel From Above “is doing good,” but acknowledged rival Night Beacon will give her a battle.

Night Beacon, trained by Ryan Hanson, drew the rail under jockey Emily Ellingwood, who helped break Night Beacon and also is her workout rider. Hanson said Night Beacon “is working really good, we’re excited for her to run.”

In a figurative sense, Night Beacon already won a race. She was much best in a four-way gate drill April 28 that included Broadway Venus, who won her debut for Hanson on May 3. Night Beacon is by first-crop sire Spun to Run.

:: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.