Stretch-out sprinters key to turf pick three

ARCADIA, Calif. – A pair of California-bred sprinters venture into the unknown Friday at Santa Anita by stretching to two turns in the first and last legs of the $3 turf pick three on races 4, 6, and 8.

More Try could be loose on the lead in race 4, a turf mile for older California-bred maidens. Foiled pressing fast fractions in his first four starts in sprints, More Try might be gone Friday in his initial route.

On the Whim also faces a distance dilemma in race 8, a turf mile for older California-bred allowance runners. His debut victory in a turf sprint was super, followed by a wide-trip debacle on dirt. On the Whim stretches out Friday for his third start. He is proven on turf, but untested at two turns.

In between the turf miles is the middle leg of the pick three, race 6, an entry-level allowance/optional-claiming turf sprint. Last-out winner Doncic meets speedster Book Smart and graded stakes winner Gregorian Chant, a veteran gelding entered for the $50,000 optional claiming price.

Friday’s pick three is likely to produce a higher return than last week’s lows. A rash of favorites led to the two shortest payoffs since the turf pick three was launched in the fall. Turf favorites won 9 of 11 overall last week; the $3 pick threes included payoffs of $48.60 and $51 on Jan. 19 and 21. Favorites swept both sequences.

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Race-4 front-runner More Try faces six new rivals Friday; five from the same race. Ghostly Act, third last out, could vie for favoritism. The 2-4-5-7 finishers entered are Maxville, Antibes, Bert’s Prospect, and Be Punctual. Northern California shipper Dazzle the Command also is entered.

The race centers on More Try, whose pattern might look familiar. Trainer Ed Freeman won a maiden turf route Dec. 1 at Del Mar with Stolen Treasure, who stretched out from four sprints and wired the field switching to jockey Edwin Maldonado. Same with More Try – first-time long, first-time Maldonado. More Try is by I’ll Have Another; his sprint dam has produced a route winner.

The turf rails are set at 20 feet Friday. Seven turf miles with the rails at 20 feet this meet have produced one wire-to-wire winner, two who pressed from second, and four winners who rallied from the back half.

Race-8 contender On the Whim won a relatively fast turf sprint first out, then finished fifth as the favorite on dirt at Los Alamitos while compromised by an impossibly wide trip. The challenge Friday is for On the Whim to reproduce his turf-sprint form in a turf route.

Trainer Dean Pederson acknowledged uncertainty, though he said On the Whim acts like he will get a mile “based on the way he works in the morning. He’s fairly relaxed.”

Pederson has worked On the Whim in company and said the gelding “never gets rank.” Tiago Pereira rides On the Whim, who drew the rail and should be forwardly placed. A gelding by Acclamation, On the Whim was produced by a dam who won two route stakes.

His chief rivals include Moogie Son and Barely Funtional, who finished second and third last out in a turf-route. Red Cross Knight adds speed.

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