Weekend GamePlan: Picks for Desi Arnaz, Gio Ponti, Sun Power

Slim pickings this Saturday on the North American stakes front. We’ll make stops on both coasts and in the heartland trying to find a little better-priced winner than Our Flash Drive ($5.20), who romped last Saturday at Woodbine.

Desi Arnaz

It seemed prudent to stand against Justique as the 6-5 favorite in the Chandelier Stakes on Oct. 8 at Santa Anita. This seems like the time to get behind the filly, who might only be fourth choice dropping in class from Grade 1 to listed stakes.

Justique got too much hype for her debut win this summer. Sure, I liked the visual of the race, and there was no question Justique possessed talent, but she got a very flattering run closing into a strong pace and her speed figure came back more modest than monstrous. Then came a brief illness that cost Justique an intended start in the seven-furlong Del Mar Debutante, the filly instead winding up in the two-turn Chandelier on a challenging pattern.

Now, belatedly, she gets that seven-eighths race at Del Mar, and this time at more appealing odds. Justique has been working steadily since the Chandelier, and while there’s no public video of her most recent drill, she got a fast time and was quickest of 34 five-furlong workers Nov. 13 at Del Mar. That’s another bit of evidence that Justique might favor Del Mar over Santa Anita, whereas things might be the other way around with likely favorite Blessed Touch.

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Blessed Touch did run easily the fastest race among the Arnaz entrants, rolling to nearly a nine-length second-start victory Oct. 8 at Santa Anita, a performance that produced a very strong 90 Beyer. Can Blessed Touch run right back to that going a longer trip over a different surface while facing winners for the first time? You’re not supposed to bet on that at a short price.

Huntingcoco might be the shorter price between two Bob Baffert-trained fillies, and, evidently, she just didn’t stay two turns in the Chandelier? Not staying is one thing, but Huntingcoco was beaten about 40 lengths, and I’d probably favor Parody, who had to overcome some stuff winning her debut and lone start at Churchill for trainer Rodolphe Brisset.

Gio Ponti

Assume that Steady On with his field-best 95 Beyer, Irad Ortiz Jr. riding for Todd Pletcher, will be favored in the Gio Ponti – but maybe that’s a rash assumption. The horse took little betting in either his maiden turf-route win two back and in his last-start turf-route victory over older horses. Both wins came with very favorable trips, and I can’t help but noting that front bandages went on last time. I realize that in this era many people just ignore the appearance of front wraps, but as one veteran horseman once said, even if they don’t do much to help, they’re being used for some reason. Beyond that, the speed figures, to me, look better than the horse did in either of those recent wins.

Pletcher’s other entrant, Grand Sonata, almost certainly wants more distance than this, and while I always kind of liked Dakota Gold, he really doesn’t appear to have gotten any faster than he was this time last year.

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Sharp veteran Canadian trainer Roger Attfield, for what it’s worth, had quite the Breeders’ Cup, sending longshots to a second in the Mile and a third in the Filly and Mare Turf, and here I like Attfield’s shipper, Churchtown.

Churchtown showed ability from the start of his career more than a year ago, and the only blemish on a form line consistently pointing up came over the tricky Keeneland course this past April in a comeback race he might have needed. He overcame meaningful ground loss to win two back from well off the pace, and last out, in the Toronto Cup, he pressed a pace strong enough that the other front-runner (who came back to win a Woodbine allowance race in his next start) faded to ninth, while the winner rallied from last. The shorter Aqueduct stretch should be a plus, and Churchtown ought to offer value.

Sun Power

Suspect Tahoe Run winds up lower than his listed 3-1 morning line, but possible he’s still a playable price in this Illinois-bred dirt sprint stakes. He just missed winning an open maiden race last out while finishing far clear of the show horse and is in line for a favorable setup in the Sun Power. Trainer Hugh Robertson has strong numbers bringing 2-year-old dirt sprinters back on short rest.

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