Weekend Warrior for Nov. 9: Picks for Cardinal, Long Island, Sun Power

A week removed from the Breeders’ Cup, the graded action Saturday is limited to contests for fillies and mares on turf: the Grade 3 Cardinal at Churchill and the Grade 3 Long Island at Aqueduct.

The Weekend Warrior will be tackling those races, along with a statebred race at Hawthorne, the Sun Power, where value exists on a shipper.

Cardinal Handicap

The 1 1/8-mile Cardinal should be run on firm turf, though with some degree of give in the ground due to Wednesday rain at Churchill Downs and cool temperatures.

Such conditions suit the top selection, Miz Ida, who won the Mint Julep over firm ground on the Churchill course June 8.

A seven-time winner, she seems likely to drift up from her 7-2 morning line after a distant fourth in the Grade 1 First Lady at Keeneland in which she was beaten more than 11 lengths and received just a 73 Beyer Speed Figure.

Here’s what you need to know about that race – it was run over a slick course that had been soaked through the day, creating conditions that many competitors failed to handle.

It should be noted that two races after the First Lady was run, Keeneland officials, after consulting with jockeys, took the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile off the grass and moved it to Polytrack.

So think of Miz Ida’s defeat in the First Lady this way – it was not reflective of her ability, and serves only to cloud her form and boost her price.

Of course, merely running in a throw-out race doesn’t mean that Miz Ida is necessarily better than her opponents. She faces some quality foes, like Starstruck, Somali Lemonade, and Abaco, who sits at a far-too-generous 5-1 on the morning line.

Miz Ida needs her best, but if she can run it, she has a chance to win, likely an inflated price off her loss in the First Lady. She is an appealing wager at 5-1 odds or more.

Long Island Handicap

The Long Island, at 1 1/2 miles on the grass, drew long-distance specialists and those a cut below the standard required to race in the 1 1/4-mile Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf or the E.P. Taylor.

Anjaz, winless this year, is a deceptively good filly and the selection to take the Long Island.

One merely needs to examine her running lines to see the fine company she has kept this year. In May, Anjaz ran second in the Sheepshead Bay at Belmont over soft ground, losing by a length to Tannery, the eventual E.P. Taylor winner. And last out, in the ungraded Waya Stakes at Saratoga, Anjaz ran a troubled second to Qushchi, who would go on to finish fourth in the Grade 1 Flower Bowl before running 10th in the BC Filly and Mare Turf.

Running a length behind Anjaz in third in the Waya was Mystical Star, next-out winner of the Kentucky Downs Ladies Marathon and the eventual third-place finisher in the Flower Bowl.

As for Anjaz not having raced since Aug. 5, it is not the negative it would be in most circumstances. Her work pattern has remained steady, and marathon stakes races just don’t come around all that often.

Trainer Tom Albertrani has likely just been waiting on this race, knowing it represents a prime opportunity for her to pick up her first graded stakes victory.

Sun Power

Although unraced on dirt, Easy Solution is the play in the Sun Power, a six-furlong sprint for Illinois-bred 2-year-old colts and geldings at Hawthorne.

Dropping in class from the Oak Tree Juvenile Turf at Del Mar, when he chased victorious Diamond Bachelor before fading to sixth, he looks set to bounce back with a quality effort.

A natural speed horse who ran well previously in Polytrack sprints at Woodbine and Del Mar, he worked swiftly at Churchill Downs on Nov. 4 in a dirt test for new trainer Tom Amoss.

Easy Solution is an appealing 4-1 price on the morning line in the five-horse Sun Power, though odds of around 5-2 or 3-1 are more realistic.