Most of the attention across the country on Saturday will be focused on the 3-year-olds running in the Sham at Santa Anita and the Mucho Macho Man at Gulfstream Park. I’m interested in a couple of 3-year-old races, but they don’t happen to be those two. On the flip side, I think the San Gabriel for older horses in Southern California is wide open and could offer an opportunity for large payouts. Limehouse There appears to be a fair amount of talent entered in Saturday’s second at Gulfstream, but many of the entrants have something in common that should work against them: their running styles. Of the seven entrants, five of them have been victorious only when outright on the lead. That would seemingly lead to a potential pace meltdown, and potentially set things up for a horse that was sensational breaking his maiden in his career debut here on Dec. 9. Final Jeopardy lagged well behind the rest of the field in his debut before producing a massive finish, drawing away to win by more than five lengths. I wouldn’t have thought it outrageous if the connections had chosen to run this son of Street Sense in the Mucho Macho Man later on, but as it stands, he fits beautifully against this group and should get a lovely pace scenario to run at. :: Want to get the latest news with your past performances? Try DRF’s new digital PPs Ginger Brew Pivottina is likely to take a bit of money making her South Florida debut for Graham Motion, but I believe a filly trained by Mark Casse is strictly the one to beat. Fortunate Girl was impressive breaking her maiden two starts back at Fair Grounds, and that race was the first time she’d run with blinkers on. Casse threw her into stakes company in the Wait a While last month at Gulfstream, and she finished a creditable second behind an intriguing filly named A Bit Special. The result was solid, but I think it came utilizing a running style that may not be ideal for this daughter of Hard Spun. Fortunate Girl broke from post 11 in the Wait a While, and Jose Ortiz was forced to use her early in order to establish position and not be hung wide rounding the first turn. With other speed drawn to Fortunate Girl’s inside on Saturday, I think Ortiz reverts to the running style that was successful for the filly in her maiden score in New Orleans – stalking the pace, getting first run on the closers (Pivottina), and kicking away smartly. San Gabriel The San Gabriel is an interesting race for a few reasons: There’s no real standout in the field, the distance may be shorter than ideal for some of the main contenders, and there appears to be a serious lack of pace. I can understand the push for horses like Chicago Style and Liam the Charmer, but this distance seems a bit sharp for them. The same goes for Next Shares, who may be pushing his distance limitations at 1 1/8 miles. I’m going back to an old friend of mine that’s been good to me. Flamboyant makes his second start off a short layoff, and this will be the third consecutive start at a distance that fits him best (one mile to 1 1/8 miles). His third-place finish in the Berkeley on synthetic at Golden Gate most recently is better than it may appear, as he took a significant bump exiting the gate before racing wide throughout, and was beaten a neck. I find it interesting that this is the first time this 8-year-old has strung together two races off a layoff at distances that best suit him since the middle of 2017. Back then, he returned off the layoff with a solid effort on synthetic at Golden Gate before shipping to Santa Anita and earning a 101 Beyer Speed Figure in his subsequent start. A 101 Beyer may be beyond him at this point in his career, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see him fire a solid shot on Saturday and potentially upset at a square price.