Brad Free's Southern California horses to watch from week of May 9, 2015.
DESERT THIEF
Trainer: Hector Palma
Last race: May 7, 7th
Finish: 2nd by 1
Beyer: 68
This pace-pressing filly lost her chance early in a sprint for California-bred fillies and mares. She broke last of 10, but finished willingly behind a gate-to-wire winner. She should be tough next time in a similar N1X for statebreds.
Palace (#3, ML 3-1) takes on a talented field in Sunday’s eighth race at Belmont Park, the six-furlong Diablo Stakes. Since Jan. 1, 2014, trainer Linda Rice is winning at a 30 percent clip in stakes races, for a return on investment of $2.07.
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While there are some good races on the main track, notably Palace against Palace Malice in the Diablo Stakes, the grass races on Sunday’s card at Belmont are what I’m most interested in for wagering purposes.
Two of them – the second and fifth races – bookend the early pick four, and races 7 and 9 are in the late pick four, so those inclined might want to mix and match and buy Mom some tickets on each sequence.
Race 2
They ran four graded stakes races Saturday at Belmont Park, and yet the first topic brought up by the few folks I spent the day there with was American Pharoah and whether he could do it again in the Preakness and come to the Belmont Stakes with a shot of sweeping the Triple Crown. It says something about American Pharoah that he has captured the imagination of even hardened horseplayers.
Swept Up (#3, ML 9-2) returns in Sunday's third race at Churchill Downs, a six-furlong allowance. It will be her first start since a fourth-place finish by a half length in a six-furlong optional claimer March 22 at Oaklawn Park. The third- and fifth-place finishers from that race came back to win their next starts.
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Trying the late pick four at Belmont, with a strong lean on a longshot in the finale.
RACE 6
MUNASARA is an easy horse to like and a logical "A." So is DELIGHTFUL JOY, and SO YOU SAY is also clearly dangerous. But I don't want to go three deep with "A" plays in a six-horse field, so I'll take a mini-stand with MUNASARA and relegate the other two to "B" status.
A's: 4
B's: 5, 6
C's: NONE
RACE 7
Tachiello (#9, ML 5-1) takes on seven in Saturday's eighth race at Churchill Downs, a 1 1/8-mile allowance ran on turf. Since Jan. 1, 2014, trainer Joe Sharp is winning at a 26 percent clip in turf races, for a return on investment of $2.36.
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