Analysis & Selections By: Dean Keppler @Keppskorner
BEST BET: 2-Whatmakessammyrun (Race 8)
Race #1: Selections: 2-6-4
2-Fleet Feet returns off a 10-month layoff as a first-time gelding for the George Papaprodromou barn and has proven in the past he can fire fresh. The 5-year-old is dropped in for a career-low claiming tag to start his 2025 campaign and is reunited with his winning rider. 6-Gazon (GB) flashed speed and tired as the beaten favorite in last and now drops in class for his third start of the form cycle. This gelding is likely to bounce back for Sadler after a sharp six-furlong sprint turf maiden win two back. Dirt to turf 4-Jaguar Jon has hit the board in all three career tries for Miyadi. He is by Om, who gets a strong 23% with turf sprint prodigy.
Race #2: Selections: 5-1-4
The speedy 5-Happy Sue finished second to recent Grade 3 winner Cash Call when last seen on May 18 and now makes her second try off the mini-freshening. The 3-year-old daughter of Runhappy will likely be on the lead again this afternoon and may prove tough to reel in late with an alert break. First off the claim, 1-Dorie Miller goes turf to dirt this afternoon and gets a key rider change to jockey Juan Hernandez. This barn has excellent stats with new barn acquisitions on dirt with three wins and two runner-up finishes from the last five starts. The lightly raced 4-Border Control was third behind Happy Sue in the aforementioned May 18 event.
Race #3: Selections: 1-2-3
1-Vegas Love goes turf to dirt while making her third start of the form cycle for trainer Phil D’Amato. The 4-year-old filly has run above par over the main track for this level when running on the East Coast. 2-Nokie moves back to the main track on the class drop and has run some of the fastest dirt Beyers in the field. 3-Queen Girvin turns back to a sprint off a game gate-to-wire one-mile win on May 10 off a five-month layoff. The filly steps back up in class today.
Race #4: Selections: 2-3-4
The lightly raced Grade 3-winning 2-Thought Process makes her first start since flashing speed and tiring in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1). The 3-year-old daughter of Collected has trained well for today’s return effort, adds Lasix today, and should come out running off the bench. 3-Schilflied shortens back up to a sprint this afternoon, dropping out of a pair of Grade 3 tries, and is reunited with winning pilot Juan Hernandez. D’Amato’s other filly, 4-Innovative, also shortens up to a sprint this afternoon, exiting a solid gate-to-wire maiden 1 1/8-mile victory on May 17.
Race #5: Selections: 6-2-3
The Doug O’Neill-trained 6-Mining District sports the field’s best last-out main track Beyer (82) off a recent runner-up try versus similar. The 4-year-old gelding is expected to have a favorable stalking journey with today’s outside draw. 2-The G M is lightly raced and returns off a six-month freshening for conditioner Mike Puype. The 4-year-old gelding defeated a solid maiden field when last seen back in December and gets Hernandez back for the return ride. The 9-year-old veteran gelding 3-Windribbon returns to sprinting on dirt, which is where the 10-time winner has had most of his success.
Race #6: Selections: 2-3-6
2-Mrs. Astor powered away to an impressive 5-length win in the Santa Barbara S. on May 4 and looms a strong repeat candidate for trainer Jonathan Thomas. The 5-year-old multiple Grade 3 winner makes her third start off the bench today with an improving Beyer pattern and can take yet another forward move against this group. 3-Queen Leca (Uru) switches to new conditioner Michael McCarthy this afternoon, off three route efforts in Kentucky. The 6-year-old mare may find herself on the lead today with Kimura in what looks like a field void of early zip. 6–Starry Heavens (Ire) looks best of the D’Amato trio. She finished behind Mrs. Astor in the aforementioned Santa Barbara and makes her third start stateside today.
Race #7: Selections: 10-3-2
10-That Ain’t Right finished a troubled trip fourth in her May 24 unveiling, and should appreciate moving off the rail to the far outside this afternoon for conditioner Steve Sherman. Like the top choice, 3-My Love Caroline owns the experience edge over most of this field, exiting a well-backed beaten favorite third on May 2. The juvenile daughter of Stay Thirsty adds blinkers today and is likely to move forward in career start number two. 2-Grazeninthegrass (by Grazen) has trained steadily for conditioner Tim Yakteen, and this barn is more than capable of firing with a firster.
Race #8: Selections 2-1-4
The ultra consistent 2-Whatmakessammyrun tries hard each and every start for Glatt and should get a live race flow today to set up his strong late kick. He was a winner at this level two-back. 1-Noble Reflection has run par or better on multiple occasions for this class level and has been freshened since his runner-up sprint try back on March 16. The 7-year-old gelding shows up for a $32k tag after being snatched for $40,000 in his last start for trainer Librado Barocio. He’s likely to be hustled along from the fence. 4-Sharp Aza Tack finished in front of Whatmakessammyrun in his most recent try on May 18 and now makes his third start of the form cycle today for Mullins. Berrios gets the return mount.
Race #9: Selections 4-1-5
4-Sierra Silver makes the all-important third career try for Team Baffert, exiting a sharp runner-up finish on May 10, where he posted a strong (95) Beyer. The son of Game Winner has worked three times since that last try and stretches out an additional half furlong. 1-Cheever ran well in his debut when finishing behind Sierra Silver and is likely to move forward off that sharp try for trainer Mark Glatt. This sophomore colt is a $700k pricey son of Into Mischief but lands the tricky rail draw for seven panels. Baffert also sends out the firster, 5-One More Time. He is by Grade 1 winner Collected. The colt has trained well and gets Van Dyke in the saddle. This jockey-trainer combo is a respectable 4 for 13 (31%) with dirt sprint debut runners in the past five years.
Race #10: Selections 7-3-1
The Grade 2 winning 7-Motorious has never finished out of the money over the downhill course and arrives here today a fresh horse for conditioner Phil D’Amato. The 7-year-old gelding has been plagued by layoff lines throughout his successful career, but has trained sharply for his first try in six months and is proven off the bench. Fresu knows him well. 3-Goliad is 0 for two over the downhill grass course, but shortens up today for trainer Richard Mandella, while exiting back-to-back Grade 1 tries in the BC Mile and Shoemaker. The 8-year-old gelding is super quick off the blocks and will likely try to bottom out this field on the turnback and class drop. 1-Air Force Red is a downhill specialist who’s racked up five wins from 10 tries over the course and makes his second start off the mini-freshening for conditioner Leonard Powell.
Race #11: Selections 3-5-7
3-Brother o’ Brien defeated a pair of today’s returning rivals with a solid score on May 18, going this one-mile trip, and now makes his first start for a new barn off the claim. The 5-for-16 gelding looms a serious repeat candidate with a similar effort. 5-Devilintheblugras is a logical fit here, having finished first and second versus similar in his last pair. The gelding’s “best of 40” four-furlong bullet in :47 flat on June 6 indicates he remains razor sharp. 7-American Empire has done most of his running on grass and synthetic but takes a substantial class plunge today for a red-hot barn and has worked well over dirt in his a.m. drills.
Race #12: Selections 8-6-10
8-Ridegold has hit the board in three of four career tries for conditioner Craig Lewis and just missed by a neck after flashing good speed in his most recent effort on May 24. At likely short odds again, she is no slam dunk, however. 6-Pure Chaos is by Sir Prancealot, debuting for the James Cassidy barn. This jockey-trainer combo has teamed up with a 25-1 grass route firster in the past, and this gal has some decent a.m. drills. She runs with Lasix this afternoon, and she’s not impossible in a wide-open finale. 10-California Rocks was a sharp closing third behind Ridegold at 36-1 when attempting to make up ground through a sluggish pace in her encouraging debut. She came back to fire another sharp a.m. bullet drill on June 7. 5-Turkey Bird ran very well at 72-1 in her March 28 debut to finish third, but was escorted by equine ambulance after that start and missed nearly a month of training. She returns today (without a panicky drop in class) for her low-profile connections.
