Louie sits down with Jon Lindo to talk about California racing. Louie and Jon give their picks for the Robert B Lewis weekend.
Sponsored by AMWAGER
Louie sits down with Jon Lindo to talk about California racing. Louie and Jon give their picks for the Robert B Lewis weekend.
Sponsored by AMWAGER
Life is good, all right, horses and talking.
This is this is the horse racing happy hour.
I'm Louis Ribow hanging out with our guy in Southern California.
He's John Lindo joins us. He is from thoroughbred LA.
Catch them every Saturday and Sunday, of course on KLAA,
Shorter show on Saturday, longer show on Sunday.
Go hang out with those guys. An hour on Saturday, 2 hours on
Sunday. Easy to find essentially
anywhere that you are. KLAA great website and all those
things, very easy to stream them around the country.
John, last time we talked to you, your wife was off to get an
award at a banquet. How did all that go?
Everything went well. I'm still married, so I I, I got
third fine. So we set the bar pretty low
around here. Oh, I get it brother.
No, you and me living the same life, I'm sure.
By the way, we're presented during the next about month of
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at louisvilleexecutive.com, Louisville executive.com and see
how the Louisville Executive Aviation folks can take care of
you. We, you know, LA is one of those
spots where people fly in and out of lots of different spots.
LAX, of course, the big boy, but John, it's always my favorite
that John Wayne has an airport named after him.
It's such a, it's such a Southern California thing to do,
is it not? That's how we do it around here.
Yeah. I'm, I'm close to Palomar
Airport here in Carlsbad. So I, I'm waiting for them to
line up some other place. I can just drive across the
street and get going, fly out of here.
Oh man. Well, we are deep into Derby
season, into prep season at least, John in the that the 20
point preps have kicked off. We got three of them on
Saturday. Obviously talking to you about
the Barber B Lewis out there in at Santa Anita.
But Speed King did win the Southwest last week.
Zach, if we can go ahead and pull up that stretch run,
Alpharon Maquette and the folks I'll be talking with Ron next
week. We'll be making some
announcements coming up quick here.
But Rafael Bayharano pilots Speed King to 20.
Sandman is following him. Sandman making a run now but
still has a lot of work to do as they come to the top of the
lane. Speed King.
Rafael Bayharano putting away American promise and speed King
says come and catch me if you can.
Speed King down the lane with a three light lead.
Look at Sandman after the bad break.
He's run a tenacious race and Patch Adams, they're moving
after Speed King, Speed King 16th to go.
He's 2 ahead. Sandman trying to get him, Speed
King holding on, Sandman trying to dive after him.
But it's going to be speed, King speed.
Apparently it's going to be Speed King.
Our friend Matt Jennerman, of course, on the calls down there
at Oaklawn Park. It's good to see our guy from
Golden Gate call $1,000,000 races, John, I'll tell you that.
Speed King, though, that is a running style that can win any
race. Get out front, stay out front.
Impressed or not with the Speed King on Saturday.
Well, you know, he had the benefit of what turned out to be
a rodeo there in in that race. So many horses were impacted
with bad starts and bad trips, including Patch Adams and the
runner up Sandman. So it remains to be seen that
you know, he'll have more competition on the front end in
future races. But it shows that that
springboard mile at Remington Park has turned out to be a
pretty live race. Yes, I think that's exactly what
we learned on Saturday was that the Springboard Mile might end
up being one of those races. Can you name the Southern
California connection to the Springboard Mile?
That had to be Doug O'Neill. I was going to go Todd Fischer
with Senor Buscador a couple. Of years ago.
Oh, OK. All right.
I love that. Yeah.
Yeah, I love that connection for sure.
But yeah, no, that one stands out.
I think people forget outside, you know, in Southern California
for sure, You haven't just how talented Rafa Bejarano is.
I mean, just a terrific rider. Obviously, he's going to have
tons of chances with the Mochette barn and all the folks
there at Oaklawn. I mean, that's the kind of guy
you would trust to the Derby mount.
Yeah. Yeah, You know, he's the guy
that was a leading rider here for years and and then just kind
of fell out of favor. I don't know why, but he's he's
kind of reinvented himself down in the Midwest there.
He rides a lot for Chris Hartman and Ron Moquette, guys like that
that win races. And so, you know, you give him a
live horse, he knows what to do. And he and he's been in the big,
big races before. So as a horse player, if I see
him on the horse, it doesn't bother me one bit.
No, that's exactly right. Take Charge Milady did win the
Martha Washington. I always brag, John, about the
great names for stakes races in Maryland.
But the the road to the Oaks through Arkansas, the Honeybee,
the Martha Washington, these are spectacular, spectacular stakes
names. Take Charge Milady wins this
one, Zach in the Martha Washington.
Again, thanks to our folks at Oaklawn, their YouTube page.
This is Matt Dinnerman on the call.
Into the top of the stretch, quiet side on the lead with take
Charge My Lady. Take charge My Lady going better
than quiet side and she puts away quiet side getting to the
rail. Quiet side second behind go
Wells Delight is third furlong to go Take charge My Lady
opening up 3 quiet side left behind in 2nd and take charge My
Lady with a 16th to go. She's coasting down the lane and
she will pick up some Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks points, I
should say, here in the Martha Washington quiet.
It stands out to me, John, in that run, how composed and he,
he mentioned it coasting in the stretch.
She looks so comfortable coming off of that second turn.
That's really what stood out to me about her performance there.
Take charge, milady in this version of the Martha
Washington. It's just how good she looked in
the stretch. Yeah, she got a good trip.
And you know, I, I don't know how many jockey mounts the
people of Quiet Side had to pay because there are about four
guys riding a beater there keeping her blocked in behind
horses unlocked, I mean, everything that they could do.
So I'm willing to give her a little bit of a hall pass there,
although she's just seemed to want to run second and third a
lot. But she had her excuses in that
race. Outside of, of what we've seen
in the in the Martha Washington, do you happen to have an Oaks
favorite? Is there one that stands out to
you? Obviously the the the defection
of Immersa. We won't Mercia, excuse me,
we'll see her this summer. I talked to Brad Cox about a
week and a half ago and essentially it just the timing
stinks. She needs about 3 months away
and it just is what it is. Does anyone else stand out on
that trail for you, John? Well, good Dolphin has, I think
four or five really good Phillies.
I, I, I don't know which one, but I think one of them is, you
know, I, I, I wouldn't want to go against the good Dolphin Blue
right now based on what I've seen.
We've got the lost version. It's, it's Santa Anita on
Sunday. We'll see if Tema steps up
again. She's a Grade 1 and Grade 2
winner already, but you have to remember her worst race was on
the San Anita main track and that's where that race is going
to be held on Saturday or Sunday.
So we'll see what happens there. But I tell you, Brad Cox and the
Godolphin, they're, they've got a juggernaut of good Phillies
this year. No question about it.
I think the only other horse I would mention in here is simply
joking. She won most recently under
Jaime Torres at at Fairgrounds. Started her in a stakes race
over six furlongs. She wins, comes back, wins her
prep there on the comp day. Wit Beckman got Anna Marie to
the Derby and I think really maximized that horse last year.
Could he do it on the Philly side, get a horse to the Oaks
and maximize her year? I don't know.
But we might be watching the guy grow up in front of us with Wit
Beckman. And so I think that would be the
other one that I would mention, John.
He's a good young horseman and you're right that he he's jumped
into the big stage and it hasn't been too big for him.
So he's he's definitely got to watch.
And you know, I don't know how many horses he has where we
don't see him out here in Southern California, but with
whatever he's got, they're running.
The concentration of quality in his barn is pretty remarkable,
frankly, for where he's at in his career.
I totally agree. It's it's it is something to
watch. He's been really an enjoyable
addition to our scene around here.
Do you happen? I mean, it's always a silly
favorite, but you know, but or a question at this point, do you
have a Derby favorite at this point, maybe someone that's, you
know, based in Southern California that you like or
otherwise? From what I've seen it again,
it's really early. I I, I want to see what happens
when sovereignty returns. For Bill Mott, I really liked
what I saw from him last year. I want to see him around two
turns. I think the last race is A1 turn
mile at Churchill down. So we want to see what happens
when he goes longer. But he he's got, you know, he's
got that burst, that acceleration and he showed me a
lot last year and he's he's the horse that I'm I'm watching.
I don't know, you know, when he's scheduled to return, but
I'll definitely be watching him when he comes back.
Yeah, sort of into mischief of course, as you mentioned.
One, that one turn mile race there at Churchill Downs, Yes,
Auberty was interesting. He made me look really smart
'cause he was a maiden going into that one and so it broke
from the outside. No problem there.
One easily coming off the turf frankly for that one.
Yeah, it's an interesting class this year, John.
And I think we get to, you know, end of January, early February
and we start to say, OK, who who as a 2 year old could translate
that form to this year? And who are these new shooters
gonna be that we see to their best running at 3:00 or later,
whatever it might be? And is there a, a guy other than
sovereignty that stands out from last year?
Or are you looking more at the horses that have done a lot of
their work most recently? Maybe a Barnes from last year
even. Is he a kind of horse you
thinking can? Keep it going.
Well, obviously he's he's going to have a lot of vibes on him
just because of the price tag. And again, he's he's up to seven
furlongs. He's he's working now.
He'll run I think next in either the the Rebel down at Oaklawn or
the San Felipe here in, in California.
I'm not sure where Bob Baffert's going to appoint him.
Yeah, we we've got several horses out here.
What you're looking for. I just want to see somebody that
jumps forward from 2:00 to 3:00. You know the the two year old
form is great, but it you need to move forward and and there's
some horses out here. We saw journalism when the Los
Alamitos fraternity, he got a little bit sick after that race.
So he is not in the the race this weekend at Santa Anita, but
he'll he he's back working again.
So he'll probably make the next dance.
And you know, we have another one that that's in the race.
Bob Baffert's got three of the five horses here at Santa Anita.
But you know the two year old champ Citizen Bowl, he's good,
but he still has to move forward.
Yeah, we're going to see on Saturday if he's in that group
for sure. John Lindo with us here on the
Horse Racing Happy Hour, John Lindo 60 on the Twitter if you
want to go find John over there as well.
We saw White a Barrio win over the weekend and the Pegasus
John. And something that you and I
have talked about and I've talked about with lots of guests
is how excited I am personally for that older dirt male class
finally getting a bunch of returning 3 year olds for four
year old campaigns. Plus a horse like White A
Barrio, other horses that were in that Pegasus group.
How good do you think White a Barrio can be this year?
Can he be? Can he win?
Older dirt male? Do you think that's a
possibility? You know, I I think there's more
upside for horses like the the three turning 4, Sierra Leone
fierceness horses like that and we'll see them, you know, down
the line. But on his best day, we know how
good white Abaro is and and he looked like he's back at his
best. I was really happy for trainer
Saffy Joseph. You know, he's the guy that had
to go through a, a, a temporary ban at Churchill Downs.
And because of that, that was in 2023, he lost his horse.
It went to Rick Dutrow, who ended up winning a Breeders' Cup
Classic with him. He got the bet the horse back
after he went off for him and he's got him back now to win in
the Pegasus. So he got rewarded.
And you know, for a guy that was reinstated a couple weeks after
that ban and he lost his best horse, you didn't hear any
barking or complaining. He just went with it and did it
and he got rewarded last weekend.
Yeah, one of my favorite interviews to do all the time.
Best man bun, chest hair combination in horse racing.
That's right. His name is Saffy Joseph Junior
Dodd Lido with us. We'll move on to the
handicapping now. We're going to do the middle 6
races 3 through 8 at Santa Anita is just how the card worked out
this weekend. We'll get into take out rates
and different things to look for as you move forward.
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at AM Wager. We start with Race 3, John, on
Saturdays in Santa Monica. We've been running this forever.
Grade 2 out there, 7 furlong Sprint for Phillies and mares 4
and up. You mentioned Baffert having
having three in the next race. He's got 3 in this one.
He has six of the 9 runners in the two races between Race 3 and
Race 4. I wrote down in my notes that
I'm I'm interested to see Kobe on here because she is the
Mandela in the group, but is there a chance that actually
reaches the faster horse in this one?
Yeah, there is. It's, you know, 4, four horses,
3 by Bob Baffert. He doesn't have the morning line
favorite, Kopian. Kopian is a 7:00 to 5:00 morning
line favorite. Second favorite is #1 Ricci at
9:00 to 5:00. I was really impressed by Ricci
coming back on the Las Flores. This is a Chilean bread.
You don't see Bob Baffert getting too many South American
imports, but she was always going best over her stablemate
Pleasant, who ran very well in the Breeders Cup Philly and
Merit Sprint and she she won handily.
She's gone a distance to ground, so the seven furlong distance is
not going to make any difference as she draws the rail in a four
horse field. And we know these races get
tactical when you have a small field.
Hope Road is at her stable maze, Dexter Copion's three and on the
outside is Splendora, who was second in the La Brea, the Grade
1-2 Copion opening day at at at the Santa Anita.
It's a good field. I I but I do think Richard has
the most upside. Copion is the one to beat that.
She wanted 37 to one in the La Brea, but I don't think it was a
fluke. If you look at her record, her
only two bad races were around two turns.
Around one turn she's unbeaten and so she got back to sprinting
last time and that was a 7 furlong race, Saturday's A7
furlong race. And she's outside where she can
be tactical. So reaching over Copion here.
Splendora ran well against Copion, has a chance to improve.
Hope Road was disappointing last time and I just don't know where
she's at as far as her form cycle.
She looks like she's a little bit dull and kind of tailed off
a little bit. Kazushi Kimura was aboard for
the last race on two of these riders.
Obviously unavailable right now, so we will see a jockey change
on several. Do you like the move?
Is Kopian is is is Fraser a good rider for Kopian?
Anything. Yeah, I I think so.
She's pretty easy to ride because she'll put herself in
the race and you don't have to really get after and and she
tries and she's come back to work well out of that, that La
Brea win and you know, in a four horse field, just don't get
blocked and then take your best shot and see if you got the best
feeling. Hope Road with a bullet last
out. Do you lean on workouts at Santa
Anita as part of your handicapping?
Sure, absolutely. But you know, Bob Baffert horses
are going to work fast. We know that they they work fast
because they run fast. And a lot of those works are
elimination heats in the morning against this other horses.
So he's not putting them in the in the entries until they're
ready to go. By the way, no matter where
you're listening from, if you ever want to comment on the
show, you are definitely welcome to do that.
Diane pointing out that John's a great handicapper, a couple
grand on one of his victories a couple years ago.
So there you. Go and I'm not related to her.
That's good anyway. That would be great.
Your wife just texted. John's the best handicapper I
know. You're on the horse racing happy
hour. It would be great.
I would love that stuff. All right, we move on to the the
race of the day. It is the Robert B Lewis.
This is the Derby prep here, John.
Which means, of course, that I had to come up with a silly name
for our contenders or non contenders in this race.
We're getting close to Valentine's Day.
Do you have a Valentine's Day ritual at your house, young John
Lindo? I've been told happy wife, happy
life. So that is the credo by which I
live. And we'll go to dinner and have
a nice dinner. It's a Friday night, which is
nice. So yeah, just just enjoy that.
But you know, I've got a show to do, a live show to do on
Saturday morning. So there won't be, you know, we
got to maintain ourselves. They're going to to Saturday
morning. We can't go too hard in the
paint, but a Valentine's Day edition of this with the Robert
B Lewis, if a horse can win, we're going to say B mine.
And if a horse can't win, we're going to say be gone.
All right, So we're going to play B mine or be gone here,
John. We will go through the field one
at a time. We're going a mile here at San
Anita. If you don't know, it's a mile
dirt track at San Anita. So start line, finish line,
exactly the same for this one. It is a grade three, $200,000
though in the kid for this one. They upped the amount in this
race to try to draw a few more runners.
End up with a field of five. Bob Baffert has 1-2 and three
here. Clock tower for Wesley Ward, the
four and for the for Jesus Mendoza, Valentine's candy on
the outsides. We start with Madiket Rd.
He'll get the rail here. Hernandez is riding Rodriguez
and not Madiket. Rd. here but no step down.
We get regulatory here at this spot.
John be minor be gone for our friend, Madiket wrote.
Be mine. He's got a little chance in here
just because of his style. He's a horse that came from just
off the pace in his in his Sprint when made when last time
tries two turns for the first time, there's going to be some
pacing in front of him from the rail.
I would expect Frankie to Tori just to tuck in behind the speed
and sit there and see if somebody does something dumb and
if if if they do he would be the one that would take advantage of
it. I'll agree with John, this is a
definite be mine for my for me as well.
I I just I watching him last time out and seeing him close in
his second race effort. It was very ever excuse me.
It was very nice to see because they started this horse of the
freaking Bob Hope like you mentioned, and so it is its own
challenge when you start that way comes back very nicely in
the next race. Seemed very composed.
Other Juan Hernandez, should be interesting to watch Frankie
Vittori pilot him there. The second in this race will be
Citizen Bowl, the winner of the Breeders Cup Juvenile.
We've seen a mixed bag with the Breeders Cup Juvenile winners
coming back as 3 year olds. John, but his first race back
this year. For this race in particular.
Be mine or be gone. Well be mine.
He has to be the horse to beat in here just because he's going
to be the speed of the race. He had everything break his way
in the Breeders Cup Juvenile. When East Avenue didn't break,
he made the lead. His stablemate Gaming was
chasing him where they're not going to go ahead and head and
run each other's chances. So gaming sat off him and and
you know, sit a symbol went wire to wire.
If he makes a lead again, he's very tough to pass.
There is some other speed in here.
We're going to see who's going to be brave enough to hook him.
And you know, he this isn't the ultimate goal.
Obviously it's the starting point.
So I'm going to assume he's not 150% cranked.
But you know, if he runs back to the Breeders Cup Juvenile, he's
going to be awful tough to beat. Yeah, right.
If he runs his best race, he's a definite B mine in this field.
I'll go ahead and go B mine. Any concern, John, that we saw
what we saw from gaming this last weekend?
No, then you know, gaming is one of those horses that if he
doesn't get his trip, he'll he'll just spit the bit and he
got wiped out going into the first turn and basically
everything went wrong from the start and and you just start
over with him. He reminds me a little bit, you
know, he's not not the quality yet of a horse like Forte.
When he was getting going in his three-year old year when things
broke right, he was spectacular. When he didn't get his way, he,
you know, he disappointed a lot of people.
So don't put a line through gaming yet.
He's still learning. But you know, he he has to show,
he has to overcome adversity. Gaming feels a little like 1000
words, a little touchy. You know, a little like if he
doesn't get his way, he feels like it kind of that level of
horse. Rodriguez is the three here.
He is the third Baffert here, a massive one O 1 over this course
at this distance at the beginning of this month
underwater Hernandez. Who keeps them out here?
Is this AB mine or AB gone John? This AB mine, this is a horse
that can win this race. He was spectacular breaking that
maiden, stretching around two turns for the first time.
He ran a mile in Santa Anita, 135 and change and that's hard
to do, especially for an early season 3 year old that that's
really running. The buyer number came back
strong, 101. He's got speed.
I don't think he'll go ahead and hit with the Citizen Bull, but
you know, if something happens at the start, he can take the
racetrack if they if they want to let him do it.
Either way, I think he can sit outside.
He's one of those horses that looks like he's he's going to be
a good three-year old. I have no doubt he'll run
further when when they stretch out and he's good.
We'll we'll find out if he's seasoned enough to beat a horse
like Citizen Bull off a maiden win.
But the ability's there. I agree with you, he's a
definite be. Mind that I mean, you know, we
talk all the time, John, about who's who's who's going to
progress, who's going to take steps forward in their
three-year old season as we move into the classic races and those
sorts of things over the summer up at Saratoga, etcetera.
I I hate the idea that we would assume that a horse that ran a
one-on-one couldn't improve on it.
Of course he could right? So if he actually, what if he
takes a step forward here? What if he's actually better the
next time out, the third up in this form cycle, what have you?
I think he could be great. His works recently have been
unbelievable at Santa Anita. So I think he's in great form
right now. What's funny is I could see this
being one of the horses that wins the Santa Anita Derby, but
he's not one of the major players in the Kentucky Derby
itself. Maybe he gets his best races in
in April rather than in May, but I think absolutely a a must use
here. Son of Authentic, by the way,
who was running in the first thing I was ever credentialed
for Kentucky Derby in 2018. A clock tower is in the four
hole here. Gerardo Corrales making the
trip. I love it for Wesley Ward here.
Last seen in the mile at Del Mar.
Last out on the turf, making the switch to dirt, which Wesley
Ward does as well as anyone in the entire United States. 26
percent is this AB minor be gone here, John.
I'm going to say it'd be gone just the way the race comes up
now. This is a very good horse.
So he won the Cecil B DeMille on the grass wire to wire and he
really ran the last quarter mile at Delmar.
And he does have turf experience.
I mean dirt experience. He ran second in his only dirt
start. He's got speed and he's going to
be the key to the race, at least as far as Citizen Bulls
concerned, because I think this is the horse that's going to
make Citizen Bull Run early and they'll make have to make a
decision. I would assume Martin Garcia on
Citizen Bulls going to hold the rail and just go and make sure
nobody gets in front of him. But Clock Tower is fast.
I just don't know if he's the same horse on dirt quality wise
as he is on turf. And he'll make these other
horses run. Bob Baffert, you know, if they
go after him, Bob Baffert will hit him with, you know #2 or #3
He's got three shots of these horses.
I just think Clock Tower is the best shot of the non Baffert
horses to win it. But I think he's up against it
here. And I think he's up against it
as well. And what's interesting is what
he does well, someone else does better than him.
And I think Citizen Bowl is going to be faster on the front
than he is, right? And that I think that's an
issue. I also think Rodriguez is faster
than he is right? And so I think I think there's a
bunch of competition there with his running style and with the
fact that we're going to have three up front.
Does it set up for Manicure Rd. Well, that's the, he's the one
that if the, you know, depending on what the others do in the
small field, he's the one that's going to sit right behind them
and just hoping two or three of them hook up early.
If if you know, if they end up lining up going somebody shakes
loose, then he's in trouble. But the Matic, it wrote, is one
of the benefits that they if they get hooked up up front.
The California bred Valentine's candy is in the five hole here
for Jesus. Mendoza did win in a maiden 50
at Los Algo in 6 1/2 two back. They tried him in a black type
last out at Los Al as well going a mile and he was up the track a
bit. But I I don't think it was a bad
showing for him. But John, I'm just going to go
ahead and put be gone on the screen right now because I just
don't think he's of that level. Any speculation about the
motivation to make sure we had five for a Derby prep?
No, I think that's exactly what it was.
He made 5 for the race, you know, and I, I don't.
Know if place in a $200,000 race ain't the end of the world?
You're still going to get 4 grand for the race.
Right, exactly. And, you know, have to talk to
Jesus Mendoza, throw his hat in the ring there to make the race
at least go. So yeah, we, you know, it's
tough finding guys going for a white haired guy here in
California. Has Jesus had a has?
Has he had a steak starter? Actually I can't find one.
He's been around a long, long time.
He has he's, he's kind of Los Alamitos has a couple of horses.
He's had some decent horses, yeah.
OK, all right. Well, there you go.
All right. Well, that was the robber B
Lewis. We continue our our venture
through the middle part of the Santa Anita Saturday card.
His name's John Lindo. I'm Louie Rambo.
This is the horse racing happy hour.
Thanks for hanging out with us here.
No matter how you're hanging out.
We move to a downhill turf race in race 5-6 and half furlongs.
Of course out there. Optional claimer $50,000 price
for the claim $61,000. Purses is for Phillies and mares
4 and up. All the Philly and mare races,
by the way, coming up here done of them in a row out there at
Santa Anita. John, you know what stood out to
me? You're going through the past
performances, looking at some of the replays on this race was no
one has won on this course in this field.
And and that's very unusable. Yeah, that's very.
Very bettable because this is that's this early pick five and
and you know, take out rates are what they are at different
tracks. The early Pick 5 at Santa Anita
has a very playable take out percentage and frankly, with the
two stakes early on you might be looking at this is a terrific
close to the Pick 5. Right, you better find a price
here because of the those two stakes races and could be very
chalky and I love the downhill turf sprints.
So there's nothing like it. And and this is a wide open
race. Take a long look at #3 duly
noted in here. This is a Cal bred facing older
open company. She's undefeated.
She's 4 for four. She she beat a really good
Philly last time up at Pleasanton on the dirt.
She's by Grayson who gets an awful lot of turf stakes horses.
She's related to two stakes winners.
She's got the right style for the hill and that she'll just
stalk and she finishes every time.
She's a very honest Philly. Tim Mckenna's hit the ground
running with this horse from Northern California down to
Santa Anita. She's 12 to one on the program
and she shouldn't be. She, she's a very honest Philly.
She's, she's a fit in here. I think #4 word, word play.
We see a lot of horses going a mile, cutting back down the hill
and that's a really good angle. They're fit coming out of those
mile races. You can just drop the reins and
let them run and run down to the wire.
I think word play is going to like cutting back and distance
here. The inside horse number one
source comes in for grand motion gets Juan Hernandez here,
another one shortening up out of a route race.
I don't know how good she is, but why is she here?
You know, I don't think he sent her here for a free lunch.
So I got to think that she she fits in here too and she's 9:00
to 2:00 on the program. It's a wide open race but the
value to me is is the first time Turf Horse the number 3 duly
noted in here. I'm interested in Nada Center
who has finished second going this course twice in three runs
with a third place finish as well many of those in maiden
races. But she did rake her maiden
going 6 furlongs in Santa Anita before they tried her in a mile
last out over two turns. Did not like it at Del Mar, did
get part of the lead. I'm hoping under Confrey maybe
she'll just get a good jump. And frankly, being in the 11 on
that downhill turf course ain't the end of the world, so she'll
be OK breaking from the outside. Well, keep an eye on one filly
in there, Louisa mysticism #10 on the program.
She's kind of a run off. She wants to go as fast as it
can, as far as it can. They put blinkers on her.
I, I think she's going to set a blistering pace in here.
I, I, I don't know if Mike Smith can, can actually rate this
Philly. I think they're just going to
try and open up five or six and see if she gets to the wire.
So I think no matter what, if you want something near the
pace, they got to get by this Philly early.
It's, it's a, it's an interesting race.
It really is, man. I, I'm, I'm pretty fascinated by
it. I the thing with mysticism too,
they're dropping Lasix I it is so rare to see a horse drop
Lasix for an for an allowance race like this, but it's yeah, a
little bit of everything. In race 5 at Santa Anita on
Saturday, we moved to Race 6, which is the grade 3 megahertz
mile of the turf. Again, fillies and mares 4 and
up here, 100,000 in the Kitty here, John.
No, no fun game here. There's no be gone or be mine or
anything like that. But this is a fun race as well.
A nice field of seven in here. Liguria on the inside in my
notes, though I was interested in Rashmi the four.
Frankie Natori gets them out here.
Try this horse in the American Oaks last time and I she just
never found her footing at Santa Anita.
It was her only time there. Any concerns?
She doesn't like the course? Or do you think it was just too
long? No, I'm going to blame that one
on the rider. She's very tactical.
Gerald Rosario got her and she drew a terrible post.
She was like 12 or 13. And they start the mile and a
quarter race at Santa Anita half on a turn.
So he either has to go or take back.
He took her back to dead last, and that's not her style.
I thought she did pretty well to run on for fourth.
She actually finished pretty well.
So I thought she handled the course fine.
I just think conditions were up against her.
She drops in class, cuts back to a mile, which is in her
wheelhouse. She'll show more tactical speed.
She's definitely the one to beat in here.
Frankie Dettori, Jonathan Thomas is, is having a good run out
here in Southern California. And so I, I think she's going to
run a big one there and they're going to have to beat Liguria,
the rail horse from Michael McCarthy comes out of those good
races back east. And yeah, you look who she ran
against and, and who she's running against on Saturday.
This is a class drop for her. I, I think she's trained well
since she's gotten here. She'll, she'll be the one coming
from off the pace but turning for home.
Rashvi's going to be in front and Liguria's going to be the
one you have to watch out for. Sariha is the actual morning
line favorite here. The three Antonio Ferrissa who
gets them out here. Flavian Pratt was aboard last
time in an optional claimer. Little surprised to see her in a
Grade 2 as the favorite. Well, this is a grade 3 and the
problem is, you know, she just won the non winners twice.
Where do you go in California? They don't have non winners
three, You try the stakes races or you run for A tag.
And so it makes sense they try her here.
She's as good as she's ever been.
I don't know if it's good enough to beat these kind of Phillies.
Mahina the the six is 4 for 9 lifetime at the distance,
frankly was right there last out at a mile and at 8:00 to give
her much of a shot here. She loves the Santa Anita
course, she loves this turf course.
She loves one mile for that. And you have Hector Barrios who
rides this turf course as well as anybody.
She'll be running on late. I think she's got a chance to
hit the board. I don't know if she's going to
good good enough to win a Grade 3, although she was on in the
photo last time, but this is the definite Philly that's a horse
for the course and just for that reason I can't throw her off.
All right, that was the Grade 3 megahertz, which of course is
range 6. On Saturday, we moved to race 7.
It's an optional claimer again, six furlongs on the dirt and
guess what? Non 2 lifers and for four year
olds enough. How about that?
We're going 6 furlongs here. John, any track biases that
you've noticed now that we're a solid month into the season
there? The rail has not been any good
sprinting. I don't know if they've had a
winter yet coming off the rail sprinting at Santa Anita.
You know, it was obviously different on on Sunday when we
have the rain throw that the whole day.
As far as trying to handicap out.
Just if they go back to the normal Santa Anita dirt track,
you're going to have to be miles the best to win from the fence.
OK, so in this race, Kingdom Heart draws the inside.
They don't think much of him at 15 to one, but Slider's in the
two hole here. I'm interested in that horse.
I landed though on the five Pilot Commander.
I'm just kidding. Can Slider beat Pilot Commander
in the spot? I I think Slider's gonna get
first run. I tried Slider last time and I
couldn't make an excuse why he got beat.
They they went faster than the half mile was 43 and changed so
they were rocking and rolling. But he didn't show me a lot of
fight down the lane when he got headed and and pilot commander
comes out of a really good race and he ran in the Malibu opening
day and you see horses like Raging Torrent in there and he
only got beat 3 lengths and he's drawn outside.
He gets Lasix back and can't race on Lasix in the stakes
races. He gets it back.
They take the blinkers off. I I think Bob Baffert can get
this horse to relax a little bit.
I think he's just going to stalk Slider and and try and run by
him late. I think that's going to be a
winning move. You know, there's no great
shakes here. He's 3:00 to 5:00 on the program
for a reason. I think he's a single on the
rolling bets. Is this the guy that if you're
going to make money, and I mean money, money, you got to beat
this horse essentially in your wagers in multi razors?
Yeah, You know, if you want to hit the late pick 5 at a number,
if you beat this guy, it goes up exponentially.
This is the logical single in that in that sequence.
The late pick three does start with race 8.
It is the Grade 3 Thunder Rd. Get in with us on the Thunder
Rd. a mile here for four and up. This is the guy's version of
this race. Air Force Red is in here in the
two hole for Leonard Powell. I like a longer shot in here in
Zio Joe who is 4 for 11 at the distance, 3 for eight.
Lifetime John at Santa Anita ran in that Sea Biscuit Handicap
last time at Del Mar after winning in $100,000.
Optional climber at the distance at Del Mar.
Do you like my long shot play? You know, he's got the right
style for the race because there's a lot of speed in here.
And before we go through the horses, just one thing about the
late pick 3 is Santa Anita, they changed wages, a $3 minimum and
it's a 15% take out. So they're they're trying to
back load some of these lower take out wages at Santa Anita.
This is one of them. If you like the sequence at all,
I'd play the late pick three just because of the discounted
take out. So as as far as the race goes,
there's a lot of speed in your Air Force One was supposed to
run in the Turf Sprint Stakes on Sunday.
That was rained off the grass, so he scratched.
This was Plan B. He's got speed.
You've got El Potante, who's a very quick horse for the the
Blacker stable and he'll be up near the lead.
Astronomer likes to be near the front, so Cabo Spirits on the
rail, he probably has to go. I don't think anybody gets an
easy lead in this race. And I think it sets up for
somebody from off the pace. And I, I ended up on #9 SEAL
team. You look at his running lines.
And yeah, he ended up getting out finished last time, but that
was by Johannes and the Ramon horse.
Yeah. Who?
Ran very well in the Pegasus so. Those are legit horses he was
running against there. I think one mile is good for
him. The pace is right for him.
I would expect him to come back with a big one in this spot.
Zeo Joe's the kind of horse that maybe I would use for a second,
second or third in the exacto or tries.
I don't know if he's the quality of Seal Team, but and El
Patante, one thing about he's probably the most ratable to
speed horses. If they go fast, I think maybe
Hector Barrows can get the off of them a little bit.
He ran a very good race in a fast race through his lane,
second or third a couple backs. So he's probably the most
ratable. I made the race to Seal Team
over El Patante. Not a ton of time to get to the
the first turn there out of that mile run there at Santa Anita.
Is the 9 OK for Seal team because of his running style?
Well, the rails are down at 0, which help.
It's a wider course and with his style you just break, you know
you got packs of all right. Next time he's probably going to
go to let the speed go. Drop him over, put him to sleep
for the first half mile and wake him up at the 3/8 pole and see
what you got. It's easy, easy game folks.
The it's always an easy game. You know, the, I said the late
pick three starts with, with the, with the Thunder Rd. and
that's where it does start. It does not start with the
unfortunately with the with pilot commander.
I guess actually for payouts it's probably better than it
doesn't. How many of the horses in this
race would you be using in that late pick three?
Would you include an Air Force Red or would you only be going
with the seven and the 9? No, I'm just going to use the 9
Seal Team and the seven El Potanti.
And I think El Potanti will probably be in front of the 8th
pole and the Seal Team's running at him.
And that's the way I hope it looks at at the 8th pole.
All right, well, there you go. Well, he's John Lindo.
Tell people about Thoroughbred LA if they don't know about.
It run 9:00 to 10:00 AM Pacific Time on Saturdays, 8:00 to 10:00
AM Pacific on Sundays. I host the Saturday shows with
Bob Ike and Sunday we have Mike Willman, the former publicity
man from Santa Anita. He hosts the show on Sundays,
interviews. We tried, you know, and we got
handicappers from around the country making selections.
And we're like, you guys, we just want to cash a ticket.
So we're going to try and do that and update everybody on the
news. You know, always a lot of things
going on. We'll talk about what's
happening in Northern California with the fairs and everything
else on Saturday. And, and, you know, all those
three are prep races. We'll be watching the Withers
and we'll watch the Holy Bowl and the Swale down there at the
Gulfstream as well. Do you have a a strong feeling
about either of those races? Oh you know what I haven't asked
you about? Does 10 MO win on on Sunday?
She should she's a Grade 1 winner against the rest of the
field is either non winners other than maiden or climbing or
a maiden. So from the only thing that that
I'm worries me is that she hated the Santa Anita dirt last fall.
She ran like it. She's back on the Santa Anita
dirt. Maybe she's the better horse
now, I don't know. But at 2:00 to 5:00 I can't just
single her. Keep an eye on our moonlight.
The my my trainer Dean Peterson trains her a daughter at Tappet
and he's he's liked it from day one.
She broke her maiden going 6 furlongs.
She's a Ralph village. There's there's no doubt in my
mind she wants to run two turns. She's getting better and and
Dean's red hot. I think he's 6 for 10 at the
meet. All right, well, he's John Lindo
again. John Lindo, 60 on the socials
and KLAA and Thoroughbred LA on the weekends as well.
John, we love you. Thank you so much for joining
us. Say hi to your wife for us and
we'll talk to you next time. All right, buddy.
All right, Louie, catch some tickets this weekend all.
Right everybody see you John There you go John Lindo there
and Carlsbad we appreciate him joining the horse racing happy
hour this week. Again this week presented fire
friends at the Louisville Executive Airport and Louisville
Executive Aviation hassle free trip to the Derby this year.
Enjoy that complimentary shuttle service to and from your hotel
or the track and only 10 minutes from Churchill Downs.
They offer lowest prices in the area.
Short taxi times at a tower that makes it easy to get in and out
of airspace. So go check them out Louisville
executive.com. That's Louisville executive.com
and see how how easy it can be for your ultimate aviation
partner here in Louisville. They're going to do a cookout
all day on Oaks and Derby people.
It's going to be fantastic. We bring in producer Zach for no
reason at all other than he looks great.
Your hair looks great. I hate you.
How are things going you doing all right doing well.
You know, we finally got back to Texas weather.
So it's 67° and raining. Sounds reasonable.
It's actually raining here, which is funny because I, I
think it's the only thing that might get rid of the very
unusual number of giant snow piles we have in Louisville.
I, I, you and I grew up with the easier Chicago, like we grew up
around that. Like that, that black pile of
snow in the corner of a parking lot, just covered in exhaust and
disgusting things. Louisville's full of that right
now. It's raining.
I'm so happy. I'm so happy it's raining.
Just get it here. Wash all this crap away.
Exactly. You go to the Jewel Osco and
you've got the the 700 foot pile of snow.
I I kind of want to go to this cookout at the airport instead
of the oaks. Like I don't wine apple.
Why not? No, no, that's right.
Exactly. Man.
Oh, man. That's good stuff.
Yeah. Cookout got such a great idea
too. It's such a great idea, but no
Bowman Field, man, it's cool as heck.
I every town's got the little airport, you know, and
Louisville happens to have an excellent one.
It was it was used, man. It was in a movie.
Hang on. Let me look this up real quick.
Not getting a lot of run here. The old little executive folks,
Bowman Field. There it is, Kentucky.
It was noticed in which movie was it in?
It was in Goldfinger, dude. It was the, the, the, it was the
airport at Goldfinger. How about that?
That's a cool. That's a cool thing, man.
So there you go. Louisville executive.com.
Go check them out if you are flying in for Derby.
I got a buddy who comes down. And he brings three other
couples from Detroit and it's cheaper for them to to get a
plane and fly in and out that day than to bother with 4H rooms
or whatever. Cause of course, this town
gouges like nobody like you. You think you gouge in your
town, you got nothing on Louisville.
That's nothing at all. So yeah, Louisville
executive.com, go check them out.
I will be back next week. I have not looked at the
schedule, but I assume it'll be an interesting show as well.
Zach, how about that? Yeah, usually just strike
people. It's all right.
Hi, Zach. I'm Louis.
We're going to play music. We're going to get out of here.
Thanks to John Lindo, Thoroughbred LA.
Seriously, if you're on the East Coast, just stream that show.
It comes on at noon on Saturdays.
Noon. You don't even have to be awake.
Like, just just just throw on KLA.
John does a great job out there as well.
Thank him for jumping on. And thank you to our friend.
What was her name? Diane.
Diane for commenting on the show.
Appreciate Diane hanging out with the Horse Racing Happy Hour
today. Hey, Zach.
I'm Louie. We're going to get out of here.
Find us at HORSE Happy Hour. Find me at Radio Louie.
We'll be back next week. We'll talk to you then.
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