Santa Anita Saturday | Big Cap Day

Oh, man, you don't. We're in a press box because I'm

in a chair taller than yours. Yeah, the only time I'll be

taller than you. Young bears.

Bears. It's close.

I'm stretching like. Box out if you will.

Oh man, they have a very we're here in the press box and say

they need to park ahead of big cap day.

Of course, SoCal Saturdays on the horse racing happy hour for

miss present of our friends at am wager and I appreciate them

hanging out with us every single Friday.

We're on the program big car tomorrow.

Of course, that's why we made the trip.

Absolutely welcome, Santa Anita. I love it, thank you for having

me. That's no problem.

Beautiful morning today got to watch works and all the good

stuff happening here at San Anita Park.

Appreciate all of you hanging out with us as you do every

single week here. Wanted to have some of the great

this is a a place with many great plaques.

Unbelievable. So Maurice Bernard is over here

Fred Permer of course, who was the original Felicity director

at San Anita Park. All of the things and so a lot

of great stuff here very historic spot San Diego Park

because we're a little quiet today.

So I'll turn up the volume here out of the microphones trying to

let people work and do all the good stuff as well.

But big big card tomorrow and Barry, you and I, of course, we

should get to it right away. Scratches out of the big cap

disappointing for sure, but it's not as though here's here's the

especially disappointing part is and we thought we were set up

with great one winner. We had all this kind of stuff

coming out here and probably just fell apart that way.

Feels like. Unfortunately that's just

happens at great once. Once yeah, you know, we've seen

it with other big races like the Pegasus where the the race falls

apart for whatever reason, but it doesn't really dampen the day

in my opinion. I, I think the whole card is

pretty stellar and there's a lot of options, a lot of betting on

on some horses that will probably be good prices and and

hopefully we can connect and, and make some money.

I I think there's an opportunity there and and it doesn't dampen

the day. I I think it's just

circumstance. You know, and you and I were

going through and we'll get to a bunch of these races.

Race one's one of these examples.

People want to race. They they want their horses to

run a big captain, right? This is that kind of stuff.

So the other races, the start allowances, whatever it might

be, do fill in in a significant way.

So there will certainly be other opportunities and frankly, even

within the stakes themselves, Barry, you can get pretty

aggressive with some of these horses that might be, you know,

8 to 110 to 1, something like that in the morning line that

could help fill in, you know, later sequence, maybe that late

pick three kind of thing here or maybe even the pick 5, something

like that. Yeah, no, that's you just have

to pick your spots, find the opportunities and and let it

fly. I mean, that's, that's why we

hear, that's what we do and This is why we love this game.

Not too terribly different than what we usually do.

If you're due to the show just hanging out for Big Cap Day.

We go through the entire card every single Friday.

At this time, you can hang out with Barry and me.

It is in anticipation of Saturday's card, but certainly

want to do that here as well ahead of Big Cat Day.

Again presented by AM Wager. We are the horse racing happy

hour. Thanks for hanging out with us

here. Live at Santa New Park will be

at Clockers Corner tomorrow same time by the way, with another

preview of the day itself. Race one on the car tomorrow

though is what we always want. Barry.

A turf race here at Santa Anita Park made special weight $70,000

on the line. Calbreds in this one Barry and

you've got to be 3 years old to be in it.

What makes you race 1? You know I had the idea that

this race was going to be quick from the outside especially.

I think there's a lot of speed in here with the five scorching

hot, the six take a swing. You know the first time

starters. I think they just don't know how

to race yet and I think there's going to be a lot of speed,

which sets it up for the horse that I like the four Tsunami.

I think this horse ran pretty good back in the first race at

Delmar and then if you see the the races subsequent races this

horse was deep about 345 wide each time gets a better post

this time should should get a good trip and I I think they can

get it done at a decent price. 6:00 to 1:00 in the morning

line. I doubt we'll get that, probably

about four to 192 ish. OK but I'll take that for the

first race of the day. Yeah, 9:00 to 2:00 to kick off

the day is never a terrible thing there.

I've got a horse that you have in your handicapping in the in

the top of of my handicapping as well.

You have the three in the second spot here.

I have booked clubhouses, the number one rider runner here for

me. We've watched just even a couple

of weeks ago, Kyle Frey off to sort of, I'll use the word

miserable. It was a, I think it's one for

49, something like that. Well below his own personal

standard, frankly, of what he usually does here at San Diego

Park has gotten back up to 10%. So very quickly corrected that

number and I think this is one of those horses that can do

exactly that. 6 1/2 last time had Lasik's for the first time,

very much made a difference I think for that horse.

And so I think makes a lot of sense here.

Yeah, it seems like they figured out that this horse didn't want

to go over a mile and they put this horse in a winnable spot.

I I think this is a good spot. Again, the speed makes all the

difference. The source likes to close should

be there fits at this level for sure.

It's just a matter of when this horse will break the maiden not.

If yeah, there you go. Yeah.

So 43 and 9 for you. The 9 horse in Herebury Tsunami,

by the way, we've talked about it.

Spectacular name Kings riding here.

First time for Craig Lewis. Yeah, you know, you got to give

them a shot getting by the. Way I was just saying more than

I make agrees with you with a four to one number here.

Yeah, you know, this horse might be OK You know, it's just one of

those things you just don't know until they run workouts look

real good. You know, it's AI.

Think a full to Brickyard rise and that's got to mean a little

something in a race like this, so I'll throw them in there for

third. Yeah, if they win, I wouldn't be

surprised either. There you go.

I I went a very different direction with my second and

third options in Tier 310 and 8 outside Pirelli Jones will break

their second in the form cycle here essentially second time

with Lasix etcetera. I thought showed well on dirt

last time. I think the switch to a turf,

which is a reasonably good angle from our glad should be one that

works as well. And then I went to the 8 horse

here, second timer for Peter Miller.

And this is more me trusting Peter Miller with a second time

starter than anything else. And I also get Floura Giroux

aboard I so I get a 25% trainer on second time starters and I

get Floura Giroux. Who's going to ride this horse

as well as anyone out here. 20 to one man.

I don't know. That seems like a.

That seems like a bargain and a half to me.

Yeah, I, I, I took a second look at this one.

So if I, if I had a fourth pick, I would have used this one.

I mean, it's it's awfully curious that that Giroud lands

here for Peter Miller, who isn't having the greatest of meats,

but he's always liable to pick it up at any time and and he'll

win in bunches. So this could actually start him

off. You know the negative is this

horse was in a maiden claimer for 50,000 stepping up a little.

Bit it did nothing. Right.

But his number second time out, Peter Miller's numbers kind of

negate that. So I I would think this horse

might run well. That was race one, of course,

kicked off the early pick 5. Early pick four starts in race 2

tomorrow or Socal Saturdays, the horse racing happy hour.

Barry Spears Louverbo hanging out with you.

We're live here at Santa Anita. The press box will be at

Clockers Corner at 11:00 AM Pacific Time tomorrow.

If you happen to be out here, we'd love to see ya.

Come on and say hi. Barry's pretty easy to spot.

Can't find me yet either you can't see or.

You're not trying, you're not trying.

Trying might be yet, but race 2 on the car tomorrow.

I think it's a salty, fun one. Optional claimer here. 6

furlongs on the dirt, $50,000 claim price, $70,000 Person

here, Barry. Race 2 means that I go first for

this one. I went with the even number of

horses here and six, four and two landed on a red flag in

here. Making his 26th lifetime start

with love horses like this but has put together just a

back-to-back spectacular races at this level.

A win in the first one. Got back into this company last

time. Finished a good second under

Tiago. Prayer keeps them out here.

I just think this one makes the most sense of all the horses in

the field. Blast Straw, nice number here.

Winner Braces made in last time in maiden.

Special way Company comes back in a very similar set up here.

And so I do think the distance here at the six furlongs makes a

lot of sense coming out of that maiden win.

You know me too. I love it when horses put it

together in a race. This was the first time where we

saw him really put it together from gate to finish.

We saw him do the work early that he's always done, but this

time was willing into past forces.

Maybe miracle tomorrow figure figure something out with this

horse. Last time out, four year old son

of into Mischief there and I went to the two horse and Polly

Kitten is coming out of that Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf

Sprint from November of 2024. Here we are now over a year

later. Doug O'Neill not a great angle

for him in general. You know what this is?

You know what this is? What angle is this?

Very. This is the Haramiyo special.

You're damn right it is. And so this one to me feels like

if it's going to happen, it is the Haramiyo special here.

So I'll go 64 and two and race 2 Bridge land.

Yeah, I. Landed on the six as well.

I think there's a lot of speed in here and red flag looks to be

the beneficiary of all of it. I mean, if you look through the

past performances, pretty much most of these horses don't like

the pass Red flag looks like the it's the setup of a lifetime.

If this source doesn't get it done tomorrow, I I just don't

think they'll ever get it done. But you know, 8 for 25.

This horse likes to win. I don't see any problem with

that. I I the only problem I see is

the price. If we get 5 two, that's great,

but I, I tend to think this source can be under 2 to one,

but could be solid in a pick four, pick five situation.

You pick three. Yeah, no.

Very very fun horse, $3000 breeding job.

That one is 26 stars. You'll love that stuff with Red

Flag. You went a little bit of a

different direction in the underneath spots for All Mankind

here, Juan Hernandez could smell.

Yeah, I thought this horse might have a chance.

Ran some pretty good races last year at Santa Anita in steak

races. Great steak races actually get

started this year. You know, this field isn't the

toughest. And I think they might be able

to settle and come from off the pace, OK, which would be very

beneficial. And you know, one Hernandez

probably going to get this horse out of the gate and get in a

good position to strike. You know, the the the class

itself puts this horse in the mix for me.

OK, six to one even better seven-year old.

So you might get that kind of price.

And what did you see in the last straw of horse that I had second

in? My OK, you know, the, the change

in running style and the, the horse, you know, was willing to

pass last time and earned a pretty good buyer speed figure,

which is kind of surprising. If, if they can go run back to

that, I think they might be even tougher than what they look like

on paper. 8 to 1 probably get most of that.

You know, it's interesting too, another guy that frankly his

time here in Southern California did not start well, especially

with the numbers. Miracle tomorrow.

Yeah, no, they turned around. I mean, it's been, it's frankly,

it was almost like he got to Del Mar it kind of.

When we showed up he won four races.

He really did. He really did.

He won four races, he really did.

There's only so much you can do. People.

I, it just, it's frankly, I was, I was critical of him.

Early on, yeah. No, I.

Really was but I think the numbers backed up by criticism

and and so if I'm going to be critical early on he's riding a

lot or the results are better now I should point out that the.

Results. Yeah, I should be.

No, He can ride. You know, Mandela has a lot of

trust in him, as a couple other trainers do, and he's shown it.

I mean, he he's really a good judge of pace.

If you give him the horse. That's true.

He can get it done. Yeah.

All right, moving on to Race 3 here on SoCal Saturdays.

Presented by Amwager here. I haven't said Anita Park, Barry

Spears, Lira bow hanging out with you.

Optional claimer awaits wagerers in race 36 furlongs on the turf

here tomorrow, and this is for Phillies who are three years

old. Non twos essentially here.

Very. Where'd you land a Race 2?

I landed on the five this horse race. 3 Excuse me, I said yeah,

yeah, that's bad job I mean there we.

Go bourbon and ginger. You know, I, I, this, this race

was really tough for me because I, I think it can go a lot of

ways and I think everybody's going to be around the same kind

of price, which makes this race even tougher than what it looks

like. But I, I thought the five had

some class to go to was in the Jimmy Durante was in the Delmar

debutante back in in September. But it it's hard to see because

this horse just didn't really look good on paper, but it was

facing so much better competition that I think the

drop in class and against this field puts this horse in the

prime spot. So Barry again 5 four and one in

this spot. The four horse in here Barry is

cosmic heat. Peter seen him a lot more east

of the Rockies, but certainly strong string out here in.

California, yeah, new acquisition form.

I I thought this horse you know might benefit from the addition

of Lasix and the running style. I think this horse probably will

be a little bit closer on the drop and should get a good trip.

I don't see anything wrong with this horse, it seems to be

improving and this isn't the greatest of fields either.

Surfing USA ran good last time. Should be formidable, but I

definitely am against the morning line.

Favorite will happen. I'll go own half go.

With inside here 1/3 and two for me in race 3 tomorrow I'll try

umbrella on the inside here. John Sadler trains.

I'm a Loscano rides. This was one that tried the

Suite life down the hill last time, just didn't quite get

there. Before that though it was really

good in an optional claimer with Lasix.

The only time this horse has had Lasix.

I think get back in those kind of conditions makes a lot of

sense. You're on the rail, you got to

go. I think that's a good thing as

well. And so I will lean on the one

horse here on top. I went to the three horse in the

second spot surfing USA, one that you mentioned as well

coming out of a maiden breaker Armando Ayuso, who's been on

this horse before and they rode well in a different space and

special only missed by two lengths in that one keeps the

mount or gets the mount back, I should say in this one and then

will happen the favorite here. I think it's a worthy favorite.

Try that surfer grown like you said, maybe the miles just a

little bit more than this horse wants to do daughter of a coma

here in this case. And so maybe we get back to that

distance. I think makes a lot of first

time last six as well. Some of those things, a little

bit of a, I'll call it makeover package because that's not what

it is, but I'll go 1/3 and 2IN Race 3 tomorrow.

The graded stakes will kick off in Race 4 at Santa Anita on

Saturday. The holder mile Grade 1 here.

I'm enjoy on the inside here. Bury a horse that we've loved

watching. I don't.

I try not to root for storylines and horse racing.

Try not, but it's hard. It's hard.

But a Cal bred win in the bolder mile would be pretty cool.

That would be. Right, it would be pretty cool.

Right, especially these connections.

And this is one that's done. Yeah.

And Aggie are donors. The story is really cool.

Yeah, no, she's she's doing a great job.

Just sort of all rides her horses to a tee.

And you know, this is just a tough spot all the way around.

I mean, even for the favorite Splendora, she lays over this

field buyer speed figure wise, but I don't think she's all

that. You're fine, You're fine.

Strong as far as as favorites go.

I mean, she's 4:00 to 5:00 on the morning line, but a lot of

these horses look the same and given the pace scenario, she

might be up against it. Interesting.

All right, so, you know, bolder Mile, of course, mile on the

dirt here, they're running for $300,000.

I'm enjoying. Let's just go through the field.

There's only six horses to go through here.

I'm enjoying. How much of a chance do you give

her? Obviously the weather, the

Torrey Pines, the Grade 3, but then at Del Mar, over over the

mile, the time it turns out. You know, normally I would like

a horse like this, but I, I think drawing the rail is a

negative and it it's going to be tough.

They they're definitely going to have to improve to win this

race. I'm not sure they can do it

here. I think this horse would

probably win a race like this, maybe not a grade one, but a

grade 2 down the line. I I think this horse is on the

up from the. Two, we will have the breaking

for the 2. Was simply joking.

A horse that we saw, of course in the Kentucky Oaks in 2025

just missed in the fantasy at Oaklawn Park right before that.

They've moved her to 7 furlongs after that in the Raven Run.

I thought she looked pretty good in the Byacoa under Flavian

Proud behind Hope Road when she ran in November, but boy, this

is a horse. The point she gets to this level

seems like a little bit too much.

Is it a little bit too much tomorrow?

Yeah, I think so, especially with the other speed in here,

Dazzling move. They're going to occupy each

other and they don't. Neither one of these horses like

to finish races off, but I think Simply Joking has enough class

to to kind of hang around and get in the pic.

And she's been out here for a little while since the move out

of the Wit where out of the Beckman bar, excuse me, on the

Wit Beckman bar over to the McCarthy bar here at San Anita.

So she is now essentially local frankly, at this point.

Dazzling move, as you mentioned, Savi Joseph Junior shipping this

one. Throw all the blinkers on.

It's very clear he's going to tell Tyler, hey, try to go get

the lead here, right? Yeah, he's got it.

That's the only way this horse can really win.

I know they won the Rogue Delta kind of slightly off the pace

going a little bit longer, but really the horse hasn't shown

that kind of settled, if you will.

And I think there's there's a lot here to keep a horse like

that occupied. I don't really think this was a

true grade one horse, which definitely affects the outcome

of this race. Breaking from the 4 will be the

flavor. The favored, yeah.

You say flavor of the week. She is one for one at the

distance that was in the Tranquil Lake.

Quite, quite the step into bigger company here.

She has won the Lucas at 7 for long.

She won the the the the the. She won the Breeders Cup, all

the things. You are a guy that doesn't care

about turns, you care about distance.

Yes. Is the 7 to 8 a big deal?

No, OK, not for this horse. I mean, she's really, really

formative on this spot, kind of lays over this field.

But again, there's a lot of speed in here and there's

there's scenarios where she gets caught up too quick with those

other horses and, you know, somebody kind of nails her late

and that it's, it's a possibility, but I don't think

so. What's the broken brakes from

the five? Brad Cox is shipping this one in

for Ron Giroux Does get them out.

Had them out last time at the fairgrounds when this horse ran

in an optional claimer. Before that though, she did win

the Bourbonette Oaks up at at Turnpike Park to qualify for the

Kentucky Oaks in which she ran. She ran a good third in that

race. That was over wet go.

She goes up to the Acorn. She runs fourth in that race.

That was Lacar and look forward Scottish Lassie.

That was a whole group of horses there.

We've seen her once this year. It was with Lasix at in New

Orleans. But you get blessed Broker much

of a shot here. You kind of have to because the

pace scenario it it could get quick up front and and you know,

Florence going to recognize that and and lay off the pace and and

make one run that might get this horse in the picture.

I don't know about on the winning, but I think this horse

might be around when it's all said and done.

The FISA will break on the outside, A horse I you've talked

about before. Oh yeah, yeah.

Yeah, I I think this horse is actually the surprise

possibility because of the fact that she's versatile.

She can be on the lead, she can be slightly off.

It kind of has the same running style as the stablemate in

Splendora, but the outside post might be a little bit better.

In a six horse field, it's less, Yeah.

It's less of an issue, right? Yeah.

She could be a little bit clear and and maybe even lay a little

bit further off the pace than normal and that might get it

done in a race that that seems a little bit all.

Over the place. You're a cold exact guy. 46

tomorrow. Absolutely.

OK, All right, I went 4-1 here. Is it the rail that is the

biggest knock against Almond Joy here?

Is that the time off is the class?

What is it for? You, I think it's the class.

OK. I think this horse needs a

couple of runs at this level and and she'll figure it out.

OK. All right.

So Barry, again, in this one we'll go 46 and two.

I'll go 415 in the Beholder Mile tomorrow here at Santa Anita

Park. We're live in the press box.

Louis Rebeau and Barry Spears. This is the horse racing happy

hour, So Cal Saturdays presented by amwageramwager.com.

Appreciate them hanging out with us.

The early Pick 5 ends here in race of five and it is a fun

one, $32,000 starting allowance here.

They're running for 37 KA mile on the turf here at Berry.

This is. You know, when we open the show,

we talked about man, Big Cap, all this, this, these.

These are the ones. These are the races on big days

that that gamblers love. Now, it's not, this is not a day

where we're going to get a Belmont Stakes, like eight grade

races in a row or something like that, right?

It's not that kind of day. It's a it's a day with four

stakes as a day was 7 full races, right?

I mean, it's really what this is.

So race 5 is one of those. I set it all up.

Barry, where'd you land a Race 5?

I landed on the one Uncle Happy. You know, this race is kind of

all over the place and I couldn't bring myself to taking

a favorite. Uncle Happy kind of ran off, you

know, a little bit was off slow, got a three-way trip last time.

They didn't really do much of anything, but I think that this

level is perfect for this horse. That was at the 50K, non waters

of 1. Before that, they were in 80K,

same condition, but without the claim drops in.

You know, they do well at 40 opens.

This is a start allowance 32. They probably fit well here.

Diego Herrera is probably going to get this horse out of the

gate and I think they stand a chance to get a good trip in the

wind. Hang on man, 1/4 and six for

you, huh? Yeah, it's.

A pretty bad job, are you? Oh.

Why do you like 4 here, Sarah? You know, phosphorus.

Let's go. This is this race gave me fits

as as you can tell I just. Don't you're really eager to

talk about? It I'm not really I'm not really

fond of Jimmy blue jeans, to be honest, even though I think the

horse is is tough in this spot. I think they're they're pretty

much beatable. I know they won two in a row,

but the horse phosphorescence has a different kind of running

style and they're a little bit more versatile.

The last time when they got beat by Jamie Blue Jeans they they

sort of didn't get the best of trips.

I think the post position switch might make the difference and

get this one in front of them. 1/4 and six for Barry, 26 and 9

for me. I'm going to try the two horse

in here and Kawasaki. I need you to hear me out on

this, which Baltus trains and this is one that's been running

and and the hard ceiling for this horse is the $40,000 level.

So we're getting back to the 3032 kind of level where this

horse has had some success. So Adam Island and Nate before

going to have to go a little bit quicker here under Armando IU.

So, so that's my main concern with this one, Barry, is that

this one, because we've been off the layoff and that kind of

thing is going to be kind of further back in the development

of this race. My hope is for whatever reason,

the horse brakes like it did last time at Del Mar in a mile

and a 16th race. We treat this race a little bit

more like that, where the horse is more part of the pace early

on. This is a horse, by the way,

too, that's been in the trifecta 9 times in San Anita.

All of them on the turf and all of them, you know, and the same

numbers, 2, two and two win, play show in the try at the

distance. So this to me is a horse that 8

to 1, I think we're going to get more than that.

Oh yeah, you probably should 10 or 12.

Yeah, right. I think so.

To me, I think in this kind of race, Barry, on this kind of

day, this is the race. This is the kind of horse that

I'm. Looking for well, those are the

ones you want to see because because of the fact if you're

betting, especially in multi race sequences, horse like

that's going to separate you. Especially when you have horses

like Splendora before you know that that's kind of how you can

string these sort of races together is to look for those

prices that that nobody else might have and and Kawasaki has

a good chance. Just, you know, you have to

depend on a couple of things and and kind of gamble, but that's

what we. I've seen it before, but this is

the $30,000 level for reason. That's exactly right.

Jimmy Blue Jeans second of my handicapped 3rd and yours will

break from the saves. George Papa Drama trains here.

Kyle Frey picks up them out for the 300 and eighth time in a

row. This horse make it 35th, a

career start, eight wins, been in the trifecta 17 * 2 for two

this year. And I like the fact that this

horse just right now is just rolling it.

So I think that part is why you left that horse in your top

three is because it would be silly to assume that the horse

can't keep going when it's showing us exactly that.

Yeah, absolutely. Very logical contender in this

spot. It wouldn't surprise me if this

Course 1 is the favorite, but we're going to try to.

Capital on the outside is an interesting one as well.

I don't want the 9 for going a mile, but if we look through

this horses, you know different, you know different layouts of

different races and stuff. 2 back in a claiming of 25 and at

a non three level, so four against winners, multiple time

winners. This horse goes ahead and wins

under Victor Espinosa keeps them out here.

Last out tries the optional claiming level at 32.

Similar level here. Finishes a decent third by a

length and a quarter behind two of the horses that you like in

this race. Why not?

Why not? The Steve Nap trainee here as

well, Son of no May and never. Second off the claim.

Also this Victor Espinosa is really picking his spots.

You can see one and finished third on this one.

Yeah, changed hands. Steven Napp is is doing pretty

well this week. So I wouldn't discount this

horse at all and probably will get more than that, 9:00 to

2:00. Race 6, my favorite race on the

card tomorrow. It is a maiden special weight, 6

1/2 furlongs on the dirt, $70,000 on the line here.

Barry. And I think just a, a field

where you could go a lot of different directions and make a

lot of different, make a lot of sense, frankly.

But also because of who's debuting in this race, it makes

you wonder what we might be looking at for summer plans for

three-year olds, right? Because we've got a fair number.

This is for three-year olds here.

We've got a son of Run Happy that we've seen before, talked

about on the show. And Captain Shreve will break

from the outside. Baffert's got a pair of newbies.

There's even a newbie like Gallatin in this field for

Jonathan Thomas, who I think is fascinating breaking from the

8:00. But there are of the 12 horses

here, I think a reasonable case. Did I say 1210?

Of the ten horses here, I think there's a reasonable case for

about 7 of them. Yeah, yeah.

That's so to me for betting race by by standards tomorrow.

I'm super excited for this. Yeah, this seems to be sort of a

loaded maiden race. I mean, civil liberties run

pretty good so far. Was in two Grade 1 and you have

so Doug O'Neill. I'm going to put it back a lead

company that's good run for 70 coal.

And yeah, Captain Shreve, who's run well both times against

horses that are really good and secure Freedom and Potentate,

Potentate. So this makes this race really

interesting because the horses that run have run pretty good.

The horses that haven't run have really good workouts.

I mean, memory looks solid work wise for Baffert, as does

Gallatin, as does Duke Silver, which brings me to the point

that I think this pace might get hot up front.

OK, and with that being said, I I think deep tracks might be the

beneficiary of that. They didn't get a great trip

last time against Potente and Captain Shreve, but I think the

tables might be turned here. Peter does good work with new

acquisitions and horses off this kind of a layoff.

Seems to be working well for the into this race.

Got to give this one a shot with Mike Smith at 8:00 to 1:00.

Yeah, deep tracks a second time starter Peter Erten barn there,

a son of Nyquist amongst the very royally bled bred horses in

this race for sure. 6, two and four for you, Barry.

Let's go ahead and move to the two in Civil Liberty.

You mentioned this one before, Maybe a hotter Mio special?

Could be, I mean, you know, this horse face grade one competition

twice. It's got to account for

something definitely running against better horses.

This horse might be you know, and they didn't embarrass

themselves by any means. I was just worried about the

price on this horse being way too low. 4 to 1 seems fair, but

I think this horse might go off second choice.

Embry Show you have in your handicapping as well.

That's the first time starter. You've got your top three bullet

work out of gate work. I know you love that you is it

just is it is it largely you're looking at works and you're

you're leaning on that or is it the Baffert angle, the Tyler

angle with? A lot of a lot of longer type

works for this horse. You see a six four on work in

there in January, a couple of fives then really got it on on

Valentine's Day that 47 flat handling from the gate probably

the best work in here and then has another one after that the

February 26th work. So I think this horse might be

live 8 to 1 might be a stretch. I think maybe one of the other

Bafferts might go cold on the board, but Embry showed looks to

be OK here. We'll see.

I went a little bit of a different direction, 8-9 and

six. I'm going to try a long shot in

here in Gallatin. Son of authentic here trained by

Jonathan Thomas, Armando Yusu gets the the mouth.

The works have been great. All of the things and Jonathan

Thomas starting to sneak into these maiden specials with more

consistency. Certainly with first time

starters. A guy that obviously we trust on

the show, certainly on the grass.

Great start to the meet here. I just in a race of a very good

first timers. He's a very good one and he's

12:00 and 1:00. This is a tough race.

It's a tough race to pick 6 to. Be honest with.

You, I mean, you can go a lot of ways here and, you know, you

just got to be careful because if you go too deep here, you

won't have enough later on. So many of those, you got to

pick your spots. But this is a really, really

tough race, yeah. I put the nine in second spot

here. It's the other Baffert, the

memory Baffert, the the one Hernandez that that's probably

the best way to say, right? It'd go with the one Hernandez

version of that. So I went to him second.

I don't think I really need to explain that one, but deep

tracks, I agree with you. The six horse here, Peter Erten

sends Mike Smith aboard again. Obviously this was one that

transferred over from the Sheriff's Park and so we'll be

we'll be mentioning a couple of those just a couple more later

on in the card as well. But Mike Smith keeps them out

here, which is awesome. And so first time with trainer

with with Peter Urton spots his horses really well.

Should be contender on Saturday for sure.

Barry Spears Lou Irabout. We are here at San Anita Park

previewing Saturday's races here.

We will be back live same time tomorrow from Clockers Corner do

a bit of a preview. Some of our friends will stop by

for that one as well. Looking forward to seeing you

tomorrow. We thank our friends and AM

Wager for hanging out with us every week here on the on Socal

Saturdays. 100% deposit match right now up to $150.00 with our

friends at AM Wager and AM wager.com Race 7.

Of course Barry, get back into another speeding special.

We're going 6 furlongs on the turf for this one.

And this is for three-year olds on the Philly side of things.

Where's your land race? Up another one that's really,

really tough. A lot of first time starters,

the horse that first, second time starters, the horse that

actually have runner already haven't been all that great.

So I ended up going to the 9 High Society U.

I think this horse might be OK Jonathan Thomas does really

decent work first time out does better work first time turf.

And I think this horse might be OK that the pedigree seems to be

turf leaning. But again, this is another one

of those kind of crapshoots where you're getting a horse in

high society U that looks similar to a lot of these other

horses. So the board will probably give

you some indication as to who might be live.

But I I like high society at that nine to two price, at least

right now. But I I have a feeling that that

horse might get back down a little bit.

Kazushi Kumar might be having the best meet of his life.

That part of the reason really, really is, I mean, he's really

been really spectacular. He's hits the board like crazy.

And when you when you're hitting the board like crazy and the

highest number is, is your wins. So you went on 9/8 and five.

And here what's interesting is you and I have the 8:00 and 5:00

in the exact same spots. I went to the one on the inside

here for this one in the Sprint most Sasha couple of things

here. I get Juan again.

I get Michael McCarthy with a second timer.

You know how effective that is. If you're on the rail, you got

to go, and this is a horse that needs to go.

Frankly, This is one that did all of its work late in its

debut. This is one that you and I

capped. Actually, Counterbalance won

that race, this one getting on the track for the second time.

I always love a second time starter.

Give me the Michael McCarthy trainee on top and Bosasha, but

I'll go with Barry for sure. 18 and 5 here.

Somerset W the first time starter.

We can kind of go back and forth on this.

This is what John Sadler does, man.

This is this kind of Horace and the Cantharos.

This one makes sense in this spot as well.

The works all line up where you would want them to be.

I'm fascinated to watching. You know, one of the things to

watch as far as just their their preferences.

I don't think it has anything to do with how I I handicapped the

horses at the end of the day, but the trainers that still use

the dirt training for turf sprints as opposed to the

Tepeena and Sadler's one of those guys.

I think it's just, what do you have to have it yet?

Yeah, it's old school. You know, I, I think he's just

has his regimen and so Peta's not in it.

But, you know, I'm with you. I I think this horse might be OK

first time out. Gate break on the 22nd was

really. Nice, Very, very good.

And, and I think that stacks up with, with anybody in here, you

know, wouldn't surprise me to see this horse on the lead as

far as paddle addicts concerned. I, I, I, I can't ignore this

horse was only 5 lengths off of Stod and I know they came back

and didn't run well with Raspoli back at Delmar, but I, I'm

willing to forgive that race. I, I think this horse may have

needed it, you know, maybe needed the time off a little bit

more time off. Phil D'amato does great work

with these sort of horses. Getting Lasix for the first time

might actually change things too.

So Pedal Addict at 8 to 1 might be interesting because I don't

think they're going to try to bet this horse down to

favoritism again. Yeah, Tyler picks up the mount

for that one. I'm also interested too.

If you look at the breeding lines here, that's the no nail,

never line. This horse might just be fast

and when it goes right, right. I mean, that might be what this

is. I mean, it's on the table at

least. Right it it has to be.

Yeah, so Barry again, 98 and 5 here.

I want 18 and five in race 7 kicks off the late pick five

there tomorrow. Also the ultra pick three starts

in that race on Saturday here for big cat preview Luther boat,

Barry Spears, SoCal Saturday hanging out with you Rhythm

press box here at San Diego Park, about to have our first

race of the day here in about 15 minutes Tomorrow, the San

Felipe, the Derby prep grade to will be race 8 kicks off the

early, excuse me, the late pick 3 in this or no, it's on the

pick pork in the pick pork here. Excuse me, mile of 16th on the

dirt and we're running for $200,000 in this one.

We get the return of Brant in here, but we also get a couple

of other really interesting runners obviously and so happy

in potente as well. Barry, I'll let you go ahead,

man. Not a Grade 1.

So we'll go ahead and just get to the handicapping, what you

land on in the San Felipe. You know, I'm going to throw one

down field slightly. I do like the three secured

freedom quite a bit in this spot.

If you will go back and watch that Lewis, this horse was 4

wide pretty much the whole way around and finished up as strong

as anybody. I'm not a huge gallop out

person, but finished out in front of Plutarch and Intrepido,

who are very, very nice horses. And I think this horse is moving

in the right direction at the right time, 8 to 1.

I hope we get all that because I'm going to be all in.

You and I have similar horses in the rest of our handicapping.

I landed on the six here. I am a boring person.

I landed on so Happy. But maybe betting on the run

Happy won't be so crazy tomorrow.

No, maybe we'll actually get some value because of who Desire

is. I don't know.

Maybe. But I do think he's worthwhile.

I thought his San Vicente, I would have to think about it,

Barry, but you know, with us doing the show every week, was

that the best graded sticks performance in California this

year? Yeah.

That's safe to say. I mean, he was great.

He was absolutely stellar that day and that's kind of why I

didn't put this horse on top. I think they may have topped out

and and ran too well that day. If this horse wins tomorrow and

and posts up a a 96 buyer speed figure like they did in the San

Vicente, you can think of this horse as as going down the line

and and being probably one of the better horses of this.

Generation we'll talk about this race in depth tomorrow, but it

with me having the six, five and four on top, those are all going

to be in the front pack horses. Is that why you think that the

three horse in here has an especially good shot?

Because maybe the three best horses here are actually just

going to? Go right, learn how to pass

horses, learn to take some dirt in the face.

The last couple of times 1 going away in the maiden and then in

the Lewis ran really, really good and I know that has a great

3 moniker, but I think that race was a little bit better than

that. Man, oh man.

It should be a fun one. What do you make of Brant coming

back in this spot? I think it's the obvious logical

spot if we're going to be, you know, talking Derby with him.

I thought his juvenile was pretty good.

It was all right. It wasn't what I expected from

frankly, but that's nobody was beating technology that day.

No, he was great. The Del Mar Futurity son of Gun

Runner. This shouldn't be an issue.

Here right shouldn't be, but you know, I I was kind of alarmed in

the way he kind of he he did try to fight, but he ended up

quitting and and ended up third in the juvenile.

I think the time off probably did him well, sure, and it

wouldn't surprise me if he just flat out outruns this field, but

I still have questions. I I still want to see this horse

win at two turns first of all and against a field like this.

So this is the perfect test for this horse, but I'm just going

to side against this time. You do not have Potente in your

top three. What do you think of him at this

point of his development? Is it just too early for this

kind of race? For me, yes, but that doesn't

mean this horse can't win this race.

I mean, he's proven that he's quick and able to get to the

front and somebody has to be the pace because I don't think they

want Brant to go to the lead here.

And he's really going to provide a target for everybody.

Whether, you know, sometimes when this does happen, horses do

get away with slower splits and end up running off El Potente.

El Potente Potente has that potential of being the lone

speed and and kind of, you know, when everybody else falls asleep

at the wheel, this horse could be the beneficiary of that,

especially with one Hernandez. Moving on to race 9, we'll start

the late pick 3 here, like 2 of that turf pick three with Kilro

mile Grade 2 here, mile on the turf course, $200,000 on the

line here. And Speaking of El Potente,

he'll be the favorite in here almost certainly when we get to

we get to post time as well. Dan Black are having a nice

meeting as well for his barn and his his operation.

But boy Perry, I speed, speed to speed and you can get combo

spirit in here. Double digits.

Am I seeing this? Yeah, you probably will.

How about that? No, no.

Combo spirit, a little double digit well.

Mike Smith? Well, George, probably.

Do it. Can't do it.

You sure about that? Yeah, all right.

Very sure. Well, who you got that mile Mike

stuff? I'm going to take Almendaris.

I think this horse ran a bang up race in the in the Pegasus World

Cup turf. Didn't get a great trip came

running on and I was like who's that horse?

And it was, it was Almendaris at 37 to 1.

You know, I think they're going to get a better trip here,

obviously, because the field is a lot smaller and not as good.

So really you want to see a race like they had back in the

Wicker, something like that, or even even closer where they're,

you know, in striking range without having to, to come

flying late. I I think that was what they did

in the Pegasus was a was a factor of their trip, not so

much where the horse really wanted to be.

Coming back home for this race makes a lot of sense, I think.

They're going to be loaded. 9:00 to 2:00 if we get that, if we

get that. I'm all over it.

Almendar's for you on top. I'm going to skip your second

choice just because it's my top choice.

But you have Astronomer in the third spot here for on Guru for

Simon Callahan. And this is one that you also

saw in South Florida in that Pegasus World Cup.

Finished frankly a very good 4th in that race.

Before that, we saw that horse here in a mile and an eighth San

Gabriel. It's not a winner.

Likes to finish. Yeah, likes to finish races,

comes running late, and there's not much of that here. 8 to 1

probably get a little higher than that.

OK, fill out the tries and supers.

You're so you're feeling that strong about.

Evanston, Yeah. OK.

All right. OK.

I have Almond Aris in my top three as well.

I went 3-1 and two. I'll take the inside horses in

the kill roll mile tomorrow. I think.

Me or model Ramon. Tough read.

Cannot figure out but it's pretty good at sanity. 6 for

eight in the money. So I think he's pretty good

here, 2 seconds in a first and four runs at the distance.

I think the mile is where he wants to be.

But he just man, he just, it's, he misses so often.

It's just so. Frustrating just doesn't get

over the hump right there, you know, it seems like.

You know, gets over the hump and that's why I've got him on top

here and I do think, look at San Anita 6 for 9 on the turf

course. He's never been out of the

trifecta on the turf in a mile, four wins, a second and a third.

I just, this is what he does, Barry.

I get Hector Barrios, who you and I both trust in a serious

way on the turf course at this place as well.

I know you're not disagreeing with me at all, by the way,

anything that I'm saying. You, you went 2-3 and eight

here. I went 3-1 and two.

I think you largely agree about that.

Yeah, yeah, it definitely is a formidable foe in this spot.

Likes to win 7 for 17 lifetime. You know, has a nose for the

wire. So does Hector Barrios.

I think he's going to, you know, he could be on front end, he

could be a little bit off the pace.

The versatility makes this work pretty tough in this spot.

Move on to race 10 of course was set to be the big race of the

day, but of course after some scratches, unfortunately the

sanity to handicap looking a little different than usual. 10

foot lungs on the dirt mile and a quarter $300,000 on the line

for this great one here. Brad Cox is shipped out.

Just a touch Getaway car will make the start for Bob Baffert.

We get a local at midnight, Mammoth and here Vodka Vodka.

Interesting story for Aggie Adonias of course, and British

Isles break for Trboltas in this one.

Westwood has scratched out of this field to run in New Orleans

for Peter Erten this race and when it is on the calendar.

The world has changed as far as where the handicap division runs

this time of year especially great and it is usually in South

Florida or you head to the Arabian and it just is what it

is. And by the way, the Arabian

Peninsula, if you do the math barrier, do you know how much

more money you run for the Dubai World Cup than you do with it in

the in this in any name again? Probably.

About 11 point. Seven, I was going to say, about

10 million more, yes. Correct.

OK. So I'm not even going to do the

multiplication factor and all that kind of stuff.

It's just the reality. It is just the reality of what's

going on. And so this race, should they

keep it here because this is where it's always been, or

should they consider moving this race to another time of year?

I'd like to see them move it because, you know, you take a

lot of horses out of the equation because of the fact

that the Dubai World Cup is is coming up.

And putting it past that like in April, May ish would seem

logical because then you're going to get those.

Older horses especially. The ones that, you know, don't

want to go and ship out to Churchill.

And, you know, for those races on Derby day, you might get a

pretty good field most of the time with a race like this for

everybody. You know, not so much the horses

that were in the Pegasus, but those sort of horses like almost

the second tier types that would end up here in a big field that

they all would want to assemble for.

I think the timing, like you said, is is not ideal.

But yeah, the world's changed, right?

Literally, the world has changed and so that part is it's just

difficult for this race itself. You and I landed on the same top

horse here, Barry. You went 324, I went 314.

Let's go ahead and just go through the field though.

Midnight Mammoth, a cool horse, frankly.

Winner of an optional claimer at here at Santa Anita to open the

year. They ran him in the San Pasqual

last time, was not a factor at all.

Of course Westwood won that one. What do you like about him to

hit the board here? Just kind of a bounce back from

the last one. Yeah, he's he's run pretty good

races in most of these great ones and grade twos and greatest

stakes that he's been in just ran up against better horses.

I mean, you'll see in his in his running lines, fierceness,

Skippy Longstocking in the Gold Cup out here.

Even last time Westwood, they didn't really have a shot.

I think they they lost that race early.

But for the most part, this horse has been running better

than everybody else other than just the. 4th last year in this

race behind Locked Express Train and hit show Getaway Car will

break from the 2 here by. Was a Dubai World Cup win.

That's exactly right. I have a getaway car in the

second spot here. Barry, what do you not like

about getaway car in this race? Does this just doesn't want to

kind of like, like the the consummate pacesetter until they

get a feel they can handle, which they did in the Sunderland

Derby, you know, beyond that, they like to get out in front

and for some reason this horse just doesn't kick on.

It's kind of surprising to me that Juan Hernandez keeps giving

his horse chances, but here we are.

Speaking of horses that have needed lots of chances just to

touch 2nd, 2nd and 3rd in his last three graded stakes, we

both have him on top. What flips for us here?

Is it just that he's just? Overlaying over the field, he's

just better. He's been faster than everybody

bar none, and should be faster tomorrow.

Just a touch, of course, out of the Brad Cox barn in the ride

just getting his forearm Drew Aggie Ordonez will train at

trains. I should say vodka, vodka.

Great story here. Of course, a daughter of son of

excuse me of stay thirsty. That's the good stuff, man, on

the. Rise.

Yeah, I like this horse on the rise and is not a turf horse

like British Isles, so I think that automatically raises this

horse up a notch. Yeah, barring that, I think this

horse might sit a good trip. You know, has to prove it, but I

think this horse might be OK. You know, again, another one

that needs experience at this level.

British Isles unproven on dirt does have a second place finish

recently in the native divert a mile and an eighth at Delmar

behind Nevada Beach. Can we build off of?

That no OK no I think that was pretty fluky and this horse just

kind of picked up pieces there and and passed Westwood late but

yeah I I I definitely do not like British size at all and and

I hope they get bit honestly, but there you.

Go, we'll see. All right, we'll move on to the

closer on the Saturday car. This is so-called Saturdays on

the horse racing happy hour leader vote and Barry Spears

hanging out with you represent by am wager am wager.com 100%

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So get out over there double your big cap make roll with our

friends at am wager an optional claimer in the final here Barry,

but appropriately a mile 70,000 on the line here and this is for

calbrence and essentially non twos in this spot.

Barry, where'd you land in the the old lid?

Closer, if you. Yeah, I want to throw 1

downfield here. Stunner.

What a stunner. Yeah, exactly.

And what's outfield from Barry Spears?

Prince Dolce First off, the claim for Steve Knapp.

This was won a 25,000 non. Where's the 2 and steps up a

little bit here into a state bred non orders of 120 K, which

if you think about it might not be such a step up as more of a

lateral move. I know this horse ran pretty

well. January 10th just didn't get

going. You know, it was way out wide

fractious. I remember in in the in the

tunnel, this horse kind of acting up that day.

Give them another shot. They should be rolling late.

I'm going to Princeton. 61 and three, you and I both have the

one in the second spot here Barry, go ahead and talk about

the one in warm sun and brew and turn your face.

Who keeps them out here from? Work left kind of seems logical,

you know? But what kind of alarmed me a

little bit is they're throwing the blinkers on.

This horses run pretty good every time.

I'm not sure if the blinkers will improve this horse enough

to get him in the winner's circle.

I think it's it's more happenstance of where this horse

is and who they're running against.

I'm not fond of the one post because it it'll force their

hand and that might be tough because the four has a lot of

speed. I think the five might end up

going out there so it it could get a little hairy up front and

and I don't think that's to their.

Advantage 3 horse and here Barry is a very, very down the field

shot for you. But frankly, Mike piping this

horse showed up last time. Why can't he show up again?

Yeah. That's that's my thought.

I I thought this horse ran a pretty bang up race after, you

know, getting to this level, breaking the maiden kind of

light bulb angle. The source is running much

better and why not? There's not much in here and and

I think this horse has a good running style should be close

enough to the pace in touch in order to finish well 20 to 1

probably get more than that. I, I, I don't think this horse

can win, but I think they can show up.

To the Hoopers, the kids. Yeah, Duncan Stein, Darrell

Griffin. I don't.

Think that's what they say. 7 horse for me, not the kids.

An infinitum almost got it done last time at a $72,000 non 2

allowance gets to step into optional claiming company here.

I think this horse is considerably better than most of

the horses in this year. The only thing is though, no

wins on turn. So if we did want to get, you

know, picky and no no two turns all the things you can get picky

about all those things. Let's print her out with Mark

Ladd. Not an issue.

I'm not worried about that part. Certainly one Hernandez will be

able to rate this one there as well.

I did go to the rail for the one horse in the second spot.

I went to King of Dragons. This is the most boring race

I've I'll give out all day, actually.

Wow. King of Dragons 7 to 2 here and

this is when I'm going second off the layoff and I'm trusting

Hector Barrios in this spot before we go Freeport Joe.

Damn right. That's exactly where I was going

to go. I'm going to take everything off

the screen here. There we go, you.

Going to give him a talk. I just, no.

You know what? Actually, I should or shouldn't

I? It worked last time.

Who was that horse? Man, it was red.

It was the. Had a weird name, but I, I'd

like I I. OK, so if you don't join us

every week I get it. But I gave a pep talk to a horse

that he won, so it's time to talk to.

Freeport fairly easily too. Who, if you look at his past

performances, does not have a weight on the past performances.

You listen to me on the Freeport show.

I'm a big fan. You've been very, very nice to

me at Golden Gate Fields. But you know, I don't have any

more Golden Gate Fields. I have seen it anyway.

You've helped me many times. Crappy Saturdays in Louisville,

listening to the dulcet tones of Matt Denner.

Mid Outwest. I need you tomorrow.

I need you. I don't need you to win.

We're good. I need a third place finish.

You understand me? I just need third place

Freeport, Joe. That's all I need.

I need you to hit the board here.

You haven't hit the board in a couple years.

You're running 4th a lot by a couple lengths.

Just just just know somebody out for me just knows him out in 3rd

place. That's it, Frank.

Joe, you can do it. Can you do the tertiary key

here? You're going to key Freeport,

Joe and. 3rd it's $100 a show and all $100 a show all. 8 Just

do it a. $100 a show. Why not?

Why not? Let's go and you get to see him

in person. Again.

Yeah. He's run a lot.

What's his like 50th start 42nd? 42 42nd St.

Get that tenth win. So I put them in the California

Hall of Fame. We'll find out next week.

I'm Louis Rovo, he's very Spears.

This has been the horse racing happy hour.

Thanks so much for hanging out with us every single week on the

program. Barry, you and I are doing this

again tomorrow. So people want to come out and

hang out with us starting at 11:00 local time here, 2:00 on

the East Coast. We'll be live.

Same spot you found us today. We'll be back there tomorrow.

Some friends will stop by for that show as well.

But one thing our friends, of course today at

amwageramwager.com for hanging out with us first race about to

go off here. We got to go.

He's very I'm Louie. See you tomorrow.

Pick that day.