Jeff Siegel’s National Best Plays for Sunday, December 11, 2022
Gulfstream Park 10th Race – Post time: 4:35 ET
9-Erna (5/2)
Tipped her hand in an excellent debut performance last month at Aqueduct when getting tagged near the wire in a middle distance maiden juvenile turf event while winding up almost four lengths clear of the rest. It must be noted that the filly who beat her – Liguria – subsequently was shipped to Del Mar and captured the Jimmy Durante Stakes-G3 in stylish fashion, and we highly doubt there is anything as good as she in this affair. The daughter of Curlin shows three nice recent breezes to tick her over, so with the switch to Luis Saez and at 5/2 on the morning line, she’s a win play and rolling exotic single.
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Los Alamitos 5th race – Post time: 2:29 PT
3-Commander Carl (3-1)
Showed little in his debut at Del Mar in early September when finishing far back in a maiden special weight sprint but left that form far behind in his second career outing when earning a strong speed figure in an authoritative maiden $50,000 score at Santa Anita last month. Protected today in a sign of confidence in this starter allowance sprint, the son of Midshipman retains winning pilot Edwin Maldonado, shows a pair of sharp workouts since raced, and catches a field that should allow him to be the controlling speed at this abbreviated five and one-half furlong distance. Listed at 3-1 on the morning line, the Dan Blacker-trained sophomore offers excellent value in the win pool and in the various rolling exotics.
