Race 7: Hotsy Dotsy (#2, 6-1) ran well in her debut before catching a freak in Enola Gray in her second start. The daughter of Unusual Heat offers upside trying a route and grass for the first time. Her trainer, Scott Hansen, strikes at 30% when stretching horses out to route. Stipend (#7, 2-1) is the logical favorite after closing well to be third in a similar spot last time out at Santa Anita. She has already had 10 tries, but her only two route starts on the grass were her two best races. Easy Song (#5, 3-1) is a bit of a wild card for Carla Gaines. She ran poorly in her only start on the dirt at Santa Anita, but she now stretches out on the turf. Mike Smith signs on and the turf breeding is there for Easy Song to show vast improvement.
Race 8: Bal a Bali (#12, 2-1) ships from Southern California where he was just a nose away from running 2nd in the Grade 1 Frank E. Kilroe. The addition of blinkers should help his focus and the class drop will make him tough. Montego Bay (#5, 12-1) is finally healthy and he has never been better. The gelding will be making his third start off a layoff and has rapidly rising speed figures. The Santa Anita shipper offers good value in this spot. Gabriel Charles (#13, 3-1) is the most talented horse in the field, coming off a Grade 1 victory in the Eddie Read Stakes. He will likely need a race after overcoming colic and a tough post position does not help matters, but if he is on his game, the others will be running for second.
Race 9: Country Road (#8, 8-5) has been facing tougher in Southern California for the patient Neil Drysdale. He improved showed nice improvement second time out and catches a field with enough speed to flatter his late kick. He will be a short price, but the gelding is the most logical single in the sequence.
Race 10: Mimis Big Boy (#3, 10-1) only had one start versus a tough Cal-Bred Maiden Special Weight field at Santa Anita. Trained by Kenny Black, who has had recent success with turf routers, Mimis Big Boy makes sense in his first turf start on the drop in class. Prince of Prague (#9, 9-2) has run only one good race in his career, but that race was certainty good enough to win this. He had the lead that day and appears to need to lead to be at his best. With a slower tempo expected in here, he could steal this race on the front. Troyes (#2, 6-1) is bred to love the turf and drops in against claimers for the first time after three even synthetic tries. Winning Causeway (#6, 9/2) ran hard off a layoff while losing for a second consecutive time at odds-on. He is hard to trust, but he has the most consistent form in the race with three consecutive seconds.
Pick 4 Ticket: 2/5/7 – 5/12/13 – 8 – 2/3/6/9 = $18
