Weekend Winners Club

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Wednesday December 26.
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It was the day after Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, except me processing the Grid for Santa Anita and handicapping the fields for some great graded stakes racing: Malibu G1, LaBrea G1, San Antonio G2, Mathis Brothers G2.
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The featured race is the Malibu G1 with a field of 14 excellent 3yo’s going 7f. At least half the field was once on the Kentucky Derby trail earlier this year, and over half of them are shippers from the east coast.
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Baffert’s duo includes favored McKenzie coming back from a disappointing BC Classic gallop. Stablemate Solomini ran 10th in the roses this year, and hasn’t raced since June. I’d be surprised to not see both of them in the top 4, and Solomini has good ML odds of 10-1.
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Also surprisingly at 10-1 is Axelrod, who finished a respectable 8 lengths back in the BCC, and less than 2 lengths behind McKinzie in the PA Derby after winning two graded stakes. Copper Bullet, Ax Man, and Kanthaka appear to be the other primary contenders.
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Prior to that is the San Antonio G2 for 3up at 8.5f. The top contender is favored Battle of Midway, who finished 3rd in the Kentucky Derby last year and finished off the year with a win in the BC Dirt Mile for Hollendorfer. He didn’t race again until August this year but is in top form after winning the Native Diver G3 last month.
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The 2nd choice is another 4yo Dabster, who is also in top form for Baffert, finishing 2nd by a neck in the Native Diver after a 2nd place finish in the BC Marathon, very impressive for a frontrunning type horse. 3rd choice Gift Box will need to be in very top form to challenge the top 2.
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The undercard LaBrea G1 favors Baffert’s Dream Tree and Wesley Ward’s Happy Like a Fool. These 2 will be very difficult to catch at 7f.
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In the Mathis Brothers G2 Mile on turf, Jeff Mullins’ River Boyne looks very difficult to beat, but it’s racing so anything can happen.
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Races 2-5 are being used for the TVG Super 5 today. Use the Grid to make your picks for all 10 races.
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Get the Santa Anita Grid here for Wednesday

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