By Dennis Miller
Last week, with another thrilling stretch run, Golden Tempo won the Belmont Stakes, giving the connections two-thirds of the Triple Crown this year and making one thing clear.
Trainer Cherie DeVaux was right.
After a big closing run to win the Kentucky Derby, DeVaux opted to not run Golden Tempo in the Preakness two weeks later, rather to give the horse more time off and point towards the Belmont.
It brought the debate about stretching out the time between the Triple Crown races. Right now – and traditionally – the dates for the three races are the first Saturday in May (Derby), third Saturday in May (Preakness), and first Saturday in June (Belmont).
It’s a five-week session in which the three races are run and in recent years it has been a disaster trying to get horses to run in all three races. Making the matter worse is when the Kentucky Derby winner opts out of the Preakness, destroying any chance of a Triple Crown winner for the year.
Finally, I feel a change must be made. Run the Derby on the traditional first Saturday in May, followed by the Preakness on the first Saturday in June, and the Belmont on the first Saturday in July.
That gives the horses a month off between each race. It also means that if a horse wins the Derby and the Preakness, the chance to win the Triple Crown – and the attention that comes with it – would fall on first Saturday in July, which would be around the Fourth of July each year, adding to the celebration of the race.
This week we have a pair of graded races at Santa Anita on Saturday, with one of them actually attracting a big field.
Following are looks at the two races and the horses I found interesting in both races.
Santa Anita
Grade III Daytona
(8th race, 4:30 p.m.)
There are 12 horses entered here to go 6.5 furlongs on the downhill turf course.
Sumter (Richard Mandella, Mike Smith) has a team of an iconic trainer and jockey to go into battle. He has run two consecutive Grade III races, winning the San Simeon on March 14, then running fifth in the American on April 18. The San Simeon was a sprint with the latter a route race. Now he’s back to a sprint and expect to see him fighting for the lead right out of the gate.
Irish Royalty (Doug O’Neill, Kyle Frey) has won three of four starts this year, but the three wins have all come in optional claimers. It’s a big step up but the horse does like to win races and he has the speed to get out front. He has gotten a pair of 92 Beyer marks in the last two starts.
Ammer Hall (Peter Eurton, Antonio Fresu) is another that has been running in optional claimers. The last start was May 2 where he was coming off a three-month break to run second behind Irish Royalty. He has had a pair of big works followed by a maintenance work for this spot. He likes to come from off the pace, and he will have speed to run at in this spot.
Freedom’s Not Free (Mark Glatt, Juan Hernandez) has been off since August 31 of last year but if he is ready to go, this is the horse to beat. He had a great year last year, hitting the board in all seven starts with all but one start being in stake races. He has won three of four starts over the San Anita turf course. The last five starts have been route races, and this could be a start to get him ready for a longer race. Still, he has the best past form with coming down to if he is ready to roll.
Grade III Summertime Oaks
(11th race, 6 p.m.)
We will be going 1-1/16 miles on the Santa Anita main track with a group of seven, 3-year-old fillies set for this spot.
Mizumi (Bob Baffert, Juan Hernandez) has one start, a score at 6.5 furlongs against straight maidens on May 2. Normally this might seem like too big a step for a second start but one look at the connections changes your mind about that. The barn hits at 33 percent going from a sprint to a route and 34 percent coming off a win. In the lone start, she was on the pace from the beginning and came out of the race with a pair of strong works.
Marjoram (Michael McCarthy, Emisael Jaramillo) is coming off a win in the Grade III Senorita on May 9 at Santa Anita. That day she came from well off the pace to gobble up the field in the 6.5-furlong sprint. Now she stretches out to a route for the first time, but she has shown the ability run from off the pace in all three starts showing she has gas at the end.
Bank Shot (Ryan Hansen, Adrian Escobedo) has hit the board in all four of her starts this year with the last two coming in graded stake races. Two back she was second in the Grade III Santa Ysabel when she pushed the pace but couldn’t catch the winner. Her last start was April 4 in the Santa Anita Oaks where she was third but was beaten 15 lengths. This time she came from off the pace. She might be your value play as she has gone off at 22/1 and 17/1 in her last two starts.