Robin Goodfellow’s Racing Tips: Best bets for Wednesday, December 22
Sportsmail's racing expert Robin Goodfellow dishes out his tips for Wednesday's meetings at Ludlow, Southwell and Wolverhampton.
Month: December 2021
Golden Hour Double, Golden Hour Pick Four Wagers Return For Golden Gate Meet
Golden Gate Fields begins the 2021/2022 Winter/Spring meet on Sunday, December 26 with an 11-race Opening Day program. *Although the first post on most race days is 12:45 PM, Sunday's card has an early first post time of 11:15 AM. 83 horses are entered to compete on Opening Day, with a pair of allowance races marked as the co-featured events on the afternoon.
Horseplayers will be happy to hear that, once again this meet, Golden Gate and Santa Anita join forces to present the Golden Hour Double and Golden Hour Pick Four wagers. The Golden Hour Pick Four combines the last two races at Santa Anita and the final two races at Golden Gate on days in which both tracks run simultaneously. The Golden Hour Pick Four is a low 15% takeout bet and a $1 minimum play. The Golden Hour Double, with a 15% takeout and $5 minimum, features the last race at Santa Anita and the nightcap at Golden Gate.
The Winter/Spring meet, which commences Sunday, Dec. 26, and runs through Sunday, June 14, 2022, is the longest of three meets that Golden Gate runs every year. 13 stakes races are spread throughout the upcoming Winter/Spring meet, including one of the most prestigious races in Northern California every year, the $100,000 El Camino Real Derby on Saturday, February 12. For 3-year-olds at one mile and an eighth on Tapeta, the El Camino Real Derby offers the winner 10 Kentucky Derby points and a free berth into the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness, at Pimlico Racecourse. Last year, El Camino Real Derby victor Rombauer took advantage of his free berth and went on to win the Preakness.
Another popular event on the docket is Gold Rush Weekend, run Saturday, April 30, and Sunday, May 1. Considered the most significant event of the year in Northern California racing, Gold Rush Weekend features eight stakes races throughout a two-day period. A half dozen stakes are scheduled for Saturday, highlighted by the $250,000 Grade 3 San Francisco Mile for 3-year-olds and upward at one mile on turf. A pair of California-bred or sired stakes for 3-year-olds, the Silky Sullivan and the Campanile for fillies, go as the co-featured races on Sunday.
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Malibu Win Could Mean Eclipse Award for Dr. Schivel
The race for 2021 champion sprinter looks like a tossup for now between Dr. Schivel (Violence) and Jackie's Warrior (Maclean's Music), but that could change Sunday at Santa Anita.
While Jackie's Warrior is done for the year, Dr. Schivel will try to end 2021 with a victory against brilliant 'TDN Rising Star' Flightline (Tapit) in the GI Runhappy Malibu S., where he could pick up his second Grade I win on the year and his third stakes win overall. Jackie's Warrior ended the year with four stakes wins, but just one, the GI Allen Jerkens Memorial S., at the highest level. The two met for the only time this year in the GI Breeders' Cup Sprint, where Dr. Schivel was second, losing by a nose, and Jackie's Warrior finished sixth as the 1-2 favorite.
“This is a very prestigious race,” said Dr. Schivel's trainer, Mark Glatt. “We're hopeful he does very well and that will be enough for him to earn an Eclipse Award. Obviously, if he wins it will improve his chances considerably. I am told that a lot of the voters have already cast their votes or have already made up their minds. I hope not. How much this race makes a difference to the majority of the voters is kind of hard to say.”
Though he won last year's GI Runhappy Del Mar Futurity for trainer Luis Mendez, Dr. Schivel, a $37,000 RNA as a KEEJAN short yearling, was the forgotten member of the 3-year-old male division for much of the year. After a layoff of more than nine months and after being turned over to Glatt, he returned in June and won an allowance at Santa Anita. Glatt stuck to sprints and Dr. Schivel rewarded him with victories against older horses in the GI Bing Crosby S. and the GII Santa Anita Sprint Championship S. A victory in the Breeders' Cup likely would have clinched year-end honors, but Dr. Schivel lost in what was one of the tightest photos in Breeders' Cup history.
“We got beat in the worst way possible but at least the horse showed up and ran his race, so we were pleased with that,” Glatt said. “The horse ran a heck of a race against a very good group of horses.”
In just about any other race against any other group of horses, a horse with Dr. Schivel's credentials would be the heavy favorite in a spot like the Malibu. But he will have to deal with Flightline, who, in his brief career, has shown that he could be a superstar and will likely be favored Sunday. A $1-million purchase as a yearling at Fasig-Tipton Saratoga, Flightline debuted in March with a 13 1/4-length win in a maiden race at Santa Anita. He didn't resurface until September, when he won a Del Mar allowance race by 12 3/4 lengths, earning a 114 Beyer figure. The 114 is tied with Baby Yoda (Prospective) for the fastest number handed out on the year. Baby Yoda will also run in the Malibu, but is winless in two tries since his big-figure race.
Glatt respects Flightline, but believes his rival has something to prove in what will be his stakes debut.
“He's certainly been very impressive, to say the least,” Glatt said. “He basically manhandled horses and has done things extremely easily against lesser competition. One could say that until he beats stakes caliber horses that he is a little bit unproven. Certainly, his connections are very high on the horse. They've been on the record saying he's America's horse. Unless you're the one trying to outrun him, he's been a fun horse to watch. But you never know how a horse is going to respond when looked in the eye by a horse who has comparable ability. He may very well pass that test with flying colors, but until he does it we don't know. Hopefully, at some point in the race Dr. Schivel will be looking him in the eye. If he's as good as his connections say he is I am sure he will be difficult to outrun. But that's why they run the race.”
Flavien Prat took off Dr. Schivel to ride Flightline. Juan Hernandez has picked up the mount for Glatt.
“That says a lot about what Flavien thinks of that horse,” Glatt said.
Prat also took off 'Rising Star' Triple Tap (Tapit), who is two-for-two lifetime and a half-brother to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile). John Velazquez will be aboard for trainer Bob Baffert.
Timless Bounty (Elusive Hour), Stilleto Boy (Shackleford) and Team Merchants (Nyquist) complete the field for the seven-furlong race.
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Ready For Kickoff: Beholder’s First Foal To Debut Sunday At Santa Anita
The great Beholder, who won Eclipse Awards at ages two, three, five, and six and retired with career earnings of $6.1 million, will be represented on Opening Day by her first foal to race—Q B One, a 3-year-old old colt by Uncle Mo. Like his dam, Q B One is conditioned by Richard Mandella, and he's owned by his breeder, Spendthrift Farm.
Foaled in Kentucky on Jan. 30, 2018, the dark bay or brown colt drew post position four in a field of six going 6 ½ furlongs in Sunday's fourth race.
“I've had him for a bit and he's had some minor problems,” Mandella said, “so he was sent out and came back, but he's doing well now.
“He trains good and I think racing will make him better but I don't know that his mind is really on it yet. We'll get a race into him and I'd expect going short he'll probably settle back and finish well, getting him started for better things down the road.”
Beholder, it's worth noting, ran fourth in her debut race before becoming the first horse since 1976 to win a Grade I race at age two, three, four, and five, and being one of only two horses to ever win three Breeders' Cup races.
Asked if Q B One has shown any qualities that his brilliant mother displayed, without giving away any trade secrets, Mandella responded with a typical quip.
“He has a good appetite,” he said.
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