santa anita | Horse Racing Free Tips

Santa Anita Moves Friday Card to Monday

With Friday's weather forecast calling for a 90% chance of rain in Arcadia, Santa Anita Park, in consultation with the Thoroughbred Owners of California and the CHRB, will shift Friday's eight-race program to Monday, Mar. 7 with first post time at 12:30 p.m. Accordingly, there will be no re-draw, with Monday's program now scheduled as an exact replica of what had been planned for Friday.

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First Captain First, Triple Tap Third in Returns

A pair of highly touted sophomores returned to make their 4-year-old debuts with mixed results Sunday. First Captain (Curlin), sent off the 4-5 favorite in a seven-furlong allowance at Gulfstream Sunday, looked to have left himself too much to do before making a furious late rally to win by a head in his first start since finishing third in the Curlin S. last summer. The 'TDN Rising Star' and $1.5-million Fasig-Tipton Saratoga yearling won last year's GIII Dwyer S. for West Point Thoroughbreds, Siena Farm, Bobby Flay and Woodford Racing and trainer Shug McGaughey.

Less successful on return was Summer Wind Equine's homebred Triple Tap (Tapit), a half-brother to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah who was making his first start since finishing fourth in the Dec. 26 GI Malibu S. in a seven-furlong optional claimer at Santa Anita. The 1-5 favorite, facing just three rivals, chased pacesetting Fore Left (Twirling Candy), but was hemmed in by Dark Vadar (Tale of Ekati) for much of the stretch. Finally finding clear sailing, Triple Tap made late progress, but could do no better than third as Dark Vadar nipped Fore Left for the win.

Triple Tap, tabbed a 'TDN Rising Star' following his debut win at Santa Anita last March, added a Nov. 5 optional claimer at Del Mar before suffering his first loss when well-beaten behind Flightline (Tapit) in the Malibu.

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New Rising Star at Santa Anita for Quality Road

Baoma Corp.'s Ganadora (Quality Road), installed the 6-5 choice in this first go, slugged it out early with So It Would Seem (Honor Code), but was peerless in the stretch, running away to win by an impressive 6 1/2-length margin over 2-1 second choice Lady T (Into Mischief). Mixing it up through a sharp opening pace in :21.58 and :44.74, the $1-million KEESEP buy kicked clear turning for home and proved much the best late to earn 'TDN Rising Star' honors. So It Would Seem faded to second last. Ganadora is the 11th 'Rising Star' for her sire Quality Road and the fifth for that stallion hailing from the Bob Baffert barn. Three of the previous four Baffert-trained Quality Road 'Rising Stars', Corniche, Roadster and Klimt, have gone on to be Grade I winners.

The filly is out of Grade III-placed Beloveda (Ghostzapper), who began her racing career in Poland before being imported to the States. Gainesway originally secured the mare in partnership with Michael Hernon for $205,000 at the 2013 FTKFEB sale. Her 2016 Scat Daddy filly, SP Mistress of Love, summoned $1-million at KEESEP and her 2018 filly Hana Road (Quality Road) was a $450,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga grad before Ganadora gave the mare her second seven-figure sale. Gainesway bought out Hernon at the 2021 FTKFEB sale, where the mare hammered for $510,000. Beloveda is also responsible for a juvenile filly by Empire Maker and a yearling filly by Street Sense. She was bred back to Nyquist.

6th-Santa Anita, $69,912, Msw, 2-26, 3yo, f, 6 1/2f, 1:17.15, ft, 6 1/2 lengths.
GANADORA, f, 3, Quality Road
1st Dam: Beloveda {GSP, $244,926}, by Ghostzapper)
2nd Dam: Mysterious Angel, by Saint Ballado
3rd Dam: Orange Sickle, by Rich Cream
$1,000,000 Ylg '20 KEESEP. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $40,200.
O-Baoma Corporation; B-Gainesway Thoroughbreds Ltd, Brian Graves & Michael E. Hernon (KY); T-Bob Baffert.
Click for the Equibase.com chart, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO, sponsored by TVG.

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Sunday Insights: Fancy Colts Make 4-Year-Old Debuts on Both Coasts

Sponsored by Alex Nichols Agency

10th-GP, $63K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, 7f, 5:14 p.m. ET

'TDN Rising Star' First Captain (Curlin) makes his 4-year-old debut against a relatively accomplished field here. The $1.5-million FTSAUG yearling kicked off his career three-for-three, annexing the one-turn-mile GIII Dwyer S. at Belmont in July. He has been off since finishing third as the favorite in Saratoga's restricted nine-panel Curlin S. later that month, and trainer Shug McGaughey told TDN's Steve Sherack recently that the son of MGSW and MGISP America (A.P. Indy) was given a freshening without a specific issue or injury.

“There really wasn't anything the matter with him, I just wasn't altogether pleased of where I stood with him, so I thought, 'Well, let's just give him some time,'” McGaughey said. “Time helped him a lot. He was at Barry Eisaman's and he did a great job with him. He got out here and had a really good bottom in him and he's been breezing ever since.”

First Captain will take on the likes of GSWs Trophy Chaser (Twirling Candy) and Dennis' Moment (Tiznow) and stakes winners Real Talk (Gemologist) and Hello Hot Rod (Mosler). TJCIS PPs

7th-SA, $72K, Alw/OC, 4yo/up, 7f, 6:47 p.m. ET

The Bob Baffert barn has a pair of talented if lightly raced 4-year-olds signed on here in 'TDN Rising Star' Triple Tap (Tapit) and sale topper Shaaz (Uncle Mo). The former, a Summer Wind Equine homebred, is a half to none other than Triple Crown winner and Horse of the Year American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile) and a full to GISW juvenile Chasing Yesterday. He took his track-and-trip debut almost a year ago, and resurfaced on Breeders' Cup weekend at Del Mar to clear another condition. The chestnut was last seen finishing a distant fourth to fellow Summer Wind-bred Tapit colt and brilliant 'Rising Star' Flightline in the GI Runhappy Malibu S. Dec. 26.

Michael Lund Petersen's Shaaz (Uncle Mo), meanwhile, fetched $1.1 million at the 2020 Fasig-Tipton Midlantic sale off a :10 flat breeze. The half-brother to Grade II-winning grasser Azar (Scat Daddy) from a very deep female family earned a gaudy 105 Beyer Speed Figure when besting another stablemate narrowly in a maiden event on the Malibu undercard. He crossed the line second at 3-10 in a first-level optional claimer Feb. 5, only to be put up by the stewards in a decision that yielded plenty of chatter on twitter. TJCIS PPs

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