Sham Stakes Weekend RESULTS - Super Screener
Super Screener

Sham Stakes Weekend RESULTS

Photo by Alex Evers/Eclipse Sportswire

G3 Sham

The first Kentucky Derby prep of 2017 was as formful as they get and as we projected, not a wagering opportunity.  On the sealed sloppy track, Gormley tracked Bob Baffert-trained American Anthem to prevail by just a head over that rival for the win.  American Anthem was game in defeat and expect this one to move forward in a big way next out on a dry track.  This pair cleared the rest of the field by 13 lengths with D’Amato-trained, Big Hit, easily finishing 3rd.

 

G3 San Gabriel

Don’t know about you, but I am already tired of Winter and the havoc it is wreaking on track surfaces.  Yet, another weekend of rain in the LA area (which is badly needed) took this G1 turf race of the turf.  Why Santa Anita management decided to not run this race on a yielding turf course is beyond me.  The result was a field reduced by 4 horses including the Super Screener top pick, #3 Flamboyant, which was wisely scratched to run another day on firm turf.  The one consolation in this race was the fact that our top long shot pick, #1 Blue Tone, scored in wire-to-wire fashion keying a #2 Exacta worth $126.  Here’s what the Super Screener said about this game 8 year-old:

 

“TOP LONG SHOT (Blue Tone) Screener doesn’t often rate 8 yr olds this high but recent form can not be denied.  Never been on turf but the combo of Hess/Desormeaux and excellent synthetics surface record suggests dirt form will transfer well.”

 

Ginger Brew Stakes

A top Super Screener “A” horse, #7 Bellavais scores in come from behind style at odds of 9-2 which came up light since we were expecting far more value but the inside money was in play as was confirmed by the disparate ratio between the win and place pools for that filly.  Trainer James Toner’s is really sharp at moving lightly raced fillies up in class and winning these kind of races.  Here’s what the Super Screener had to say about #7 Bellavais:

 

“(Bellavais) Steps up here but Toner-trained fillies can move up effectively and offer value to boot. Hasn’t missed the Trifecta in 3 lifetime starts.  Drop back in distance helps…right energy distribution for this turf course. Sneaky good here.”

 

Another Super Screener top long shot pick, #2 India Mantuana, delivers big time completing a juicy $2 Exacta of $126.60.  Definitely a horse-for-course with a balanced energy distribution profile that went off at incredible odds of 16-1.  No question, the Super Screener zeroed in effectively on this productive filly:

 

“TOP LONG SHOT (India Mantuana) Heavily raced filly won on this course twice in last 3 starts and moves up against these.  While she does not project to move forward  just holding current form makes her a viable board hitter at a price.”

 

Mucho Macho Man Stakes

Super Screener, plain and simple, just got this race wrong.  Todd Pletcher really wanted to run Sonic Mule in the 7-furlong Hutcheson but when that race didn’t fill he opted to run this committed “sprinter” in the 1-mile Mucho Macho Man.  Super Screener took that information into consideration and even ranked this horse lower than how he figured based on pace/speed analysis.   

 

Top Super Screener win pick, #11 Hemsworth, was never in the race and was ultimately pulled up so there was clearly a problem with that colt.  The only saving grace in this race was the fact that, once again, a Super Screener top long shot pick, #2 Sweetontheladies got up for 4th at 14-1 to complete a $1 Superfecta payoff of nearly $5,000.

  

“TOP LONG SHOT (Sweetontheladies) Natural pace leader despite the come from behind victory last out when the colt broke slow.  Resumes the front running role which will be tough to overcome but has strong late pace and 2 for 2 at GP.”

 

But, when you don’t get 2nd and 3rd place right, prospects for a cash out diminish.  Good to hear that many of you are taking our top long shot picks and using them alone in 3rd and 4th and doing quite well with that strategy using horses you like in the win spot.  In the meantime, we’ll keep feeding you those live long shots!

 

Next weekend we have two enticing G2 Stakes races to look forward to including the La Canada Stakes at Santa Anita and the Fort Lauderdale Stakes to be run at Gulfstream Park which is also the host of the G3 Hal’s Hope Stakes for 3 year olds to be run at the one-mile distance. And, then the Stakes racing action continues to heat up from there as we swing into one of the best times of the racing calendar.

 

Until next weekend…Go fast and win!
Mike