The following Gold Cup race preview and free trifecta pick is reposted via permission of ScoresandStats.com
Betting the
Holiday Weekend Card at Santa Anita Park
The best in
horse betting this Memorial Day holiday weekend is on the West Coast at Santa
Anita Park. This Sunday’s racing lineup at Santa Anita is highlighted by the
Grade 2 Triple Bend Stakes as one of three major graded stakes events on the
live card.
The other two
major betting events on Sunday’s card are Grade 3 Daytona Stakes and the Grade
3 Honeymoon Stakes. Both of these races will be run on the turf. The Daytona is
a 6.5 furlong sprint for horses four and older. The Honeymoon covers 1 1/8
miles on turf and it is open to three-year old fillies.
Monday’s
featured race is the annual Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes with a total
prize purse of $400,000. Contested over 1 ¼ miles on the dirt at Santa Anita, a
talented field of Thoroughbreds three and older is coming together for this
race.
Complementing
the Gold Cup Stakes on Monday’s card is the Grade 1 Shoemaker Mile for some of
the best turf racers three and older. Also on Monday’s card is the Grade 1
Gamely Stakes on the turf for fillies and mares three and older.
As far as
betting both days of racing at Santa Anita, I focused most of my attention on
the projected field for this year’s Hollywood Gold Cup as the biggest betting
event over the Memorial Day weekend. Horse Racing Nation has identified seven
probable entries for Monday’s main event and the following three would be my
picks for a winning trifecta play.
Monday, May 30
Hollywood
Gold Cup Stakes – Santa Anita Park
Win:
Stilleto Boy
Fresh off a
victory in this year’s Grade 2 Californian Stakes at Santa Anita on April 30,
this four-year old gelding should be the class of the field for this race as
well. Trained by Steve Moger, he has now placed in the money in six of his last
seven events. Four of the races were run at Santa Anita to provide even more
home track advantage for Monday’s main event.
Sired by Shackleford,
a few other career highlights include a third-place finish in this year’s Grade
1 Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in late January. His most memorable run
last year was a second-place finish at Santa Anita in the Grade 1 Awesome Again
Stakes.
Place: Royal
Ship
Trainer Richard
Mandella is looking to run Royal Ship in this year’s Gold Cup after posting an
impressive victory at Santa Anita in the ungraded John Shear Mile on April 10.
His winning time in that race was 1:36.07 while running past Triple Tap and
Affable to get the win. This was the only race this year for the six-year old
gelding.
While I am not
sure he can get past Stilleto Boy on Monday given the added distance of this
race, Royal Ship would be the next best horse in the projected field if he
runs.
Show:
Spielberg
Once a hot
commodity as a promising three-year old, this four-year old Kentucky-bred colt
continues to be competitive in any race he runs. He was third behind Stilleto
Boy and Express Train in April’s Californian Stakes. He also finished just
outside the money in this year’s Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap in early March.
Trained by Sean
McCarthy, the son of Union Rags has run the best races of his career at a
slightly longer distance.
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