Ambitious Brew thrives on Los Alamitos dirt track; Baffert sends out a couple of nice juvenile winners
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September 15th, 2015
LOS ALAMITOS NOTEBOOK
There was no graded action over the opening weekend at Los Alamitos.
Track Stats
From a total of 34 races held at the Southern California racetrack during the past week, favorites won at a 35 percent clip and the top two betting choices combined for 56 percent of the wins. Six races were won in wire-to-wire fashion (18 percent) and there is no turf racing at this venue.
As was the case last meeting, we prefer horses racing a bit off the rail as it simply produces a lot of winners at Los Alamitos. There were six wire jobs during opening week, four in sprint runs and the other pair in route events. Three came on Friday, with the other trio occurred on Sunday.
Meet Totals
|
Races: |
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34 |
|
Dirt: |
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34 |
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Favorites: |
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12 (35%) |
|
2ND Choices: |
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7 (20%) |
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Dirt Wire: |
|
6 (18%) |
HORSES TO WATCH
Thursday (9/10)
2ND – QUIETASACAT (Elusive Quality) broke best, settled in a good spot and stayed on to be a nice second in his first race since 2012. The Carla Gaines-trained five-year-old burned some money but should only improve off this run going forward.
3RD – LEMHILL BASR (Quality Road) forced the early pace, took a short edge at the top of the lane and pulled away to a smart debut tally under Martin Garcia. The Bob Baffert-trained filly brought a bundle at auction and could be any kind on any surface, as she progresses.
Friday (9/11)
1ST – As we’ve mentioned in the past, MAY B (Werblin) can be sharp on his best days and this was one of them as the Mark Glatt trainee dominated from the opening bell. The gelding only beat $8,000 claimers on this day but looks too good for these when he fires.
4TH – Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer unveiled a nice one when I WILL SCORE (Roman Ruler) did just that in fine fashion. The juvenile colt drew off to a 6 ½-length win with relative ease and will be stakes bound next time.
MIGHTY MOSES (Candy Ride) had little chance with the sharp winner in this maiden heat, but he did finish a clear second in a productive debut showing for Baffert. Tab this colt as a graduate in the very near future.
Saturday (9/12)
8TH – AMBITIOUS BREW (Tizbud) has now posted a pair of big runs on the Los Al dirt oval despite running mostly on the turf in his career, scoring by an easy 1 ¾-length margin over listed foes, and we expect Marty Jones to keep this one on dirt tracks going forward.
SOI PHET (Tizbud) had awful form coming in but hinted that he may be back to the better version of himself, recording a nice runner-up effort versus stakes rivals. The seven-year-old gelding was well clear in second and shouldn’t be taken lightly next out.
Sunday (9/13)
3RD – MADAME AAMOURA (Zensational) finally broke through, and in a big way, posting a dominant maiden score for Baffert. The sophomore miss is very consistent and in a nice form cycle, so we expect her to be a contender with winners next time.
7TH – PEBBLE BEACH BABY (Rock Hard Ten) showed no rust from the May layoff, offering a very strong closing kick to win over a useful allowance group under Tiago Pereira. The Phil d’Amato pupil closed in a race where no others did and looks like one who might even improve second off the layoff.
8TH – Baffert’s MT VEEDER (Ghostzapper) sped to the front and never looked back in posting a facile stakes win in his second lifetime performance. Scratched from the Del Mar Futurity (G1), the August 15 debut winner has been especially sharp both times and may continue to develop into a formidable performer.
A Look Ahead
Juveniles take center stage this weekend in a pair of two-year-old stakes. Saturday features the $100,000 Barretts Debutante S., while Sunday’s topper is the $100,000 Barretts Juvenile S.
Ambitious Brew winning the E.B. Johnston courtesy of Benoit Photo
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