LCD Turf ($100.000 Purse)
FG- For Three Year Olds and Upward Foaled in LA
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
December 11, 2022

There is plenty of state bred racing on the schedule at FG this Saturday, and one of the races on the card is the 14th running of the LCD Turf, which sends the field a little more than a mile on the grass. It first appeared on the schedule in 2006 but has not been contested every year. Last year, we had a dead heat for the win, which was one of multiple dead heats on the card in these LA-bred stakes. For this race, it was Chai Danger and Raccoonimus Maximus sharing the spoils, for Wolf Ridge Stables and Night Rider Stables, respectively. Comparing them this year, Chai Danger has had the better 2022, with three wins in eight starts, including two more ungraded stake victories. He’s going to try and duplicate the feat of winning this race and will have six looking to keep him from accomplishing that. Here’s a look at them!

#1- Bubble Bubble (Angelos Stable, ridden by J Loveberry)- A veteran five-year-old gelding that has managed ten wins over thirty career starts, and three of them have come this year. We last saw him on the track two months ago at PRX in the $100.000 Bucks County, which at the time was also after another two-month layoff. He’d win the race, doing so by half a length. It’d be nice to see him have more than one race since late July, but he is fresh.

#2- Chai Danger (Wolf Ridge Stables, ridden by C J Hernandez)- Last year, he was the best of the best, winning the race but had to share the winner’s circle. So, he can do a little better this year by winning the race outright. It’s been a fine season for him, which has seen him be part of the exacta six of eight times and earning another LA-bred win in the LA Cup Turf Classic in early August. Two seconds at PRX followed that, and he’ll return here possibly looking better than he did before this race last year.

#3- Louisiana Chicken (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by D Cohen)- Purchased in private sales for $25.000 in December, and has been given plenty of opportunities to step up. He has not really done so, going winless since the sale and a couple of no-shows turned in graded stakes over the fall, and then a similar disappointment in a CD allowance a couple weeks ago. His works say he should be getting results. Perhaps this can be the day.

#4- Cp Good Moon (Asgar, ridden by T J Hebert)- Here’s a gelding that has been seen in several LA-bred races over his career, and while he has not won any, he’s been the runner up a couple times. That would include the LA Cup Turf Classic, where he was second to Chai Danger, but beaten by two and a half lengths. Comes here off a win in a $50.000 claimer in his last start and that has clearly reignited Asgar’s confidence in him.

#5- Early Man (Arindel, ridden by R Gutierrez)- The 4th of July was a long time ago. For Early Man, it was also the last time he appeared in a race, throwing up a dud in the $100.000 Manila. After that, he probably needed some time off, and Arindel gave it to him. Early Man has had an inconsistent history, but he is still early enough in his career to turn things around. Rest can help, whether it is just for one race or for his entire career.

#6- The Tonight Show (Rock Creek, ridden by I J Rosendo)- He’s not quite the highest earner in the field, but having made much fewer starts than Bubble Bubble, he might be a little more impressive. A big part of those earnings came last year, when he ran third in the BC Juvenile Turf. This year, he was not able to follow that up in several graded opportunities, although for a little while he was adequately competitive. He took a step back last month, although the allowance he was in still had a $130.000 purse It was a promising runner up, and I think it can serve as a good confidence booster.

#7- Timber Lacy (T Boy Racing, ridden by M Murrill)- In August, this one also appeared in the LA Cup Turf Classic, and while he was third, he was beaten by Chai Danger by four lengths, and even was a length and a half behind Cp Good Moon. His last two starts have been wins, though, although not for the greatest possible stakes: coming at LAD and TUP. It’s possible he could sneak into the trifecta, but I would not put him on top.

Prediction: 6-2-1-4

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded