3/30/24

   7   GP    The Orchid (GIII)         

$150.000       4yo&Up F&M       1 1/12m  inTurf     124lbs

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The RL version of this race is run on the main turf… why we continue to run on the (non-existent) inner is another sign of laziness and incompetence.  But I digress…   the field for The Orchid (GIII), a marathon sod event for the older ladies, it’s a spring-time staple that I’ve always enjoyed… maybe not as much as four-time winner Maggie Greene, who goes for the gold once again as a 9yo, but a race that is always fun.  In what has to be another (999th) coincidence, my interpreted favorites are all boxed in the outside posts again… I’m giving the big barn the nod to get it done today.  Raw And Real keeps cashing check for Mb Stable, and no reason to think any other way here.  She closed out ’23 with a runner-up effort in the American Oaks (GI) and then did the same in her ’24 debut, the Santa Ana (GIII), both of those at SA.  I think a repeat of either race is probably good enough.  Let’s stay out this way and give November Storm a look as well, making this a strong one-two punch for the big barn.  5-4-2 from fourteen races, her only recent blemish was that less-than enthralling effort in the Peg FM Turf (GIII), but she came back to be a fast closing third in the Very One (GIII), both of those here at GP, so expect more of the same.  In between that duo is All By Myself, winner of the Red Carpet (GIII) at DMR, to close out her ’23 campaign.  She was a disappointing sixth in the Santa Ana (GIII), but I think she can rebound from that one and show a bit more today… but don’t forget Maggie… wake up Maggie.  

Here’s The Field –

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1	Poetic Panther		Maletto		Rodriguez Jam		124		8/1
2	Maggie Greene		The Sidley Stud		Hernandez R M		124		6/1
3	Voltaire		Threshold		Gallardo A A		124		10/1
4	Creepy Lady Party		Martyparty		Ortiz I Jr		124		9/2
5	Ginger Lucy		The Sidley Stud		Centeno D E		124		6/1
6	Ethereum Star		Smokey Stover		Elliott S		124		9/2
7	She Can Look		D J C Racing Stables		Pennington F		124		6/1
8	Swam Pass		TwinTowersRacing		Cedillo A		124		10/1
9	November Storm		Mb Stables		Prat F		124		7/2
10	All By Myself		TwinTowersRacing		Bridgmohan S X		124		4/1
11	Raw And Real		Mb Stables		Gaffalione T		124		3/1

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COZMAN 11 / 9 / 10         Willie’s Green Card   9 / 3 / 6            

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