LCD Turf ($100.000 Purse)
FG- For Three Year Olds and Upward Foaled In LA
One Mile and One Sixteenth on the Turf
December 9, 2023

On Saturday, the 15th running of the LCD Turf will take place at FG, and it will send five horses a mile and a sixteenth over the turf course. When the race debuted in 2006, it was unrestricted, and after a year off, it would become a race only for LA-Breds. Purses have been constant since inception. A common theme for this race recently has been Chai Danger in the winner’s circle, as he has won the last two editions, taking it in 2021 in a dead heat and then not having to share the top prize last year. He’s going to be going for the threepeat this year! Can he do it, or will one of the others end the streak? Here’s the field!

#1- Rain Stick (Hrg Stables, ridden by C J Hernandez)- Makes his debut for Hrg Stables in this race following a $12.500 claim in August. After taking the time to get to know his new horse, Hrg Stables has decided to give him quite a test by running him in a stake for the first time. He’s been solid, though maybe not spectacular, in overnights, so it will be interesting to see what adjustments have been for this.

#2- Stratton (Asgar, ridden by J Loveberry)- He’s won just once in eight starts, a victory that came here in March, but he comes into the LCD Turf likely off the best performance of his career. Following a string of mediocre races, Stratton was sent to the $75.000 Let It Ride Stakes at DMR, and was second best, missing by a head. I would not have seen him as one of the top choices there, but now with that behind him, he becomes more appealing.

#3- Chai Danger (Wolf Ridge Stables, ridden by D L Parker)- Looking to win this race for the third year in a row! As mentioned in the introduction, the 2021 win was a dead heat before being the sole victor last year. Those make up two of his ten career wins, over a span of 45 races. He has not won since the LCD Turf of a year ago but has hit the board four times in seven races, all of which are in graded races. Ran second, with a 101 SRF, in the Grade 3 Knickerbocker at AQU for his last start. Top choice here, but his neighbor in the gate can give him a run.

#4- Two For (BomBay Stables, ridden by A Beschizza)- A veteran horse of 24 races, with six wins to his credit. Most of them came in 2022, and he has been winless so far as a five-year-old. That’s mainly because he has been finishing second a lot, with three straight finishes in that spot over his last four races, and two of them have been in a photo. Therefore, he’s not missing by much and with a little more luck we could be talking about him winning multiple races this year. But when Chai Danger is here, and Two For’s liking this year of running in spot two, it may be best to pick him second again.

#5- At The Moon (Asgar, ridden by D Cohen)- A maiden in eight races, and was beaten by eight lengths in his last start, a $30.000 claimer at MNR. That’s not really going to generate excitement, is it? This will be his first race on grass, and he did have a nice work at WO before heading down here. Still going to take a monumental effort to shock this field.

Prediction: 3-4-2-1

— NS

Categories: STAKES ARTICLES, Ungraded