San Pasqual Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Four Year Olds and Upward
One Mile and One Eighth on the Dirt
February 2, 2019

With this race, we take a break from the KYD and KYO point races to look at a group of older horses, which include a few horses who experienced the TC chase themselves last year. It’s the 14th running of the San Pasqual Stakes at SA, and the race has seen previous KYD winners go to the winners circle here as well. Look no further then last years winner, Shootfromthehip, who won the Derby in 2017. Further back, Five Fives took home the trophy in 2011. If you’re reading this, you know what he did! Last year was also the first time that the race went nine furlongs, as it previously had been 8.5. We’ll have eleven going to post, so let’s meet them now!

#1- Red Zero (Angelos Stable, ridden by H Figueroa)- The five year old gelding looks to extend his winning streak to four, after taking the win in an open allowance here last month. Prior to that, he also won the Grade 3 Harlan out at GP. So far, the Harlan has been his only stake attempt out of his 27 career races. This is clearly a horse that is getting better with age, but it is a possible concern that this is his fourth race in ten weeks?

#2- Unworthy (LionKing Stables, ridden by C S Nakatani)- Boasts an impressive eight wins out of 12 career starts, and was riding a hot streak of five wins in six starts, before being claimed by free track master, Tinkey, for $45.000. Tinkey ran him twice at the free track, winning one of them. Not concerned about the one he didn’t win, as that was a sprint. Tinkey auctioned him off to LionKing Stables for $44.000, and now he makes his graded debut. He has an ungraded stake win from December 2017 in his history.

#3- Fox News (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by C J Lanerie)- Had a chance to run in the KYD last year, and finished in the middle of the field. This time last year, he was running in the Holy Bull, and placing fourth. Since then, he’s been hit and miss. Hits include running second in the BC Dirt Mile. When you want to get impressed with that, and other performances, he tosses in races like the Haskell and Malibu, where he never gets involved. He doesn’t have two of those races in a row, though, and is known for following them up with a win. The trainer hopes that is true again.

#4- La Lune Rain (Mb Stables, ridden by F Geroux)- There will be three in the race representing Mb Stables, and they all seem to have a pretty equal chance here. La Lune Rain has had an interesting history that has seen himswitch trainer hands pretty often, and not a lot of stability on whether he is going short or long. It doesn’t look as though that is a product of him being versatile, but rather unable to find his niche. He has run in graded stakes, then followed them up with $18.000 allowances. None of his wins have been in a stake either.

#5- Game Cent (Mb Stables, ridden by T Gaffalione)- Since being claimed for $37.500 from Smokey Stover, Game Cent has become a veteran of the starter allowance, as well as a master of running on off tracks. He has two wins in such races thus far. Mixed in between those results was an attempt at the Grade 3 ONT Derby, where he finished out of the money. That’s rare for him, because he has been in the money in 13 of 15 career starts. There’s a lot to like about this one, but the burning question surrounding him, is can he make this jump forward in his career, or is he simply a great starter allowance horse?

#6- Liverpool Rocket (Estero Farms, ridden by P Lopez)- Another one in this field who was able to run in the KYD, and for Liverpool Rocket, he was able to enjoy his stablemate’s win and was fifth himself. That’s a bit of a career highlight, though, because his five starts after has seen three 8th place finishes, with a 10th and an 11th mixed in. The trainer has not backed down from his placement, but he is going to have to justify that confidence eventually. This race is not quite as strong as others he has been in recently, so I think this is a “show me” race. He is capable, but there will be no excuses, either.

#7- Jail Break (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by T C Baze)- After several impressive finishes, this gelding now officially makes his graded debut, and it may be long overdue. He has won half of his starts (5 of 10), and has been part of the exacta in his last eight, two of which were ungraded stakes. He seems to be particularly impressive at a mile, but can go this distance just as well. Speed figures are great, and for me the only question is why has it taken so long to get him this start? Definitely a factor here.

#8- Pomodoro (Aer Stables, ridden by G Boulanger)- Acquired from LionKing Stables in private sales for $35.000 in September, Aer Stables has already gotten tremendous value from his purchase. The first two starts together were great enough, but then in the Grade 3 Valedictory Stakes, he picked up a big win. While the purse for this race is not greatly different, the actual competition he faces is a lot better, but I like how Pomodoro has stepped up and always seems to be in the mix of all of his races.

#9- Pauls Checkmark (Mb Stables, ridden by J Bravo)- Made one attempt at the KYD Chase, running in the SA Derby last April, but a dismal showing in that race led him to be seen mainly in starter allowances after that. He performed well in those, and has since resurfaced into ungraded stakes. This, however, will be his third race in five weeks, and that does not often go well.

#10- Combat Wombat (Maxmillion Farm, ridden by D Davis)- On paper, this is your horse to beat. There is no denying the run of form that he is on, plus it would seem that he has so much more that he can accomplish, as he has only made six starts in his career. In just his fourth start, he won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic at DMR, and at the BC, he was second in the BC Classic. He comes into this race off of the BC Classic run, so the intriguing thing about him is indeed, how much more could he really do? His four year old season starts here, so we will begin to get that answer. He is the favorite, naturally, but there are a couple in here who will make sure he earns it.

#11- Eclipse My Knowledge (Nakamura Stables, ridden by F Prat)- The Knowledge Geek gelding is no stranger to the graded ranks, but he is to their winner circle. In eight graded starts, he is winless, but the flip side of that is that he has cashed some sort of check in all but one of them. So, he would seem to be on the cusp of such a win. Don’t think that’s going to happen here, though, but the race could set up for him pretty well, as long as he can manage the outside post early on.

Prediction: 10-3-7-1

— NS

Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES