La Canada Stakes (Grade 2)- $200.000 Purse
SA- For Fillies And Mares Four Years Old and Upward
One Mile on the Dirt
January 13, 2018
Welcome to 2018 on HRP! I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday season, and perhaps your horses added to your joy, and not your despair. We are back with the SRF, and here we look at a small four horse field in the 14th running of the La Canada Stakes. Though small, the presence of Wicked Heat in the race gives it instant credibility. Add in Eviction, and there will be no Forgotten Past, figuratively, any way. Sorry, Osmium, couldn’t fit you into that sentence. This appears to be a balanced field, and I feel all four are capable of winning the race. It should be a thriller. Let’s take a look at the field now!
#1- Eviction (Nakamura Stables, ridden by F Prat)- At first, the fact that Eviction has hit the board in 24 of her 25 career races is astonishing. Then, all the small fields that she has run in, takes some of the aura away from that, but it’s still a remarkable run of consistency for this one. She’s tried a few graded stakes since her last such win in 2015, but her biggest win in Nakamura silks came in a small ungraded stake.
#2- Wicked Heat (EasyMoney Stables, ridden by K J Desormeaux)- It’s good to see Wicked Heat come back to the track for her five year old season, but if this is a long year for her of racing, things will have to change from her last start, the BC Fillies and Mares Turf. She had a couple strong turf showing prior to that to get her in that race, but the main track is where she has become a legend in the game. She will still be my pick, as her past does not lie. Needs a very good showing here.
#3- Forgotten Past (Mb Stables, ridden by R Bejarano)- The countdown for the trainer for 500 career graded stake wins is now at 41. This is something that I will be tracking for the year, as it is a monumental achievement in my eyes. Forgotten Past was also a BC runner, as she ran in the BC Distaff, but could only finish 8th. Prior to that, she had a pair of wins, which puts her in the same category as Wicked Heat in the regard. Might be a little better at this distance then her chief rival.
#4- Osmium (D J C Racing Stables, ridden by J Talamo)- As of press time, the jockey has been off to a slow start with just one win in his first 17 starts of the year. Osmium has won at a good clip, taking four of her ten races, and she has gradually been increasing the quality of her wins. Late in 2017, she would win the Grade 3 Turn Back The Alarm at BEL. Despite always seeming to go off at high odds, she always manages to be a threat and that will continue here.
Prediction: 2-3-4-1
— NS
Categories: Grade II, STAKES ARTICLES
