Weekend Stakes Horse Racing Betting: No Rains Means that Santa Anita Will Be Rocking on Saturday

The rains have finally left Southern California. Well, we hope they have. We don’t mind rain out here in SoCal, but when it’s too wet, horseplayers end up having to handicap short fields.

It’s hard to find an overlay in a short field. Santa Anita canceled racing last Saturday which is a damn shame, but those stakes races they intended to run last Saturday didn’t just drift into the ether. They’ll be running those stakes races this weekend.

Let’s take a look at two of those races right now.

Race-day: 2/13/2010

Santa Anita – Race 8

Grade II Santa Margarita Handicap
$250,000 For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Up
1 1/16th miles on Pro-Ride

Life Is Sweet figures to be over bet in this, which is perfectly fine with me. The John Shirreffs’ trained miss fired a lifetime best in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic. I don’t think she follows that race up with another top effort. I’ll try and beat her with the Mike Mitchell trained St. Trinian’s. St. Trinian’s has won her last three races by a combined 14 ¾ lengths. She’s taking a big step up in this but she’s been firing bullets in the morning over at Hollywood Park and Mitchell appears to have her in peak form. I’ll take a shot with her. Mushka lost by 2 ¾ lengths to Life Is Sweet in the BC Ladies’ Classic. She’s a 2.4 million buy sired by Empire Makers. So, I can’t really question her class. Not only that, but Kent Desormeaux flies in to ride. Zardana is actually the better Shirreffs’ horse to bet in this. While Life Is Sweet would prefer more ground, Zardana should be right at home at the 1 1/16th mile distance. Zardana won the Grade II Bayakoa at this distance in her last.

1. St. Trinian’s
2. Mushka
3. Zardana

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Santa Anita – Race 9

Grade II Strub Stakes
$200,000 For Four Year Olds
1 1/8 miles on Pro-Ride

I liked Eagle Poise a lot more last Saturday when he was breaking from the one hole. This Saturday he breaks from the 9 hole. Do I still like him? Well, yeah, but just not as much. Jockey Julien Leparoux just won an Eclipse Award and Bill Mott thinks enough of this guy to put him into a Grade II off of a long layoff. Eagle Poise has never finished off the board in 6 lifetime races over an all weather surface. He’s got a shot. Misremembered just couldn’t get to Man One Rifle in the Grade I Malibu on December 26th. Bettors shouldn’t hold that against the son of Candy Ride who is 1 and 1 out of 2 lifetime races at the 1 1/8th mile distance. Misremembered will go off the chalk in this race. I don’t believe that Massone was going to run in the Strub last Saturday. He will run in it this Saturday and he’s got a shot. Massone shouldn’t have an issue with the Pro-Ride and the switch to jockey Joel Rosario won’t hurt in the least.

1. Eagle Poise
2. Misremembered
3. Massone

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