Betting the 2022 California Distaff Handicap on varying budgets

Racing at Santa Anita (Photo by Benoit Photography)

October 14th, 2022

A compact field of five fillies and mares will run about 6 1/2 furlongs down the hillside turf course at Santa Anita in Saturday’s $100,000 California Distaff H. And it looks like a two-horse race to me.

#3 Leggs Galore is 2-for-2 going down the hill and is both the class, and speed, of the field for conditioner Phil D’Amato. By Bayern, the gray is a Grade 2 heroine who sports a superb 9-7-1-0 on the Santa Anita lawn and she comes in off of a pair of sharp five-furlong sprints at Del Mar.

The five-year-old was a facile winner of the Mizdirection S. on the local green in her most recent outing at the trip, and it’s difficult to envision anyone knocking her off if she puts in an effort that is anything resembling her best. Ricardo Gonzalez will guide the California-bred.

If any horse can challenge the short-priced favorite, it will be #4 Eddie’s New Dream, who won the Irish O’Brien S. in her most recent run down the hill for Ben Cecil. The Square Eddie four-year-old has run long on five straight occasions while facing graded foes in three of those affairs, so she will appreciate the cutback in distance and class relief on Saturday.

Eddie’s New Dream has often displayed fine tactical speed, and I believe that the gray filly packs a bigger late punch at sprint distances. The Golden State-bred shows two solid morning moves in advance of Saturday and will have regular pilot Mario Gutierrez in the stirrups.

#2 Rose Dawson has flashed potential for D’Amato, and the lightly-raced stakes heroine will complete the exacta if the second selection fails to fire. By Grazen, the three-year-old was outrun going long at Del Mar in her latest effort, but the sophomore was a late-running second in her lone prior downhill dash and could rally for a share late. The gray will have Juan Hernandez in the silks.