Betting With, and Against, Anarchist in the Pat O'Brien Stakes

A deep field of 11 will travel seven-eighths on the Del Mar main strip in Saturday’s $250,000 Pat O’Brien S. (G2). The ultra-competitive contest is led by Bing Crosby S. (G1) runner-up #9 Anarchist (7-2) from the barn of Doug O'Neill. By Distorted Humor, the four-year-old colt has paired up monster showings when second to champion Elite Power two back in the True North S. (G2) at Belmont Park, which preceded his fine performance on the local surface in his latest venture.

The Kentucky-bred bay has finished first or second in eight straight showings while in strong current form, and the morning-line choice has an obvious affinity for the Del Mar strip following his most recent endeavor, when an unlucky second in a deep field. Anarchist shows a pair of solid workouts leading up to this contest and wouldn’t be a surprise with Ramon Vazquez in the stirrups once again.

I’m willing to give the talented #7 Spirit of Makena (4-1) a pass for his unplaced showing in the Bing Crosby (G1) last time out. One of two live ones conditioned by George Papaprodromou in the field, the five-year-old son of Ghostzapper had superb form prior to his latest effort and will surely rebound on this occasion. The Kentucky-bred trounced his foes in the Triple Bend S. (G2) at Santa Anita two back, and his best performance will make him very tough over a surface he graduated upon during his first lifetime assignment. Joe Bravo retains the mount.
 
His stablemate, #1 Moose Mitchell (5-1), has rolled home to a trio of facile wins since moving off the lawn, led by a powerful allowance triumph here in his latest endeavor. The Danzing Candy gelding owns a trio of career wins locally and could sit a dream trip from the rail tucked in behind the contested speed in the field. Mario Gutierrez inherits the ride.
 
#8 Visitant (8-1) looks like a synthetic specialist, but the seven-year-old has run some big races on the dirt as well, and I will include him at a nice price. The talented son of Ghostzapper is a multiple stakes winner coming in fresh for a first run for trainer Peter Miller and has the class to be a factor for sure on Saturday. The bay drilled a bullet five panels from the gate most recently and will be tracking the pace early on with Antonio Fresu in the irons.

Anarchist – With

$1 trifecta: 9 with 1,7,8 with all ($27)
$.50-cent superfecta: 9 with 1,7,8 with 1,7,8 with all ($24)

Anarchist – Against

$.50-cent trifecta: 1,7,8 with 1,7,8,9 with all ($40.50)
$2 exacta box: 1,7,8 ($12)