Crimson and Gold finds her spot on the turf

There was no graded racing at Santa Anita this past week.

Track Stats

From a total of 36 races held over the Arcadia, California, racetrack during the past week, favorites won at a 39 percent clip and the top two betting choices combined for 61 percent of the wins. From 25 frays contested on the dirt oval, six animals won in wire-to-wire fashion (24 percent), while one of the 11 grassy runs this past week was taken in wire-to-wire fashion (9 percent).

We couldn’t have asked for a better main oval in terms of fairness this week. Horses on the front end, others who stalked the pace and even a few who charged home first after being last early, go the job done this week. Of the six wire jobs, five came in sprint runs.

The lone grassy winner to lead at every call came in the form of a two-turn outing.

Meet Totals

RACES:		220
DIRT:		148
TURF:		72
FAVORITES:		74 (34 percent)
2ND CHOICES:		44 (20 percent)
TURF WIRE:		10 (14 percent)
DIRT WIRE:		43 (29 percent)

HORSES TO WATCH

Thursday (6/9)

2ND – Trainer Keith Desormeaux doesn’t win at a very high rate first out, so when MISS SOUTHERN MISS (More Than Ready) rolled home to a big debut score in this dash, we took notice. The juvenile filly will likely be a mainstay in the stakes ranks in this division for the rest of the year.

Friday (6/10)

3RD – EILEEN’S GIRL (Medaglia d’Oro) got overtaken inside the final furlong in this run, but the Peter Eurton trainee showed nice improvement and we imagine this one will be graduating before long. The three-year-old filly was more than five lengths clear of her nearest foe and showed some heart in the lane.

Saturday (6/11)

1ST – MIDNIGHT HAWK (Midnight Lute) swept to the lead in early stretch and held a clear margin to the wire on the class drop in this winning effort. We think trainer David Jacobson might have made a nice claim of this one, who still has run left in him when properly placed.

5TH – The Dan Hendricks-trained THERMODYNAMICS (The Pamplemousse) showed no signs of rust in a first outing since the summer when rolling home a fine winner under Joe Talamo. The four-year-old filly could be in line for a productive second half of 2016 with improvement going forward.

11TH – CRIMSON AND GOLD (Distorted Humor) surely responded to the move to the lawn and stretch out in trip with a last-to-first maiden score in this finale. The Paddy Gallagher charge should surely remain on the lawn in the future after showing a big turn of foot in this affair.

Sunday (6/12)

4TH – OHIO (Brz) (Elusive Quality) tracked while close to the top of the lane and proved best late in a sharp allowance tally for conditioner Paulo Lobo. The five-year-old has really looked the part visually from a pair of grassy runs since coming to the United States, and he will be stakes bound next time for sure.

A Look Ahead

Saturday will play host to the $200,000 Summertime Oaks (G2), which is expected to include unbeaten champion Songbird, while the Sunday feature is the $200,000 Honeymoon S. (G2).