Crypto Ride is the King Glorious Stakes Value Play

A field of eight California-bred juveniles will travel one mile on the Los Alamitos strip in Sunday’s $100,000 King Glorious S. Black-type winner #1 Giver Not A Taker (2-1) will be tough to upend if he puts forth his best effort for conditioner Peter Miller, but I will focus on another contender in the talented cast.

#5 Crypto Ride (20-1) broke through with a tally in his third career try when toppling maiden claiming foes at Del Mar in his latest venture. Trained by Craig Lewis, the son of Clubhouse Ride gradually wore down a clear leader in that triumph over the course and seems poised for improvement on the stretch-out in trip.

The gelding has displayed a nice turn of foot in his pair of races on the dirt and seems like a natural fit going one mile at this stage of his development. A rallying third prior to breaking tardily at first asking, the two-year-old showed no interest in the lawn in his second lifetime performance but took a big step forward most recently. Sitting closer to the early tempo, the chestnut moved into contention approaching the turn for home and pulled clear late as the 8-5 betting choice.

Crypto Ride comes back relatively quickly, which I like, and I expect him to sit off a contested pace early on before being asked for his best in the stretch. The May foal may not pull off the heist on Sunday, but I do expect him to be in full flight inside the final furlong as a prime top-three contender late. Picking up pilot Umberto Rispoli is a major coup in my opinion, as well.

The aforementioned Giver Not a Taker, the rapidly improving #2 Geezer (5-2), and Michael McCarthy’s #4 Belly Up (7-2) will be included in my exotics wagers.

King Glorious Value Plays

• $10 win and place #5 Crypto Ride ($20)
• $7 exacta box 1-5 ($14)
• $3 exacta key box 5 with 2,4 ($12)
• $1 trifecta key 5 with 1,2,4 ($6)
• $1 trifecta 1,2,4 with 5 with 1,2,4 ($6)