ARCADIA, Calif. – Winter racing in Southern California is changing after the collapse of the Northern California circuit. Friday at Santa Anita, that is a good thing.
A pair of 10-runner fields – the meet’s biggest fields on dirt – include an eligibility tweak. Races 4 and 6, sprint and route, are $8,000 starter/optional $10,000 claiming races. The tweak is both races are “restricted to horses and horsemen based in Northern California since Jan. 1, 2024.”
With no racing in Northern California until summer, a host of horses from that circuit entered Friday. It’s a new look for Santa Anita. Every horse in the two starter/claiming races made their most recent start at Pleasanton, and most will be making their first start in Southern California.
Those include race 4 entrant Horse Doctor, the most likely winner of the 5 1/2-furlong sprint. A 10-time winner from 32 starts, Horse Doctor finished second in both recent starts in fast races and is listed as the 7-2 second choice on the morning line. Based on speed figures, Horse Doctor is faster than 3-1 program favorite Halo Rando.
Race 6 favorite Tesoro stretches to a mile while taking a dubious drop. Tesoro missed by less than a length last out in a $25,000 claiming sprint and shows up Friday for the $10,000 optional claiming tag. It’s a negative drop by the eight-time winner. Tesoro’s rivals include potential overlay Upstart Yankee and late-runner Nolde. Ten of the 11 entered in race 6 can run.
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While the races restricted to Northern California shippers add an element of uncertainty to the pick six (races 4-9), the local horses are easier to interpret. Those include runners in the featured eighth race, a 6 1/2-furlong second-level allowance/optional $80,000 claiming sprint.
Roll On Big Joe enters as the logical choice based on in-the-money finishes in his last three starts. Those include a runner-up finish to subsequent Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Straight No Chaser in the Grade 2 Santa Anita Sprint Championship on Sept. 29, followed by a third and a second in allowance races.
Bob Hess Jr. trains Roll On Big Joe, who drew the outside post (7 of 7) under jockey Umberto Rispoli. Roll On Big Joe, the 2-1 program favorite, figures for a pace-pressing trip.
Positivity looms an upset candidate in his second start following a one-year layoff. Previously trained by Kristin Mulhall, who retired and relocated, Positivity is now trained by George Papaprodromou. The gelding figures to improve second start back.
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The comeback by Positivity on Dec. 17 at Los Alamitos was his first start in more than a year. He ran like a horse who needed one. Positivity dueled and surrendered in the stretch. He finished fifth of five. With a comeback under his belt, Positivity should improve under Frankie Dettori.
Slider returns to preferred footing after finishing next to last on turf. John Sadler trains Slider, a stakes winner on turf as a 2-year-old but whose fastest races are on dirt. Sadler also entered For All Mankind. Others include Moose Mitchell, Agency, and Misson Beach.
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