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SANTA ANITA NOTEBOOK APRIL 14, 2010 by John Mucciolo A lone graded event led the way at Santa Anita during the past week. Las Cienegas H. (G3): Harris Farms and Donald Valpredo's homebred UNZIP ME (City Zip) took command soon after the start and drove home a convincing, 1 1/4-length winner of this turf dash for conditioner Marty Jones. The streaking four-year-old sped about 6 1/2 furlongs down the hill in a swift 1:12 4/5 beneath Joe Talamo. Track Stats From a total of 42 races held over the Arcadia racetrack during the five-day race week, favorites won at a 31 percent clip and the top two betting choices combined for 50 percent of the wins. From 26 frays contested on the Pro-Ride oval, eight animals won in wire-to-wire fashion (31 percent), while three of the 16 grassy tussles went all the way on the lead (18 percent). Just two runners breaking from outer posts won on the main track this week from 26 Pro-Ride races, with eight of those winners leaving from the rail. Some of that is attributed to small fields, though, as we witnessed winners in all varieties. Saturday and Sunday had a combined five wire-to-wire winners from 10 main-track events. Meet Totals
HORSES TO WATCH Wednesday (4/7) 5TH -- TEAFATILLER (In Excess [Ire]) was a fairly convincing winner on this day and could win right back with any improvement for conditioner Bruce Jackson. Thursday (4/8) 3RD -- We've been waiting a while for PARTYWITHLARRYZ (Beau Genius) to put forth a showing like this, and the class drop seemed to do the trick for conditioner Doug O'Neill. The late-running gelding finished off his final quarter-mile in a solid :23 2/5 while missing by a slim margin. 4TH -- The well-bred UNIONIZE (Dixie Union) returned from a lengthy break to break through with a win for Clifford Sise Jr., completing his final two panels in a swift :23 1/5. The four-year-old is a strong win-back threat and we would not be surprised to see him evolve into a nice one down the road. Friday (4/9) 3RD -- TIMEZONE (Pulpit) closed like a good thing at first asking and looks very promising for trainer Richard Mandella. The sophomore filly was confidently handled by Rafael Bejarano and well-backed at the windows, suggesting that she has impressed in the mornings, as well. 8TH -- FUN AND FROLIC (Freespool) displayed good gate speed and battled gamely to the wire in a solid fourth-place try in his debut for conditioner Paula Capestro. We'll tab this one for a tally before long. Saturday (4/10) 5TH -- WARREN'S PEPE (Rahy's Quackerjack) kept finding more on the front end in a courageous win under Martin Pedroza. We're not sure how much better the six-year-old can be than what he displayed on this occasion, but we like his stubbornness and would play him back against similar. 6TH -- We expected much more from first-time U.S. entrant LADY FRANCESCA (GB) (Montjeu [Ire]) in here, but rating in last behind a dawdling pace at a trip less than ideal didn't help her chances against this group. We'll surely give the well-regarded import another chance for Ben Cecil. Sunday (4/11) 8TH -- BRING IT HOME (Came Home) just missed in a sharp runner-up performance in here for Paco Gonzalez. The gelded four-year-old faced a solid field in here and ran a very sharp time, suggesting he may be rounding into his best form. A Look Ahead Closing weekend at Santa Anita will be headlined by the traditional closing-day feature, Sunday's $150,000 San Juan Capistrano H. (G2). Saturday plays host to the $150,000 Santa Barbara H. (G2) and $100,000 San Simeon H. (G3).
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