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SANTA ANITA NOTEBOOK FEBRUARY 13, 2013 by John Mucciolo There was a single graded race over the weekend at Santa Anita. San Marcos S. (G2): Phil Cunningham's homebred SLIM SHADEY (Val Royal) took the lead soon after the start and never let it go in a facile, one-length score beneath Gary Stevens. The Simon Callaghan trainee endured 1 1/4 miles on the firm turf in 1:59. Track Stats From a total of 35 races held at the Arcadia, California racetrack during the past week, favorites won at a 23 percent clip and the top two betting choices combined for 60 percent of the wins. From 24 frays contested on the dirt oval, six animals won in wire-to-wire fashion (25 percent), while four of the 11 grassy tussles went all the way on the lead (36 percent). It was not a particular week at Santa Anita. No favorites won on Thursday nor Saturday, while four came through on each of the Friday and Sunday cards. On the main oval, horses breaking from the inner three post slots won just five of the 24 dirt races for the week, and we're used to seeing much different statistics in that regard. Just one runner breaking from the rail came through, as well. Speed players were especially good on the lawn with four wire jobs on the lawn, which nearly equaled the number of those who did the same for the initial 60 grassy races at this meeting. Three of the four came in route events. Meet Totals
HORSES TO WATCH Thursday (2/7) 7TH -- MOTOWN MEN (Decarchy) was allowed an early lead and made short work of this field in the stretch with a powerful run under Rafael Bejarano. The Peter Eurton pupil dusted what we thought was a decent field for the level in a swift final time, and should be live right back on this turf oval. Friday (2/8) 1ST -- We were a bit surprised no one claimed SPACECOAST (Formal Dinner) out of this one, as the four-year-old flexed her muscle as the favorite with a dominating tally for conditioner Mike Machowsky. The filly has now put in two huge races in succession and we expect her to run big with winners next time in this strong form cycle. 4TH -- STREETS OF HEAVEN (Street Cry) looked to be shot out of a cannon in the lane here when blowing by to win going away. The eight-year-old gelding proved he still has plenty left, and could be a useful claim by Ted West. Saturday (2/9) 5TH -- HARLINGTON NIGHT (Harlington) ran by far the best race of his young career for trainer Vladimir Cerin, dominating this field in a powerful run from a visual standpoint. The 8 1/4-length maiden breaker will likely be in with starter allowance foes in his return. 7TH -- SALUTOS AMIGOS (Salute the Sarge) pressed a rapid early pace and took over in the stretch in a superb maiden victory today for Eric Guillot, stopping the teletimer in a sharp 1:08 2/5. The sophomore colt could evolve into a very nice sprinter with improvement off of this. ZEE BROS (Brother Derek) was clearly second best in his debut for Bob Baffert in this dash and shouldn't be a maiden for long. The expensive sophomore has big speed. Sunday (2/10) 4TH --OCEAN'S OF MONEY (Indian Ocean) left little doubt in a scorching maiden score in her second big race since coming to the Golden State. The John Sadler trainee was fast from start to finish, and she could possibly evolve into a stakes player with more seasoning. 8TH -- PURIM'S DANCER (Purim) returns to this list after a second straight sublime run on the downhill course, this time resulting in a stakes romp. The Tom Proctor trainee might be one of the top three or four turf distaffers for downhill sprints out west. This was an awesome performance. A Look Ahead A trio of Grade 2 races will be held over the Holiday weekend; the $200,000 Santa Maria Stakes on Saturday, Sunday's $150,000 San Vicente Stakes and the $150,000 Buena Vista Handicap on Monday.
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