Los Alamitos Notebook

LOS ALAMITOS NOTEBOOK

JULY 15, 2015

by John Mucciolo

A single graded race highlighted the action during the closing weekend at Los

Alamitos.

Great Lady M S. (G2): Kaleem Shah's FANTASTIC STYLE (Harlan's Holiday)

tracked behind a dueling pair, swept to the lead in early stretch and pulled

away to a decisive three-length triumph under Rafael Bejarano. The sophomore

filly registered her first graded stakes tally and stamped herself as a nice

prospect for this year's Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) while topping a

nice field of elders, finishing 6 1/2 panels in 1:14 3/5 for Bob Baffert.

Track Stats

From 34 races on the dirt-only track, favorites won at a 35 percent clip and

the top two betting choices combined for 56 percent of the wins. Four were won

wire-to-wire (12 percent).

All four of the wire-to-wire winners this past week came on Saturday. Being

close was pretty important, as many of the winners were in range from the break,

but the rail was not "golden" by any means.

Meet Totals

RACES:		68
DIRT:		68
FAVORITES:		22 (32 percent)
2ND CHOICES:		15 (22 percent)
DIRT WIRE:		15 (22 percent)

HORSES TO WATCH

Thursday (7/9)

2ND – Baffert's EXPOSURE (Colonel John) made it two straight in nice fashion,

dominating this sprint run, her first with winners. The three-year-old filly has

surely found her niche and right level, though a class rise is likely coming.

7TH -- NEWFOUND GOLD (Newfoundland) tracked lone speed but had plenty left

late in a very nice win for conditioner Peter Miller. The bay gelding has

amassed 28 top-two finishes in his career and should impact the racing at Del

Mar going forward, with more improvement possible.

Friday (7/10)

4TH -- ROCKO'S WHEEL (Grazen) swept to the front nearing midstretch and

inched clear late in posting a solid allowance win for trainer Phil d'Amato. The

three-year-old colt looked best on paper and delivered with a nice tally.

7TH -- SMACK TALK (Stormin Fever) came off the bench showing no signs of

rust, posting a powerful score in this dash for conditioner Vann Belvoir. The

sophomore has now run big in both races when fresh and we wouldn't take this one

lightly this summer.

Saturday (7/11)

2ND -- NUKE LALOOSH (Lemon Drop Kid) couldn't capitalize on a nice trip in

his debut for Peter Miller, but the juvenile colt is bred to run longer and we

have a hunch he could have a fine juvenile campaign with improvement expected

next time.

8TH -- Gary Mandella's LIVING THE LIFE (Footstepsinthesand) proved she was

more than a synthetic specialist to us when she rallied for a clear second in a

very good field. The late runner has some class to her and is interesting going

forward.

Sunday (7/12)

8TH -- We tabbed SWIPE (Birdstone) to break his maiden in this stakes run and

the Keith Desormeaux trainee did just that when running down a clear leader in

the lane. The two-year-old colt is surely bred to run longer and he has to be

one to keep an eye on as the distances increase.

A Look Ahead

The racing moves to Del Mar on Thursday.