San Gabriel J

AMERICAN GRADED STAKES

PREVIEW

A compact field of six has been entered to contest Sunday's San Gabriel H.

(G2) over the Santa Anita turf on Sunday. The Dan Hendricks-trained DAYTONA

(Ire) (Indian Ridge) is in career form and is well drawn on the rail, so we'll

tab the streaking sophomore. The chestnut gelding began his U.S. career in May

and has steadily progressed throughout the year as the distances have

increased. He's a strong pace presence and it will take a strong effort to knock

him off under Mike Smith.

Multiple Argentinean Group 1 hero STORM MILITARY (Arg) (Bernstein) looked good in a

recent allowance tune up and appears to have the best chance of topping our

first choice. The Bobby Frankel trainee had everything his own way last out but

really impressed when flying down the stretch beneath Garret Gomez, who he'll be

reunited with on this occasion. The five-year-old should be in a dream tracking

position all the way around the oval and could get up with slight improvement.

PROUDINSKY (Ger) (Silvano [Ger]) put in a solid effort to garner third in the

recent Citation Mile H. (G1) and could grab a similar share in here with an

effort resembling that one. Also conditioned by Frankel, the consistent

four-year-old should sit just off the early pace before putting in his late run,

and he could win it all with a swift early tempo at which to run at. Rafael

Bejarano has the call.

MEDICI CODE (GB) (Medicean) has made a believer out of us with his strong

showings for Darrell Vienna, and he's another live contender in this

well-matched group. The gelded chestnut closed well in the Hollywood Derby (G1)

and has posted excellent results in all of his turf tries on U.S. soil. The

late-running three-year-old will need some help up front to optimize his chances

in here, and if a duel occurs on the front end, the British-bred could have the

best chance to run them down late. Martin Pedroza retains the mount.

LANG FIELD (Langfuhr) upset the Citation last out and sports a solid 3-2-0-1

mark over this oval, but we feel that this would be a good bet against in this

spot. The gelding has enjoyed most of his success on or near the lead, but that

could be crowded place in here and we'll need to see another effort like the

last one to believe in the four-year-old. Jon Court will be in the irons.

SENSATIONAL HUMOR (Distorted Humor) ships in from the East Coast lacking the

credentials of the others and would need something better than he has shown in

the past to top this bunch. We've always liked this horse and he's in good form,

but this spot appears to be a bit much for him at this stage of his career.