Santa Anita Notebook

SANTA ANITA NOTEBOOK

JANUARY 29, 2014

by John Mucciolo

There was a single graded race during the week at Santa Anita.

Santa Monica H. (G2): Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer et al's SCHERZINGER

(Tiz Wonderful) broke like a shot to gain the early edge, dropped back to third

approaching the turn for home and then came again with a flying finish to post

the mild upset beneath a heady Mike Smith. The four-year-old filly finished off

seven panels in a solid 1:22 to earn her first graded win.

Track Stats

From a total of 35 races held at the Arcadia, California racetrack during the

past week, favorites won at a 34 percent clip and the top two betting choices

combined for 46 percent of the wins. From 22 frays contested on the dirt oval,

four animals won in wire-to-wire fashion (18 percent), while one of the 13

grassy tussles went all the way on the lead (8 percent).

Of the four wire jobs on the main oval, two came on Thursday and the other

pair of Sunday. Each of the four came in sprint races, and horses from off the

pace had every chance for the duration of the week from what we saw.

Meet Totals

RACES:		190
DIRT:		128
TURF:		62
FAVORITES:		75 (39 percent)
2ND CHOICES:		37 (19 percent)
TURF WIRE:		10 (16 percent)
DIRT WIRE:		19 (15 percent)

HORSES TO WATCH

Thursday (1/23)

2ND -- THE CLEANERS (City Zip) came back real quickly and showed no ill

effects from it with a facile 3 1/4-length score in his debut with winners.

Trainer Mike Machowsky has this one better than ever, and he didn't look to be

fully pushed under Irving Orozco.

Friday (1/24)

2ND -- The classy DANCE WITH FATE (Two Step Salsa) showed no rust or problem

switching surfaces with a eye-catching allowance score off the layoff in his

grassy debut. The multiple Grade 1-placed sophomore is off to a perfect start in

his 2014 season and now has a ton of options going forward for trainer Peter

Eurton.

6TH -- PEACENIK (Peace Rules) pressed the pace, took command in early stretch

and come home fast in a strong victory for conditioner Jeff Bonde. The

seven-year-old gelding has very good form right now and should do well for Bill

Spawr, who claimed him.

Saturday (1/25)

4TH -- IOTAPA (Afleet Alex) was not getting to the winner but did put in a

nice late run to be second in her first outing since July for John Sadler. The

talented four-year-old could be set for a fine 2014 with expected progression.

7TH -- ROVENNA (Vronsky) hung a bit late after being placed in a good spot in

the lane, but at the same time, this was the filly's first try on the lawn and

it was a very positive showing while third today. The Mike Machowsky trainee has

shown nice improvement with blinkers in back-to-back stakes placings, and she

should be live once again next time.

Sunday (1/26)

1ST -- MANK (Pulpit) got a bit tired late but we still loved the runner-up

effort while just being caught a few strides before the wire. The John Shirreffs

trainee had been off for two years and should only build upon this going

forward.

6TH -- DIVERSY HARBOR (Curlin) is kin to a pair of graded winners on the turf

and looks like a chip off the old block for trainer Tom Proctor. The first-time

starter was well back early but flew home late in a going away debut score under

Gary Stevens. She could evolve into a real nice one.

7TH -- CHELIOS (Distorted Humor) capped off a three-win day for Proctor, with

a maiden score that might have been better than it looked on paper. The

sophomore colt was sent to the lead and never looked back beneath Stevens, who

appeared to have a lot of horse every step of the way. The colt should thrive

with more ground to work with, and we consider him a potential big sophomore

this campaign.

SAWYER'S HILL (Spring at Last) matched strides with the winner until very

late in what we think was a very nice third-place run off the break since the

summer. Expect to see the Jeff Mullins pupil graduating in the very near future.

8TH –--LAKERVILLE (Unusual Heat) was simply awesome in his return from a very

lengthy absence for trainer Barry Abrams, blowing past this solid field with

Corey Nakatani in the controls. While it is very early in the year, we can

envision the Cal-bred six-year-old being a very live Breeders' Cup entrant on

this course if he stays healthy and in form.

A Look Ahead

The Saturday card will play host to the Grade 1, $300,000 Las Virgenes Stakes

and the Grade 2, $200,000 Arcadia Stakes. The Grade 2, $200,000 Palos Verdes

Stakes will be the headliner on Sunday.