Setsuko, Nextdoorneighbor looking to make a splash in Sham

Ten runners will look to enhance their Kentucky Derby (G1) credentials when

they line up in Saturday's $150,000

Sham S.

(G3) at Santa Anita. The 1 1/8-mile event looks very contentious, with no

graded winners but a number of promising individuals among the entries,

and provides a perfect opportunity to grab some graded earnings.

Maiden winners SETSUKO (Pleasantly Perfect) and NEXTDOORNEIGHBOR (Lido Palace

[Chi]) are two of the six contestants making their stakes debut, and the Sham

could serve as a launching pad for either colt. Setsuko attracted attention when

rolling to a superb three-length score over maiden special weight rivals at

Hollywood Park in mid-December, and trainer Richard Mandella elected to run him

back in a 1 1/8-mile turf allowance at Santa Anita on January 27 because there

were no available races at nine furlongs on Pro-Ride. After rating behind a very

slow pace that afternoon, the bay colt rallied boldly to fall only a half-length

short and galloped out impressively after the finish line. Rafael Bejarano

retains the mount.

Nextdoorneighbor didn't run poorly in his first two sprint starts last year,

but the Michael Machowsky trainee turned a corner when stretching out to two

turns last time, posting a smart four-length tally over maiden special weight

rivals at Santa Anita on January 24. The Florida-bred has trained forwardly over

the Pro-Ride since then, recording a six-furlong bullet in 1:10 3/5 recently,

and will pick up a new rider in Mike Smith on Saturday.

CashCall Futurity (G1) fourth-placer THE PROGRAM (Harlan's Holiday) merits

serious respect. He owns a seasoning advantage over many of his untested rivals,

winning a February 3 allowance most recently over the Pro-Ride, and hails from

the strong Bob Baffert stable. Martin Garcia will be back on board. KETTLE RIVER

(Congaree) will bring a two-race winning skein into his initial stakes attempt

for Eoin Harty, and OUTLAW MAN (Forest Wildcat) exits a good-looking turf score

for Kenny McPeek.

California-bred WOLF TAIL (Strive), who captured the restricted Graduation

S. at Del Mar, is the lone stakes winner entered, but he looms as an outsider in

this spot following a third versus state-breds in an allowance/optional claiming

event.