Opening Weekend Picks For Los Alamitos Full Card – Saturday, July 5th 2014

Opening Weekend Picks For Los Alamitos Full Card
– Saturday, July 5th 2014 by Sigi Mendoza

Los Alamitos Race Course, home of the great California Chrome, starts this year with a short meet for Thoroughbred racing with a new and beautiful one mile oval. The Lady and The Track team decided to handicap the whole card for Saturday, July 5th 2014, the day of the Alamitos Derby (GII), and the return of the two year old champion, Shared Belief. It looks like a great day of racing and fun, so let’s start with the handicapping.

Race #1: 4,1,5

Oeighter is improving race by race and her last workouts indicate she’s ready to roll. Desert Dam has a good race in the dirt and she now has a hot jockey (Tyler Baze) in the irons. Super Defence is the speed of the speed and will try to win wire to wire.
Winning Results: 4,7,8,1,2,5

Race #2: 4,5,9

Ebo’s Love returns in a modest claiming of $8000 and has a series of good workouts. All indicate she’s fit and ready to roll. Metaxa failed in her last race against tougher company. She can improve and win in this field. Queen of the Hill is another lady who drops in class and is dangerous.
Winning Results: 2,3,9,5,4,6,1,8,7

Race #3: 3 (Single)

Got Even was really impressive in his last race. He will be the rabbit, and probably never be caught.
Winning Results: 2,5,3,4,1

Race #4: 7,1

Grand Humor is the first choice, Tyler Baze is a great rider, especially with speedy horses. Sooner Born won with authority in his last race, if he can duplicate that effort, he’ll be very tough.
Winning Results: 6,7,4,3,2,1,5

Race #5: 2,1,7

Tiznow Or Then will try to take the lead from the start, “come and catch me”. Mysterious Promise is another speedy horse who returns to the surface that he likes, the dirt. Go Black Tie has Van Dike in the irons, with only 114 pounds.
Winning Results: 2,7,6,1,5,3

Race #6: 3,9

Opsec makes his debut with the hot combo Baffert/Garcia. He’s a well bred horse and is working like a runner. He’ll very tough to beat. Radiant Dancer is another horse that is working like a freak; it seems he’s speedy and will try to win gate to wire.
Winning Results: 7,2,3,8,1,9,4

Race #7: 7,2

Appealing Resume, a winner of 14 races, looks fit in the mornings. Rhodium failed in her last race in the turf. However, she returns to the dirt, her favorite surface.
Winning Results: 4,7,5,6,2,1,3

Race #8: 5-2-4

The 2 year old champion Shared Belief returned in May 26th in Golden Gate Fields winning handily. He’s been working steadily since that effort and should win Los Alamitos Derby. He’s running in the dirt for the first time, but a young horse racing fan lady told me that she saw Shared Belief working and he has a dirt stride, so the surface is not a concern. Tonito M will appreciate the distance as he’s won several two turn races in Puerto Rico. Friendswith K Mill will roll late and is a good choice for exotics.
Winning Results: 5,7,2,4,3,6,1

Race #9: 1-3-7

Lucky S.J. is a lady who makes her debut with a good workout patterns plus she’s bred especially to like sprint races. Swiss Intrigue has had plenty of time working for this race; she also can show some speed. Our Love Affair recorded several good workouts and her pedigree suggests speed.
Winning Results: 1,7,5,8,6,2,3,4,9

Kari’s Picks & Plays:

Race #8: 3-7-5-6

I’m going with #3 Can the Man for Bob Baffert to win this race. Yeah I know, I’m crazy. Baffert supplemented him to this race for $10,000 and there’s not much more to be said as far as I’m concerned. He’s done that once before and I can’t recall which race, but I lost. When asked about it he said something to the effect of “If I didn’t think he could win, why would I spend the money?”. I drank the kool-aid. Second, I have to stick with one of my 3 year-old favs #7 Candy Boy who gets “Smokin Joe” Talamo up. Not much more to be said for me here either. Let’s hope he does well of a two-month layoff as he has before. For third, I’m going with #5 Shared Belief. We’ll see how he does first-time dirting. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him win, nor unhappy as I dig the Candy Rides. The only play I’ll make is a ladder on #6 Top Fortitude. He’s done me right the past two races, so we’ll see how he does routing for the first time. Thanks Sigi for letting me add my picks to yours. Good luck everyone.
Winning Results: 5,7,2,4,3,6,1

Thanks Kari, for take your time and capp the Alamitos Derby, great picks as usual. Remember everyone; bet responsibly, just to enjoy the races.

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