Santa Anita Oaks

TRACK BANDIT PREVIEWS

Champion STARDOM BOUND (Tapit) drew the rail in the $300,000 Santa Anita Oaks
(G1) on Saturday, and the gray lass is the clear one to beat in this field. In
her first start for Bobby Frankel, the Kentucky-bred took a while to get going
in the Las Virgenes S. (G1) but exuded class late under Mike Smith, drawing off
by 1 1/4 lengths. We feel that the Las Virgenes field was actually a lot better
than this one, so we expect the $5.7 million purchase to earn her fifth straight
Grade 1 win.

BURG BERG (Johannesburg) has rolled to a pair of wins for Paco Gonzalez, who
has had a nice meeting to this point. The dark bay miss has both of her wins on
the green and is a question mark at this distance, but the likely early leader
could last a long time if she’s left alone on the front beneath Tyler Baze.

HOOH WHY (Cloud Hopping) just missed when second in the Sunshine Millions
Oaks in her debut for Carla Gaines. The Florida-bred filly, it should be noted,
was a head second to Kentucky Derby (G1) contender Patena (Seeking the Gold) in
the Display S. on Polytrack in her lone two turn effort. We feel compelled to
use the chestnut in the gimmicks beneath Robby Albarado.

NAN (High Yield) has exceeded our expectations since joining the Craig
Dollase barn, breaking her maiden and running competitively in a pair of graded
tests, including a third in the Santa Ynez S. (G2). The dark bay clearly loves the
synthetic ground and her conditioner has sent out some live ones recently after
a dismal start to this meeting, so this one is more than usable under Corey
Nakatani.

THIRD DAWN (Sky Mesa) just broker her maiden in career start number four, and
her top BRIS Speed number is 87. We’ll look elsewhere. ACRONYM (Empire Maker)
has a strong pedigree and looked good in her maiden win, but the outside draw
and lack of seasoning will make us side with others.

Unbeaten BELTENE (Unusual Heat), heroine of the Sunshine Millions Oaks in her
latest venture, has done little wrong for Jack Carava but has never been past
six furlongs. WILL O WAY (Broken Vow) has a lot of heart, displayed in her
California Oaks score last out, and she was third in the Santa Ysabel (G3) over
this strip two back, but we can’t see her improving enough to challenge for this
win.

MISS SILVER BROOK (Cozzene) looked awesome in her first career start and closed well in
her graded debut, where she finished fourth in the grassy La Habra S. (G3). We
can’t fault the connections for going for a Grade 1-placing with a talented
sophomore, but we can’t recommend her at this point because she’s never been
farther than 6 1/2 furlongs. STORMY SLEW (Hennessy) was fifth on the turf in her debut and is ambitiously
placed in this spot for Doug O’ Neill. While the filly is a half-sister to Grade
2 winner Slew’s Tizzy (Tiznow) and dual stakes star Slew’s Tiznow (Tiznow), this
seems like a lot at this juncture.