Opening Day play for Santa Anita
DiscreetCat
Moderator
Santa Anita - Race 8
#6 Demonic (12/1 ml)
Going out on a limb with this guy, but there is an interesting backstory here. He was EXTREMELY well-regarded prior to making his debut last January, with trainer John Sadler making some comments about him being a potential Santa Anita Derby horse before he even ran a single race. Got bet down to even-money in the unveiling (as you might expect), and came away with a gutsy win (over today's track & distance), with the second place finisher coming right back to win, which is always nice. Unfortunately though, he evidently got hurt, either in the race itself or shortly thereafter, as he promptly dropped out of sight for the next 11 months (before finally coming back just a few weeks ago). Finished a no-threat 5th in the comeback race, after which he strangely gets thrown to the wolves here in the Grade 1 Malibu. Nearly an impossible spot for him, or so it seems. If you take a step back and look however, it seems very obvious that he's been pointed specifically to this race for a very long time, and his recent 5th-place effort was nothing more than a tune-up for today's event. Also note that he finished quite strongly, missing by just a couple of lengths in very good time. Certainly not a bad effort for a simple prep race, after an 11-month absence. Going further, he appears likely to benefit from today's pace, which should be scalding with a plethora of very quick frontrunning-types signed up. Obviously remains very well-regarded by Sadler (who is no idiot, as you know), gets a nice pace set-up, figures to improve off the solid comeback try, and should be a very big price. Definitely some things to like.
HRT record:
94 for 343 (27%)
$807.30 mutuels ($8.59 avg)
#6 Demonic (12/1 ml)
Going out on a limb with this guy, but there is an interesting backstory here. He was EXTREMELY well-regarded prior to making his debut last January, with trainer John Sadler making some comments about him being a potential Santa Anita Derby horse before he even ran a single race. Got bet down to even-money in the unveiling (as you might expect), and came away with a gutsy win (over today's track & distance), with the second place finisher coming right back to win, which is always nice. Unfortunately though, he evidently got hurt, either in the race itself or shortly thereafter, as he promptly dropped out of sight for the next 11 months (before finally coming back just a few weeks ago). Finished a no-threat 5th in the comeback race, after which he strangely gets thrown to the wolves here in the Grade 1 Malibu. Nearly an impossible spot for him, or so it seems. If you take a step back and look however, it seems very obvious that he's been pointed specifically to this race for a very long time, and his recent 5th-place effort was nothing more than a tune-up for today's event. Also note that he finished quite strongly, missing by just a couple of lengths in very good time. Certainly not a bad effort for a simple prep race, after an 11-month absence. Going further, he appears likely to benefit from today's pace, which should be scalding with a plethora of very quick frontrunning-types signed up. Obviously remains very well-regarded by Sadler (who is no idiot, as you know), gets a nice pace set-up, figures to improve off the solid comeback try, and should be a very big price. Definitely some things to like.
HRT record:
94 for 343 (27%)
$807.30 mutuels ($8.59 avg)