Zenyatta Returns in Grade I Santa Margarita and Lookin’ At Lucky Returns in Grade II Rebel Stakes
The undefeated Zenyatta, who beat the boys in her last race, the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Classic, returns to racing this Saturday when she takes on 8 rivals in the Grade I Santa Margarita Handicap.
Then, roughly 11 minutes later, the favorite to win this May’s Kentucky Derby, the Bob Baffert trained Lookin’ At Lucky, takes on his three year old peers in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
Santa Anita – Race 7
Race-time: 6:36 pm EST
Grade I Santa Margarita Handicap
$250,000
For Fillies and Mares Four Years Old and Up
1 1/8 miles on Pro-Ride
Zenyatta will go off at roughly 1 to 5 to 1 to 9 in the Santa Margarita on Saturday. She won’t lose. Her victory over the fellas in the BC Classic was absolutely breathtaking. She’s the best horse in the world, after Rachel Alexandra in my opinion, and could beat this field running backwards. She simply won’t lose. So, we have to find value in the second and third slots. Floating Heart went off around 6 to 1 in the Grade II La Canada and finished 3rd to Gripsholm Castle and Striking Dancer. Those two are in this race as well. Floating Heart figures to go off at a decent price. I’ll stick her in the exacta. For third, I’m going to throw in Pretty Katherine. She lost by 6 lengths to Striking Dancer in the La Canada but could be much better in this. In any case, both she and Floating Heart figure to get lost in the betting. So, putting them underneath Zenyatta is the best way to get value in this race.
1. Zenyatta
2. Floating Heart
3. Pretty Katherine
Oaklawn Park – Race 10
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Race-time: 6:47 pm EST
Grade II Rebel Stakes
$300,000
For Three Year Olds
1 1/16 miles on dirt
Lookin’ At Lucky will be a short priced favorite but there are some knocks against him. First, he’s coming off of a long layoff. Second, this will be his first race on dirt. Finally, Bob Baffert puts blinkers on him. Why? I’m not going to worry about Bob’s motives and instead look to beat Lookin’ At Lucky with the D.Wayne Lukas trained Dublin. Dublin won the Grade I Hopeful as a 2 year old and just finished 2nd in the Grade III Southwest Stakes in his last going 1 mile over the Oaklawn Park track after bobbling at the break, being rank, and going four wide. The horse obviously has tons of ability and could put it all together on Saturday for the upset victory. Lookin’ At Lucky might be as good as advertised. Because he was sired by Smart Strike, you have to figure that he will like the dirt but he’s not worth a bet to win at what figures to be very short odds. A lot of these could finish 3rd, but Noble’s Promise is 3-2-1 out of 6 lifetime races. The Kenneth McPeek trainee has never run a bad race and doesn’t figure to do so on Saturday. He could actually surprise and win this but appears to be just a tad bit slower than both Dublin and Lookin’ At Lucky.
1. Dublin
2. Lookin’ At Lucky
3. Noble’s Promise
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