ARCADIA, Calif. – Scratched from last Sunday’s one mile, $100,000 Valentine Dancer Stakes to run in Friday’s $70,150 Aristotle Purse, La Sombre enhanced her reputation for consistency with a clear-cut victory as the odds-on favorite in the competition for fillies and mares at 6½ furlongs over Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.

Under a vigorous hand ride by Martin Garcia, the 5-year-old California-bred daughter of Unusual Heat defeated 7-2 second-choice Lofty Ambition by 1½ lengths while running the distance in 1:12.66. Longshot There Is No Limit finished third, another 2¼ lengths back in the field of 10.

La Sombre thus maintained her record of never having finished worse than second while victorious in her eighth career start for trainer Brian Koriner and owners Eagle Oak Ranch and A. Venneri Racing.

“I think we did the right thing in scratching from the other race,” Koriner said in the winner’s circle. “We got the win today.”

It was the third of La Sombre’s career and followed a smashing 6¼-length score in her first try over the downhill course while going wire-to-wire on Jan. 12.

This time, she was taken back just off a swift early pace set by Sarasota Sunshine while racing along the rail. Garcia moved La Sombre to the outside for clear sailing as the field moved into the stretch. When set down, the chestnut mare burst clear.

“She’s come from off the pace before,” noted Koriner. “She can do it either way.”

La Sombre returned $3.80, $2.60 and $2.60 for her victory. Lofty Ambition, ridden by Rafael Bejarano, paid $3.80 and $3.20. The show price on There Is No Limit, with Edwin Maldonado aboard, was $11.60.

The winning purse of $45,240 elevated the career earnings of La Sombre to $179,340. She raced only once as a 3-year-old before competing five times last year. “She’s just needed time,” Koriner said. “She had little problems behind. Hopefully, we’re on our way.” The trainer mentioned the $100,000 Irish O’Brien Stakes for Cal-breds over the hillside turf course on March 17 as a future possibility for La Sombre.

Despite wins by two favorites including La Sombre on Friday, there were no winners in the Pick Six with a carryover of $65,342 going into Saturday’s 10-race program that includes three Grade II stakes races: the Strub, Robert B. Lewis and Arcadia Stakes. First post is at 12:30 p.m.

Benoit Photo
La Sombre

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Emcee came within less than two-fifths of a second of equaling the Gulfstream Park track record for seven furlongs while winning the featured ninth race.

Making the second start of his career, the 4-year-old son of Unbridled’s Song scored by six lengths with a blistering 1:20.83 clocking. The track record for seven furlongs of 1:20.45 was set in 2005 by Mr. Light.

Emcee vied for pacesetting honors with long shot Macarthur Causeway while racing along the rail on the backstretch and obtained a clear lead on the far turn before being challenged by favored Associate. The 3-5 favorite ranged alongside Emcee leaving the turn into the homestretch, but the 8-5 second choice quickly kicked clear on his way to his second straight victory.

John Velazquez was aboard the Darley home-bred colt, who broke his maiden by 4 ½ lengths at Belmont Park on Sept. 14. Sheikh Mohammed’s racing manager decided to have the Kiaran McLaughlin-trained colt shipped to Dubai after the maiden win, but the trip was cancelled when Emcee came down with a fever while in quarantine in December.

Associate, who finished third in the Malibu (G1) at Santa Anita last time out, finished second, 2½ lengths ahead of Voodoo Storm.

Quote of the Day:  “The time today was crazy,” said Neal McLaughlin, assistant to trainer Kiaran McLaughlin, after Emcee scored by six lengths in near-record time in the ninth race. “He could be anything.”

Work of the Day: Grace Hall produced a bullet workout at PalmMeadowsTrainingCenter, breezing a half mile in 46.77 seconds in preparation for an expected start in the Davona Dale (G2) on Feb. 25. 

Who’s Hot:  John Velazquez was one of three jockeys with a pair of victories on the card, visiting the winner’s circle with Emcee ($5.20) in the ninth and Dreaming of Les ($3.20) in the second.

Leading rider Javier Castellano  scored aboard Lava Girl ($10.60) in the fourth and Adela’s Song ($6.20) in the sixth, while Joe Bravo got the money with Famous ($11.60) in the third and Wewoka Switch ($42.60) in the eighth.

GULFSTREAM’S RAINBOW 6 CARRYOVER SATURDAY $134,548.44

200,000 Guaranteed Late Pick 4, $100,000 Guaranteed Pick 5     

Gulfstream Park’s 10-cent Rainbow 6 will have a carryover Saturday of $134,548.44.

There were no unique tickets alive going into Friday’s last race.

Along with Gulfstream’s Rainbow 6, Saturday’s 50-cent Late Pick 4 will have a $200,000 guarantee while the 50-cent Pick 5 will have a $100,000 guarantee.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Pop-A-Top LLC’s Raiseanothergator, away alertly and quickly in command, made or forced the pace with William Reed’s Surley throughout the early going but drew off in the stretch run to win Friday’s 16th renewal of the $40,000 South Mississippi Owners and Breeders Stakes at Fair Grounds by 4 1/4-lengths.

Trained by Tom Amoss and ridden by James Graham, Raiseanothergator returned mutuels of $6.20, $2.80 and $2.40, accomplished the six furlongs in 1:10.90 after alternating for early splits of 22.30 and 43.75 and increased his career earnings to $69,691 with his third career win in six lifetime starts.

Stephen Peterson’s Validfromthegitgo got up in the late stages to clearly gain the place, paying $2.40 and $2.20 while finishing a length to the good of Surley, who returned $2.60 to show.

Racing resumes Saturday at Fair Grounds with an 11-race program beginning at 12:40 p.m.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – The last time Oaklawn fans saw Alternation he was closing late to get fifth in the 2011 Arkansas Derby, a race that he seemed destined to win early in the season after two impressive allowance race victories. Pin Oak Stud’s regally bred son of Distorted Humor, now four, returns to Oaklawn ready to redeem himself in Saturday’s $100,000 Essex Handicap where he was installed as the 2-1 morning line favorite and is the 118 lb. starting highweight.

Alternation, trained by Donnie Von Hemel, finally lived up to his potential with a late closing victory in the Grade 2 Peter Pan Stakes at Belmont Park in May. That performance was followed by two fourth-place finishes in both the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga and Super Derby at Louisiana Downs before finishing his sophomore campaign with a runner-up effort in the Oklahoma Derby last October at Remington Park. He has been training forwardly at Oaklawn since December in preparation for this race.

“He’s a horse who likes to train and fortunately with the weather we’ve been able to keep going straight through the whole time,” Von Hemel said. “He’s a big horse and I think he still has quite a bit of upside. Hopefully we can get it going right Saturday and see where it takes him.”

Alternation’s main competition figures to be the top three finishers from Oaklawn’s opening day feature, the Fifth Season Stakes – Color Me Blue, Twice the Appeal and It Happened Again. It Happened Again, the beaten favorite in the Fifth Season, was made the 5-2 second choice based on his troubled trip last time. He picks up leading rider Terry Thompson and the Steve Asmussen trainee favor is three for six at Oaklawn, including a win in the 2011 Razorback Handicap.

Twice the Appeal, the 2011 Sunland Derby winner, was making his first start in the Fifth Season since finishing 10th in the 2011 Kentucky Derby. He fell just a neck short of winning and figures to benefit from that race. Trainer Jeff Bonde has secured the services of 2009 Champion Apprentice Jockey Christian Santiago-Reyes, who comes in from California for the mount.

Color Me Blue, who has only finished out of the money once in his last ten starts, figures to get overlooked in the Essex despite his breakthrough win in the Fifth Season. Based on his current good form, trainer Brian Williamson has opted to keep his Illinois-bred son of Flatter in Hot Springs rather than return to his home state.

The complete field for the $100,000 Essex Handicap, in post-position order, with riders, weight and morning line odds: Alternation, Louis Quinonez, 2-1, 118; It Happened Again, Terry Thompson, 117, 5-2; Racing Bran, Channing Hill, 114, 6-1; Color Me Blue, Israel Ocampo, 116, 5-1; A Student, Cliff Berry, 111, 12-1; Ballyjamesduff, Ricardo Morales, 108; 30-1, and Twice the Appeal, Christian Santiago Reyes, 116, 3-1.

First race is 1:00 p.m. Saturday with the Essex carded as the eighth of nine live races.

Coady Photography/Oaklawn
Alternation

Race 6, Santa Anita – Robert B. Lewis Stakes G2 – 1 1/16 miles for three-year-olds – post time: 6:05 p.m. EST

The Robert Lewis is the first two-turn Derby prep race to be run at Santa Anita this winter and spring in the lead-up to the first Saturday in May.  All but New Mexico invader Isn’t He Clever (1) is based in California.  The Robert Lewis will be the third consecutive race in which Liaison (2) and Rousing Sermon (6) will knock heads.  Only a half-length and a head have separated them in their last two starts, both of which were won by Liaison.

The main track at Santa Anita has been speed-favoring since the rain in late January, so a good place to start is to look for the speed in the race.  There is no confirmed front-end colt in here, but it is not hard to imagine that Isn’t He Clever will be part of the pace scenario.  He has been right near the front in all four lifetime starts sprinting, and I doubt that his connections want him stuck down the rail for long where he could eat some of the Santa Anita dirt.  On the far outside of the field of eight, Chips All In (8) is another candidate to go for the lead.  This guy sold for only $4,500 at Keeneland in 2010 and began his career winning a $32 maiden claiming race at Golden Gate.  He did win an overnight stakes on the last day of 2011 at Santa Anita, but that win came on the grass.  He owns four wins and one place in five starts, and that kind of success is always worth noting.

In the Grade 1 CashCall Futurity at Hollywood Park in December, Rousing Sermon trailed the leaders by as many as 8 lengths down the backstretch before launching his late kick to pass all but the winner Liaison.  He had tracked closer to the pace in previous races, so we’ll have to wait to see if his connections try another from-out-of-the-clouds approach.  Liaison, by contrast, was never more than two lengths behind the pacesetter in the CashCall when he edged clear in the stretch and held off Rousing Sermon.  Will we be treated to something similar on Saturday?

A horse that I like, Sky Kingdom (5) finished fourth in the CashCall.  Like Rousing Sermon, he cranked up from the back of the field, but he did not pass as many late in the race falling 2¼ lengths short.  He is a son of Empire Maker, so as the going gets longer (not the case here) he may overtake some of his rivals.  Sky Kingdom is trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by Martin Garcia.  I’ll Have Another (4) showed a great deal of promise for Doug O’Neill last summer at Del Mar, finishing second in the Grade 2 Best Pal in only his second career start.  A trip to Saratoga for the Hopeful run on a sloppy track in early September did not turn out well as he finished almost 20 lengths behind the winner that day.  This is his first race since then, so we can assume that he encountered some physical problems during or after that race.  This is a tough spot for a return, but I have a feeling this horse will play a role in this race.

Groovin’ Solo (3) broke his maiden last out on Dec. 30.  Trainer Myung Kwon Cho pays little attention to class when he enters his horses.  Groovin’ Solo started in the CashCall Futurity while still a maiden, but equipment problems did him early in that race so we did not get a clear look at what he might be.  He gets blinkers for the first time in what has to be another huge class test for him.  Empire Way (7) rounds out the cast, starting for trainer Mike Harrington who seems to have a better string of young horses this year than in the recent past.  Empire Way finished fifth in the CashCall and sixth in the Hollywood Prevue.  This will be his first try off synthetics, so he is a bit of an unknown wildcard here.

I hope to get some value on Isn’t He Clever, and I’ll pair him up with Liaison in the exacta.  Rousing Sermon is my pick for third, followed by I’ll Have Another.  Bob’s Picks:  2-1-6-4

Race 8 – Santa Anita – Strub G2 1 1/8 on dirt for four-year-olds – post time: 7:07 p.m. EST

Tapizar (7) is the horse to beat in the Grade 2 Strub.  He has looked sensational several times during his career and looks like he is once again at his very best after a win in the San Fernando.  I think he is the best in the race but some have doubts that he can withstand the pace pressure from Ultimate Eagle (4) and still get 1 1/8.  That one is a multiple graded stakes winner on turf and can get the distance, but he has yet to run on dirt.  His trainer says he takes to the dirt in his training, but still it would be nice to see him actually run on it since he did not do well on synthetic surfaces. 

Prayer For Relief (2) has been the model of consistency except for his Clark flop, but he was still recovering from an illness in that race.  He was third in the San Fernando but should improve and be in a good stalking position behind Tapizar and Ultimate Eagle.  Jaycito (1) is the big question mark since he hasn’t run since August and even then had to deal with various ailments.  He was a promising two-year-old and his workouts indicate that he’s ready to get back to serious action for Bob Baffert. 

Indian Winter (6) has been mainly a sprinter and hasn’t run this far since April.  He is bred to get the distance but it’s a lot to ask.  Balladry (8) was a non-threatening second to Tapizar in the San Fernando in what was his first stakes experience in 12 starts.  He’ll need another step up to hit the board today.  Clubhouse Ride (5) has not run in over a year so this will be an acid test for him.  That said, he has hit the board in all 3 of his graded stakes and could be one to watch down the road.  Last but not least is Beer Meister (3).  He is a stakes winner but has not found success at this level.  If the race was at Turf Paradise I would give him consideration.  Kat’s Picks: 7-2-4-1

HALLANDALE BEACH, Fla. – Edgar Prado has been making the most of his opportunities during the 2011-2012 meeting at Gulfstream Park, having already visited the winner’s circle on five more occasions than he did during the entire 2011 meeting.

The Hall of Fame jockey, who has ridden the winner’s of 6,523 races and $237 milion in purses, had somehow experienced a startling slow-down in business the past few years, particularly last year at Gulfstream when he rode only 14 winners for the entire stand. With more than two months remaining this year, Prado has ridden 18 winners from 108 mounts (the fewest of any rider in the Top 10).

Prado, who won Gulfstream titles in 2002 and 2005, persevered through the slow times and has steadily built back his business with an assist from a longtime client.

“When you’re not doing well, you need someone to give you a chance to show that you can still win races. At Belmont last year, Donald Adam gave me that chance and put me on his horses. He’s the one who helped me get started again,” said Prado of the owner of Courtlandt Farms. “I got to ride a lot of nice horses for him and win some races.”

The 44-year-old native of Lima Peru, who rode Barbaro for a victory in the 2006 Florida Derby and Kentucky Derby, finished off the 2011 campaign with success at Keeneland and Churchill Downs before returning to Gulfstream in December.

“It feels a lot better when you’re winning races,” said Prado, who rode the first three winners on a Gulfstream card last week.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Don Perico, a 5-year-old gelded son of In Excess, terminated a six-race losing streak when scoring a wire-to-wire victory under leading rider Joel Rosario in Thursday’s $59,750 Black Rock Purse for California-breds at 6½ furlongs over Santa Anita’s hillside turf course.

Rosario, who had ridden Donald J. Valpredo’s homebred throughout the drought, sent Don Perico to a clear lead early in his second try over the unique downhill layout, and he gamely held on to resist fast-closing Starspangled Heat by one-half length in 1:12.92.

In his first effort over the course on Dec. 29, Don Perico had wound up fourth, close behind third-place Starspangled Heat and runner-up Dance With Gable, who finished off the board in the Black Rock Purse, a first-condition allowance for older horses.

Rosario thought that the earlier experience was critical in Don Perico’s turnaround at odds of 8-1.

“The last time he was a little green,” Rosario said. “He was looking around too much. Today, he was much more professional. I just let him go. Sometimes when horses are doing something for the first time like in his last race, they aren’t familiar with what they are doing, so they look around too much.”

Starspangled Heat, ridden by Corey Nakatani, edged Husband’s Folly, with Mike Smith aboard, by one-half length for the place as both closed strongly. Dixieland Blues, the 5-2 favorite, checked in fifth in a field of 10, one-half length behind 3-1 Dance With Gable.

The winner, trained by Marty Jones, paid $18.40, $9.60 and $6.20. The mutuels on Starspangled Heat were $8.80 and $6.40. Husband’s Folly paid $5.60 to show. The winning purse of $34,800 elevated the earnings of Don Perico to $78,080 from a 2-1-1 record in nine career starts.

Racing continues on Friday at Santa Anita with an eight-race program beginning at 1 p.m.

Benoit Photo
Don Perico and Joel Rosario win Thursday’s feature at Santa Anita.

The 2012 Kentucky Derby trail gets a little more crowded this weekend with the Withers at Aqueduct, the Robert Lewis at Santa Anita and the Sam F. Davis at Tampa Bay Downs. All three races are graded stakes, which is very important when a colt needs graded earnings to fill one of the 20 positions in the starting gate on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs.

Matt Pappis will handicap the Withers, Bob Hill will give his picks for the Lewis and I will deal with the Davis.

The Davis is run at a mile-and-a-sixteenth on real dirt and has a purse of $250,000.  The Grade 3 affair has drawn 11 colts and will go off as race 11 with a post time of 5:10 p.m. EST.

The Graham Motion-trained State of Play (1) brings the strongest credentials into the race. He won the Grade 2 With Anticipation on Sept. 1 at Saratoga and then was twelfth in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf on Nov. 5 at Churchill Downs. He was bumped at the start of that race and never was a factor. The Davis will be his first start on dirt, but he’s a son of War Front and it shouldn’t be a problem. Alan Garcia will ride the colt for the first time.

The trio of Prospective (11), Reveron (10) and Burning Time (9) should be the main competition.  All three are stakes winners. Prospective, owned by John C. Oxley and trained by Mark Casse, won the $100,000 Pasco Stakes at Tampa Bay Downs three weeks ago. Luis Contreras has the ride.

Reveron, who won the Gulfstream Park Derby on Jan. 1, is owned by Stipa Racing Stable and trained by Agustin Bezara. Fernando Jara retains the mount. Burning Time, who won the Foolish Pleasure Stakes as a 2-year-old in September at Calder, is owned by Harold Queen and trained by David Fawkes and will be ridden Leandro Goncalves.

Trainer Todd Pletcher’s presence will be felt in the form Ecabroni (4) who broke his maiden on Jan. 14 at Gulfstream Park going seven furlongs. He’s a son of Smoke Glacken and will be ridden by Javier Castellano.

Holy Highway (2) won back-to-back turf races at Tampa Bay and he has been the distance of the Davis. Battle Hardened (3) still is a maiden, but he just missed by a head in his last race at Gulfstream Park. He’s by Giant’s Causeway and his speed figures say he can run with this group. He’s also entered at a race at Gulfstream on Feb. 4, so he might not even show up at Tampa.

Moroccan Brew (5) was sixth in the Pasco and I think he’s overmatched in the Davis. Neck ’n Neck (6) needed four starts to break his maiden and then he was embarrassed on Jan. 7 at Gulfstream when highly-thought-of Discreet Dancer made him look foolish in an optional-claimer.

Fox Rules (7) saw all he wanted of State of Play in the With Anticipation at Saratoga when he was seventh. Things haven’t gotten any better for the son of Roman Ruler who hasn’t come close to hitting the board in two additional starts.

Ravelo’s Boy (8) was fifth in the Gulfstream Park Derby and I can’t see that improving here.

I’m always leery of a horse debuting in the new year off a layoff. For that reason I’m going to go with Reveron over State of Play with Ecabroni and Prospective. Ron’s picks: 10-1-4-11.

We end our work week at a place where we haven’t spent much time, Aqueduct. No it’s not the Holly Springs Stakes in the third, but the fifth on the card, an optional-claiming test for three-year-olds, and when we talk about the quality purses of these OC contests from Gulfstream and Santa Anita, you can’t overlook this one, as it’s 67k. Let’s get started.

Race 5 – Aqueduct – post time: 2:19 p.m. EST

SUMMER SUNSET (1), a couple of points of interest from his last start back here in December, he was DQed to last from a solid six length win, and then was claimed by the Dominic Galluscio barn, who by the way wins 21 percent of his starters after the claim. This trainer can get this son of Lawyer Ron to fire, but I think he’s still a race or two away from taking a group like this.

KEVIN SILVERLASPIA (2) exits a nice muddy score here last month, but it was against considerably lesser, and when he’s faced close to this level in his previous two, he was a non-factor and will be again today.

RACONTEUR (3), always a short price in his previous six starts, this Pletcher trainee finally broke out of the maiden ranks last out, and did so by a neck going the handicap distance. That effort came with sleep-walking like fractions, but this son of A.P. Indy is fast, as his last two works indicate. The all-around connections are hard to ignore here.

MONEY IN MOTION (4) before finding the mud not to his liking here last month, this gelded son of Rainmaker was one across the board in his three previous starts, but against a different caliber. Those successes aside, this guy’s a bit light in the saddle to threaten this group.

MAYBE’S MASTER (5), Pennsylvania-bred enters on the strength of back to back wins over the Penn National and Laurel main tracks, and showed a strong close in each. Trainer Mike Trombetta is currently 6 for 8 in the money, with three wins, and when teaming with jockey Kendrick Carmouche, who makes his first start here, they’re a 31 percent winning tandem. Don’t overlook.

TWO SEVENTEEN (6) snatched from the Christophe Clement barn in his debut, and then promptly won going away at this distance for new trainer Bruce Levine here last month. It only gets better for this son of Thunder Gulch, as today he gets the services of top jock Ramon Dominguez, and he’s winning here at almost 30 percent. He’s the one the rest have to beat.

HOLIDAY PROMISE (7), like the other Pletcher entry, this colt by Harlan’s Holiday exits a strong effort here placing against similar. He’s turned in a month of solid works since that last start, and just as with his “other” starter, you just can’t ignore this guy either.

ROMANCING THE GOLD (8), in a freaky effort here last out, he got up in time to break his maiden at odds of over 40-1. That might not have been a lucky try, as trainer Jeremiah Englehart is having a solid meet and year, and keeping always tough David Cohen in the irons is a major plus. This son of Medallist could once again be a viable play at a price.

RED BENDEL (9) claimed last out from the Zayat/Pletcher team, where he won at this distance but against the lowest of levels. This class-hike does him in today.

These are the types (Two Seventeen), Ramon Dominguez gets his picture taken with, and will again today. I’m playing Maybe’s Master for a strong effort, along with Romancing The Gold, and just one of the Pletcher duo, Raconteur. Rick’s picks: 6-5-8-3.

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Gainesway Thoroughbreds’ Small Kitchen, reserved just off the pace of the early leaders in Thursday’s $46,000 Fair Grounds feature for maiden sophomore fillies, gained the advantage entering the lane and drew off the rest of the way for a 5 3/4-length score in the six- furlong sprint.

Trained by Mike Maker and ridden by Rosie Napravnik, the Kentucky-bred daughter of Corinthian toured the three-quarter mile distance in 1:10.95, earned the $27,600 winner’s share of the purse in the first start of her career and returned mutuels of $6.40 $4 and $3.60.

Michael Meeks’ Capable Argument, unhurried early, rallied to gain the second spot by 4 1/2-lengths from Padua Stables’ Vuitton but was no threat to the winner.

The runner-up paid $5.80 and $4, while Vuitton returned $6.40.

American Kitty, owned by 100% Racing Stable, alternated for the early lead with Klaravich Stable and William Lawrence’s Crossing the Tape while registering splits of 21.57 and 45.12 before both gave way in the stretch run.

Racing resumes Friday at Fair Grounds with an 11-race program beginning at 12:40 p.m.