5/31 (HOL): Milady & Californian (Gr. II's)
 

5th (3:20) Milady H. (G2)

1 1/16 Miles (All Weather Track) | Fillies and Mares | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $175,000

1 Kris' Sis Garcia J A 113 L
2 Foxysox (GB) Espinoza V 117 L
3 Model Quinonez A 113 L
4 Romance Is Diane Baze M C 118 L
5 La Tee Baze T C 113 L
6 Zenyatta Smith M E 122 L
7 Double Trouble (BRZ) Bejarano R 116 L
8 Santa Teresita Talamo J 116 L



8th (4:50) Californian S. (G2)

1 1/8 Miles (All Weather Track) | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $250,000

1 Heatseeker (IRE) Bejarano R 122 L
2 Tiago Smith M E 126 L
3 Shamdinan (FR) Court J K 116 L
4 Surf Cat Solis A 118 L
5 Albertus Maximus Nakatani C S 116 L

The Milady was the race where I first became a fan of Nashobas Key

same here, i still cant believe what happened.

Great renewal of the Californian. Heatseeker (Native Diver), Tiago (Swaps), and Surf Cat (Mervyn LeRoy) all own stakes wins over the track and are in top form on paper. Albertus Maximus is well thought of, having been runner-up to Tiago in the Swaps before getting his head ripped off in the Pacific Classic as a 3yo. Makes his 3rd start off a layoff with his last being an impressive allowance win over the track at short-odds. Even Shamdinan brings some back class, having a Grade 1 win on turf last year in addition to his runner-up spot in the BC Turf. Making his first start for Dan McFarlane, who I think trains privately for Triple B Farms (the horse has been with Doug O'Neill out west and Angel Penna back east). This colt will probably be last all the way around. He should probably go back to Penna who can spot him in some marathon races on off-turf back there at places like Delaware and Philly Park. I think there might even be an Atlantic City meet maybe.

Go Zenyatta!

The heart of the CA. is very nice.

kind of wish they had recruited three or four more allowance level horses to participate. Who wants to bet on 5 horses?

I'm not even sure how the public/morning line will treat this. It looks like Heatseeker/Surfcat, so at least if the money is thrown at Tiago it could make for a win bet.

shamidain is bad.......or at least looked really bad at gs

i thought they went to AWT to boost field size. yeah, it's workin'.

Well...Zenyatta is in the field...

was referring to the californian with the whopping five entries.

Even though it's only five horses, it's five quality horses. Much better than a full field with only one or two of these and the usual allowance/claimers that fill the rest of the field.

I think Heatseeker is better than Tiago on synthetics overall.

i'd say it's three quality horses....albertus has an allowance win this year, with nothing of note since finishing second in last years' swaps. shamdinan has only disappointed this year.

tiago gets more weight this time, and will carry four more than heatseeker-i think heatseeker will avenge his loss at oaklawn.

how about 8 more then surf cat! I am not big into weights but that is a heck of a shift.

Probably right although with a French Derby third and a BC Turf second on his record to go with the Arlington grade one, I'd be ok with accepting Shamdinan as a quality horse. Even if it's only three though, it's better than a full field of nags.

By the way, Surf Cat beats them all.

Shamdinan has been a total bust this year. still its an interesting race

And he has scratched, it's now a 4 horse race.

Fantastic news, Bigs!!

Glad I could brighten your day PP.

Zenyatta/ Surf Cat

I can't see Tiago winning if he has to give up 8 pounds to Surf Cat. Should be a good battle between Heatseeker and Surf Cat. I think they are pretty close. Headley is doing a lot better than Hollendorfer is right now. With a short field, there is a much less chance of Solis finding trouble. Sometimes I just wonder if these guys get a bug in their barn, and it just takes a while to get it out.