This edition of the Robert B. Lewis Stakes at Santa Anita Park drew a compact field of five in search of the lion’s share of the $150,000 purse and 10 Kentucky Derby points. Bob Baffert’s back-to-back win streak in this race will end given that he doesn’t have an entrant this year – Doug O’Neill sends out a trio of runners while John Shirreffs and Jerry Hollendorfer each send one entry to the gate. Let’s take a look at the field.
Royal Mo was last seen breaking his maiden at a mile at Del Mar in November. I liked the way he looked that day given that it was his first try around two turns. I like the slight progression in distances, he went from six furlongs to seven to a mile and now to a mile and sixteenth.
Irap is the lone maiden of the field. He did finish second to Mastery in the Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity back in December when it was also a field of five. He followed that up with a dull fourth as the betting favorite over a sloppy track against maidens. I’ll give him an excuse given the track condition. He’s been given time off and the blinkers will be added for the first time. These connections won this race in 2012 with I’ll Have Another who went on to win the Santa Anita Derby, Kentucky Derby, and Preakness Stakes.
Dangerfield has improved since stretching out to a route. He broke his maiden in the Oak Tree Juvenile at Pleasanton and then followed that up with a pair of thirds in the Grade 3 Delta Downs Jackpot and the Los Alamitos Futurity. They paid $450,000 for this son of Into Mischief and I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.
Term of Art is the only runner with a graded stakes victory on his resume. He won the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille at Del Mar when it was rained off the turf and moved to the dirt back in November. He’s worn blinkers in all his starts and they will be coming off for this race. I don’t really know what to make of that but he does pick up the hot-riding Tyler Baze.
Sheer Flattery broke his maiden at this distance and over this track on New Year’s Eve. I liked his progression from his debut to his second start when he ran second to Mastery. His workouts before his maiden-breaking score were better than the ones leading up to today. Leave Jerry Hollendorfer off your tickets at your own risk.
I give the nod to Royal Mo. I think he’s a runner that has tons of potential routing and will be able to work out a trip from that inside post.
Bets on a $50 Budget:
$20 Win on Royal Mo
$10 Exacta 1 with 2,3 ($20)
$5 Exacta 2,3 with 1 ($10)
