Weekend Winners Club

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Monday, May 27 2019. It’s Memorial Day weekend and to commemorate the occasion, Santa Anita will be hosting a card with 3 Grade 1 races including the Gamely, Shoemaker Mile, and Hollywood Gold Cup, which used to be at Hollywood Park before it closed.
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The Gamely is a 9 furlong turf race for fillies and mares, 3 and up. Favored is the mare Vasilika, 3 for 3 this year in graded stakes races at a mile. She also won a G1 at 10f last year and other graded races at 9f so the distance is not a problem.
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Challenging her primarily will be Rymska, another multiple graded stakes winner, and the filly Ollie’s Candy, who won the Summer Oaks here a year ago and was runner up in the Del Mar Oaks. This will be her first race since then, a 7 month layoff.
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There are several other graded stakes winners in the 8 horse field, so it’s shaping up to be a very exciting and competitive race. Rymska has top LP and will be tough to beat in the stretch.
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The Gold Cup for 3up at 10f will favor John Sadler’s Gift Box, who has been excellent since transferring from New York, winning the San Antonio and then the Big Cap here last month.
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Todd Pletcher is trying to follow suit with last year’s Wood Memorial winner Vino Rosso, in his first trip west of Kentucky where he ran mediocrely in the Derby, before a solid 4th in the Belmont.
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Getting by these two will be difficult for the field, but the Doug O’neill frontrunner Blitzkrieg will try to stay in front of them to get the win in his first dirt race. He has been excelling on turf recently so this move is surprising.
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New Orleans Handicap winner Core Beliefs returns after 5 east coast races, and was last seen here running 3rd in the Santa Anita Derby last year. Closer Lone Sailor also makes his first trip out west after 2nd in the Oaklawn Handicap and is looking for a fast pace up front.
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Higher Power will also make his first start west of Oklahoma, after winning an Optional Claimer, his 2nd career win. Mongolian Groom should have stayed here after his 3rd in the Big Cap instead of inexplicably going to Charles Town to run 5th in the Classic.
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Higher Power has the top LP, just edging out Lone Sailor. Gift Box, Vino Rosso and Mongolian Groom are close behind. Blitzkrieg, with top EP, and Core Beliefs, 2nd in EP, are the only ones with LP not in the 90s.
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The Shoemaker Mile is a very competitive field of 9 3 and up, most of which are multiple graded stakes winners. The favorite is and probably should be Delta Prince, but he’s got his work cut out for him.
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The Shoemaker is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge race so the winner will automatically get into the Breeders Cup Mile regardless of how they perform again until then.
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Get the Santa Anita Memorial Day Grid here free now.

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