Saturday's Best Bet: Shancelot over Omaha Beach at Santa Anita
Saturday’s 9th race from Santa Anita Park is the Grade 1 Santa Anita Sprint Championship for 3-year-olds and up dashing six furlongs on the main track (Post Time - 7:55 p.m. ET).
#3 SHANCELOT (4-5) is probably too fleet for these. He was brilliantly fast on June 23 in allowance company and July 28 in winning Saratoga's Amsterdam (G2). He was not ridden aggressively enough in the Allen Jerkens (G1) at seven panels Aug. 24, when he also ran on a slower inside part of the track. They won’t fool around in this spot. Look for aggressive handling under Emisael Jaramillo in a final prep for the Breeders' Cup Sprint.
#2 Omaha Beach (8-5) can win this on class if the pace gets hot. He really got good on dirt over the winter and early spring. The Kentucky Derby favorite was forced to scratch from that race following a breathing issue that surgery corrected. He was originally scheduled to return in the Shared Belief Stakes at Del Mar but missed that assignment and was briefly redirected to Churchill for the Ack Ack (G3). He was not ready to ship, and he shows up in this dash instead. This is clearly a much-needed race, and he probably won’t catch Shancealot. But he is training well.
#4 Flagstaff (4-1) is a quality dirt sprinter for John Sadler. He is not as talented as the top two, but the lightly raced 5-year-old gelding earned solid numbers in all three 2019 starts.