Sunday's Best Bet: Earls Rock looks solid in American Stakes
Sunday’s seventh race at Santa Anita is the Grade 3 American Stakes for 4-year-olds and up traveling one mile on the turf course. The scheduled post time is 7:07 p.m. EDT.
Click here for Santa Anita entries and results.
No. 1 Earls Rock (8-5) won four of six starts since arriving in this country in 2021. He ended 2022 with a head victory in an optional claiming turf route and clicked right back by a nose in the Thunder Road (G3) on Feb. 4. Umberto Rispoli hops aboard, and the versatile gelding should save all the ground. He probably will chase the pace and try to make the first run.
No. 3 Du Jour (9-5) won three straight turf routes in 2021 for Bob Baffert, including the American Turf (G2). He moved to the Bill Mott barn and lost a trio of stakes later that year. He returned to the Baffert barn and was up the track in the Mathis Mile (G2) at the end of 2021, and that race was taken off the turf. He missed all of 2022 and returned to form in his last pair. He rallied to miss by a nose in the Thunder Road on Feb. 4 and rallied to miss by a neck in the Kilroe Mile (G1) on March 4. Frankie Dettori knows him now, and he should be heard from late.
No. 4 Exaulted (4-1) showed ability on dirt with stakes placings in the San Carlos (G2) and Triple Bend (G2) in 2021. He was just 2-for-11 on dirt, and he switched to turf and got back on the beam at this course and distance on Jan. 2. He was the favorite in his last local flat-mile turf outing on Feb. 5, and he clicked right back under Juan Hernandez that day. He ran fast in his last pair and might be able to step up and make it three straight local flat-mile turf scores.
No. 2 Bob and Jackie (10-1) puts blinkers back on, and this is his first start as a gelding. He used to be good enough to win a race like this and figures to set the pace.
Get Jarrod’s Santa Anita analysis.
Wagers
No. 1 to win
Trifecta key 1/2-3-4
Trifecta 1-3-4/1-3-4/2
Recent Best Bet winners
March 8 – James Aloysius ($4.80), trifecta ($88)
March 12 – Ballet Dancing ($11.40)
March 13 – Baton ($3.80)
March 17 – Alice Marble ($2.80)
March 18 – Princess Bettina/Comanche Country exacta ($18.80), trifecta ($81.40)
March 20 – Candy for Carmel/Good Culture exacta ($72), trifecta ($143.60)
Last Saturday – West Will Power ($7.20), exacta ($15.60)
Monday – Tiergarten/Precocious Times/Cheekiest trifecta ($89.80)