Sunday’s Best Bet: Katonah is playable in Pleasanton Mile

Photo: Eclipse Sportswire

Sunday’s eighth race at Pleasanton is the $150,000 Pleasanton Mile for 3-year-olds traveling one mile on the main track. The scheduled post time is 8:25 p.m. EDT. 

Click here for Pleasanton entries and results

No. 3 Katonah (8-1) ran well in all five dirt attempts at Santa Anita this year. He exits a win as the favorite in a fast dirt route on May 27, and the show finisher was a next-out winner. He figures to stalk the pace at playable odds. 

No. 4 I’mgonnabesomebody (4-1) is a consistent gelding returning to dirt. He won an all-weather stakes race last time and is 2-for-2 at Pleasanton. He should be forwardly placed. 

No. 6 Il Bellator (5-1) competed in the stakes ranks in his last five starts and won the California Derby at Golden Gate last year. The all-weather specialist was a well-beaten fourth in the Shared Belief at Del Mar last summer, and that was his lone try on conventional dirt. 

No. 1 Tripoli (9-2) won the Grade 1 Pacific Classic in 2021 and completely went sideways after that. He finally got back on track in an all-weather route at Golden Gate on March 19 and just missed the place in the All American at that same venue May 29. He figures to work out a ground-saving stalking trip at a hint of a price.

No. 2 Midnight Mammoth (30-1) might be the one to catch and has shown enough to be considered a live long shot. He was sharp in a wire-to-wire win at Santa Anita in March and followed that up with an OK show finish in the Californian (G2). He turned back and faded in the Triple Bend (G2) on May 27 and battled on the pace and weakened to third at one mile on June 11. 

Wagers

No. 3 to win

Exacta box 3-4

Trifecta 3-4/1-2-3-4-6/1-2-3-4-6

Recent Best Bet winners

June 18 – Planetario ($7.40), exacta ($14.80)
June 20 – Chelsea Wall ($11.40), exacta ($22.40)
June 22 – Daufuskie Island ($4.30), exacta ($10.80)
June 26 – Looms Boldly/Acoustic Ave/Dr. Kraft trifecta ($12.00)
June 30 – Big Daddy Dave ($3.00)
Monday – Surly Furious ($4.20)
Wednesday – Nobody Listens/Latigo exacta ($26.20)
Thursday – 
Katie M’lady/Trail Ridge Road exacta ($7.60)
Friday  Coastal Charm ($6.80)

2023 Pleasanton Mile LS

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