Across the Board: Anticipating Battle of Midway's next race

Looking ahead to Santa Anita's Dec. 26 opening day races, I already see that I need to keep my eyes wide open for Jerry Hollendorfer’s Battle of Midway in the Grade 2, $300,000 San Antonio Stakes. Battle of Midway, who most recently won the Native Diver Stakes (G3) at Del Mar, has per Hollendorfer been "fabulous" in training.

Specifically, Hollendorfer pointed out Battle of Midway's five-furlong move in 59.80 seconds last Sunday, followed by several promising jogs that are leading him into the 1 1/16-mile San Antonio.

Battle of Midway will meet John Sadler-trained Gift Box, who's new to the barn and has shown promise while being sparingly raced this year. Fact is, Gift Box’s steady series of promising workouts that began in October suggests he deserves attention and should not be taken lightly in wagers involving Battle of Midway, who returned from a brief stint at stud to race this year at age 4.

My intent is to use the former Chad Brown trainee Gift Box and Battle of Midway together in various exotic wagers in this race, which is on a card headlined by the Malibu (G1) and La Brea (G1) for 3-year-olds.

Keep an eye on the works

While I wrote recently about top 2-year-olds who have a license to become legit sophomores heading toward the 2019 Triple Crown series, no one should think that subject has been exhausted. That specific topic will remain one of the most important as we move into the New Year, when the current crop of juveniles all turns 3.

As most fans know, all Thoroughbred racehorses advance in age in that manner. With that, horseplayers will need to watch to see how year’s 2-year-olds have matured, or will continue to mature.

That said, I do not intend to write weekly updates on the emerging contenders, but I will provide commentary and warranted updates based on racing performances and the most impressive workouts I see both online from the major racetracks and training centers in Florida, California and New York.

Keep in mind that good young horses can and do expose their improving form almost anywhere, sometimes while forcing astute players to rediscover the way older horses are pointing toward their own races. Those graded stakes often go unnoticed, as the Triple Crown trail claims much of the newsprint.

A few ticks off at Aqueduct

I feel the need to point out a few important clocking errors that occurred in New York on Dec. 1, the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) card. Three different races had clocking malfunctions as announced by the New York Racing Association:

• In the Go For Wand Stakes (G3) won by Marley's Freedom, the original clocking for the one-mile distance was 1:38.35. That had to be changed to 1:37.50.

• A maiden race on the same Dec.1 card was incorrectly clocked in 1:42.41. But that was corrected to 1:40.17.

• On the same card, a $25,000 claiming race was clocked at 1:42.92 and then corrected to 1:41.77.

Interestingly, the Cigar Mile was clocked in 1:34.98, which proved to be the correct time and thus needed no change.