Racing! Audible is the 9-5 favorite for Saturday’s Florida Derby

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we ready for two more major Derby preps this weekend.

This is week two of the final preps races for the Kentucky Derby. The star this week is the Florida Derby at Gulfstream. The warmup act is the Dubai Derby, which is the warmup act to the Dubai World Cup for older horses.

We’ll be at Gulfstream Park on Saturday to chronicle the race where the winner has gone on to win the Kentucky Derby three of last five years.

Here’s a quick stroll through the field of nine with, post, horse, Kentucky Derby points, trainer, jockey, morning-line odds, comment:

1. Strike Power, 20, Mark Hennig, Luis Saez, 4-1, runner-up in the Fountain of Youth, can qualify with a third, maybe fourth.

2. Millionaire Runner, 0, Jaime Mejia, Jose Batista, 50-1, one win in 10 starts, and only the number of starts will change.

3. Tip Sheet, 0, Stanley Gold, Edgard Zayas, 30-1, sixth in the Holy Bull and not expected to be a factor.

4. Promises Fulfilled, 52, Dale Romans, Robby Albarado, 3-1, already in the Derby as winner of Fountain of Youth.

5. Storm Runner, 0, Dale Romans, Tyler Gaffalione, 20-1, bought for $5,000 he’s already a success but won’t do much.

6. Catholic Boy, 14, Jonathan Thomas, Irad Ortiz Jr., 7-2, insiders see huge upside in this winner of the Remsen Stakes.

7. Hofburg, 0, Bill Mott, Jose Ortiz, 20-1, only raced twice, winning one, could be a sleeper pick to hit the board.

8. Audible, 10, Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, 9-5, may be best East horse to topple superior West runners in May.

9. Mississippi, 0, Mark Casse, Julien Leparoux, 12-1, winless at Gulfstream, should stay that way.

A few things have happened since we last met, so here are some news headlines.

--We missed it last week, but longtime horse owner and track regular Warren Williamson died at 89. He was also connected to the Times as former chairman of the Chandler Trust, which owned the paper before Tribune and Tronc. Matt Hegarty of the Daily Racing Form writes about him. (just click here)

--Jockey Fernando Perez is still working, more than a year later, to try and come back from a concussion and ride on the Southern California circuit. Find out what he told Steve Andersen of the Daily Racing Form. (just click here)

--West Coast is the favorite for the Dubai World Cup. Now that Gun Runner has retired will he officially anointed as the best older horse with a win in Dubai? Jeremy Balan of Bloodhorse brings you up to speed. (just click here)

--Trainer Peter Miller issues an apology after stewards suspend and fine him for abusive behavior. The Paulick Report has the apology. (just click here)

Santa Anita preview

Not a bad Thursday card, which now starts at noon. Which reminds me, a lot of you have emailed saying how you don’t like the early post. I, on the other hand, really like it. I wonder if those that don’t like it are off-track? You can’t underestimate what a pain the 210 Freeway can be the later in the afternoon you get. And, it’s not a prince the rest of the day, either.

The trick is to keep the bettors around as long as you can. And, if you are earlier, and off track, you are with more of the East Coast tracks so there is more action. If you are out there by yourself, and only have a race every 30 minutes, that’s not enough action to keep someone interested. At least that’s what I think the idea behind the early post was all about.

So, as high noon approaches on Thursday, you can ponder that and the eight-race card. Only one six-horse field, so that’s good. Six of the eight races are for older horses, the other two are for 3 year olds. There are three turf races, the first, fourth and eighth, but none down the hill.

Santa Anita is kicking out a little more weekday money with one race for $63,000, one for $56,000 and two for $54,000. The feature is the fourth, a mile on the turf, an allowance/optional claimer, for horses 4 and up. Here’s the field sizes, in order: 8, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 6, 9 (2 also eligible).

Golden Gate weekend preview

Now a look at the best racing coming up at Golden Gate. Race caller (I think we can stop calling him new) and all-around good guy Matt Dinerman is our host to previews and other musings. So, take it away Matt.

“The feature race of the week is the prestigious Grade 3 San Francisco Mile, a $200,000 one-mile turf event. A dozen horses have been entered to compete in the biggest race of the winter/spring meet.

“Leading the list of contenders is Frank Conversation, who makes his first start of 2018 for the Doug O’Neill barn. Other main Southern California horses include graded stakes competitors Editore, Flamboyant, Mr. Roary and Syntax.

“Full Of Luck is another Southern California shipper that merits respect. The son of Lookin At Lucky is a Chilean bred making his first start in the United States. He has run 14 career races, all in Chile, and has picked up victories in one Group 1 and a pair of Group 2’s. He is two for three when traveling this mile distance on the turf and has been working regularly at Santa Anita under trainer Jerry Hollendorfer.

“Local candidates in the ‘Mile include stakes performers Aqua Frio, Camino Del Paraiso, Grecian Fire and Many Roses. Aqua Frio and Grecian Fire are fresh off of two allowance victories while Camino Del Paraiso finished second at Santa Anita in his most recent start, the $200,000 Unusual Heat Turf Classic. Many Roses ran third in last year’s San Francisco Mile after setting the pace and is expected to be the target up front once again.

“The San Francisco Mile is the third leg in the $0.50 late pick 4, which will have a guaranteed pool of $100,000 this Saturday. The late pick 4 begins in race 6, with a scheduled post time of 2:45 p.m. Thirty-seven horses have been entered in the late pick 4, which is an average of nine horses a race.

In other news, Flavien Prat has four mounts on the Saturday card at Golden Gate Fields. He rides in races four, five, seven and eight. Abel Cedillo has a 45-43-42 win lead over Juan Hernandez and Billy Antongeorgi III in the Golden Gate jockey standings while John Martin has 30 wins and sits atop the trainer standings, though Hollendorfer is just one win shy of Martin.”

Bob Ike SA pick of the day

EIGHTH RACE: No, 2 Defiantly (6-1)

Older gelding turned in an even effort when last seen on Jan. 15 but gets a confident one-level class boost off the Richard Baltas claim. This barn hits at 35% first off the claim, so look for Defiantly to turn in a top effort in this spot. I will make a win bet and key him in exactas with Spanish Hombre (7-2) and Conquest Typhoon (3-1).

Sunday Result: Blame It On Alphie (9-1) fired big but came up a tad short when finishing second in the eighth race.

Bob Ike is a Partner/VP of Horsebills.com (here’s a video) and the proprietor of BobIkePicks.com (full-card picks, 3 Best Plays and betting strategy).

Final thought

Still looking to jump the circulation of this newsletter. Can’t beat the price. If you like it, tell someone. If you don’t like it, then you’re probably not reading this. Either way, send to a friend and just have them click here and sign up. Remember, it’s free, and all we need is your email, nothing more.

Any thoughts, drop me an email at my new address johnacherwa@gmail.com or feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa

And now the star of the show, Thursday’s entries.