Saturday Stakes Action

The major graded stakes action takes place at Gulfstream Park today where the Swale, Bonnie Miss, Appleton, and Rampart Stakes on the Florida Derby undercard.  Aqueduct will run a re-scheduled Cicada Stakes, while Santa Anita offers a couple of graded events on the lawn

• D’Funnybone is the clear top dog in the Swale; once you get past his race over the ProRide at Santa Anita he’s a flat out dominant horse in almost every race he’s started.  He’s 6/5 on the morning line, odds that he probably won’t come near at post time.  Anything above Even seems generous for this horse today.

• Kiss the Kid is the morning favorite for the Appleton but it’s the 7-Rahy’s Attorney that I find the best of the lot.  He’s coming off a pretty poor effort in his last race, his first try over the Gulfstream surface, but that was his first try after a layoff and he could be a lot sharper in this spot.  He’s generally done his best running up at Woodbine, and that’s certainly a concern, but if I can get 4/1 or higher on this horse I think he’d be worth a play.
• The Rampart features the "Mystery Horse" of the weekend, the Venezuelan invader Bambera (VEN).  This filly is 16-for-18 in her career and has bagged almost a million dollars in earnings racing in her native land.  We don’t have a whole lot of information on her running style except that she appears to prefer to run out in front and she wins…a lot.  The morning line has her pegged at 8/1, odds that seem way too high at first glance. 
  
  Unrivaled Belle looks to get back to her winning ways after a disappointing 4^th in her seasonal debut at Santa Anita in the Grade 2 La Canada.  It’s possible that she just didn’t like the ProRide that day or it could be that she’s a notch below in terms of class.  There’s not a lot of speed in this race (other than the unknown Bambera) so it’s possible she controls this one from the get go.
• There was a big buzz around the filly Christine Daae after she broke he maiden in stylish fashion at Gulfstream back on January 15^th.  She followed that up with an allowance score and tries graded stakes company for the first time today in the Grade 2 Bonnie Miss.  A replay of Christine Daae’s maiden breaking win can be found here.
• The fifth race at Gulfstream today is a highly competitive Maiden Special Weight for three year olds going a one-turn mile where I really like the 12-Launceston (6/1).  This horse finished second in his debut on February 13^th in a race where he had to do a lot of running early on in order to avoid being trapped along the rail.  He draws outside of the field today where Julien Leparoux should be able to put him into a perfect stalking position without having to gun him out of the gate.  Throw in a trainer/jock combination that’s hitting at 22% and Launceston becomes an intriguing price play.
• If you are looking to watch a race with a lot of expensive horses in it, look no further than Gulfstream Race 3, a Maiden Special Weight for three year olds going six furlongs on the main track.  Check out the sales fees for some of these colts:
  
  1-Bail Out the Banks: $230,000
  7-Al Muhtasib: $520,000
  8-Biloxi: $350,000
  9-Storm On The Moon: $200,000
  10-Dapper Zapper: $775,000
  
  That’s a lot of money in horseflesh and it only represents half the field.  I don’t have a clue as to which horse is going to win this race, but it should be fun to watch.