The San Francisco Mile Stakes is on tap Saturday at Golden Gate and this could be a great opportunity to pad the bankroll for next week’s Kentucky Derby. The Grade 3 $100,000 event has attracted a competitive field of seven and bettors have some interesting options.
Golden Gate is in Albany California and it is located on the eastern shoreline of San Francisco Bay. Those travelling on interstate 80 will pass Golden Gate and just across the highway is Berkeley, where a University of California is located.
When I first moved from New Jersey to California and thought I would become one of the few people that can make a living just playing horses, Golden Gate was my first stop. Unfortunately, I got a five-star education at the track.
Coming from the East Coast, horseracing in my book had been about mainly class and who a horse was running against on a daily basis. I learned at Golden Gate that speed was king in California and it was a very expensive lesson.
The San Francisco Mile has been on the schedule for nearly 70 years and some very good horses have won this race. In 1950 the great Citation wooed the crowd with a stirring victory. Citation, of course, was the eighth Triple Crown winner and one of three horses that won sixteen consecutive races in major stakes company. The other pair were Cigar and Zenyatta.
Others that have won the San Francisco Mile include Native Diver, Silveyville, Tight Spot and Singletary.
From the rail out, G. G. Ryder will be the first into the gate. This runner won this stakes in 2015. He was far back in his last pair and that is something that has be addressed. He did run well from this very rail here in November of 2015 but still could not cash. Overall, this racer has had a nice career. He has won the Bull Dog Stakes going farther and there is nothing wrong with winning half of his eight Albany races on grass. The pro has to be left in the exotic conversation at least.
Stryker Phd has had a nice penchant for finding the wire his entire career but he only has the one grass victory. The class is there for all too see off his win in the Grade 3 Berkeley here last fall. As far as betting is concerned, he could get away on the tote as he has been handled by some of today’s tough customers. Expect him to be in the picture late if at all.
The connections of Patentar thought enough of him to try the big guns in the Grade 2 races down south at Santa Anita. His versatility could be his best asset as he can change his style and still succeed. He was coaxed along by Rafael Bejarano last time on the lead and won and then came from left field in the winter of last year again with Bejarano calling the shots. He is also in the good hands of Simon Callaghan, who has sent out 23 horses in 2017 and greeted eight of them back in the winner’s circle.
Many Roses has been a thorn in his rivals’ hearts in four of his eleven starts. There are things to like and not to like about this son of Many Rivers. The good news is that he has the two races to build on now and that he has enough speed to make many in the field chasers. The bad news is he has to show he belongs in stakes company and he also has been handled by some familiar rivals. Logical thinking would expect him to at least muddle the pace.
Richard Dreyfuss fans were all over Camino Del Paraiso last time as he ran a solid third in the Let It Ride Stakes. The Let It Ride Stakes is named for the comedy about a habitual gambler that on one day wins every bet he places, even the longshots he bets on at Hialeah Park. Camino Del Paraiso has been patiently placed and one could envision him in a stalk and pounce kind of a mode. His lone win came against maidens and wise players may be looking more to the proven stakes performers today.
Alert Bay is the defending San Francisco Mile winner and he figures to be a handful right back. Only serious horses are in the exacta in 20 of 30 starts and Alert Bay is one of those animals. This is his second off the layoff attempt and he won in a similar situation early in his career in the BC Derby at Hastings. In Alert Bay’s 2016 finale he was hung wide in the Longacres Mile. The Blaine Wright student had an ideal prep for this race and looms the one to deny.
Star Student has not learned his lessons all that well in the last pair of Grade 3 stakes. He was out of the money in both of those races and he takes the worst of it post-wise as he is out in slot seven. On top of that, he has yet to win on grass and he has never been a win machine. He has twice as many slices in his record than wins and really has lacked the killer instinct in most of his starts. If he does win the San Francisco Mile, he will be a nice price.
Those at the facts of the records of these runners but now we have to project how it may all come together. There is a paucity of speed in the San Francisco Mile and Many Roses has an excellent chance to make an easy lead. Patentar has a shot to get a stalking journey in second while Alert Bay figures to be aggressively ridden by jockey Juan Hernandez.
Alert Bay should be able to assert his class when it counts in the San Francisco Mile. He has won over $1.1 million in his career and has been victorious in 13 of his 30 career starts. He has trained fast since his last race and posted a second best of the morning 1:00 3/5 five-furlong workout just last Saturday. Bettors could do much worse than keying Alert Bay on top of the exotics and hope the longshots follow him home.
