The sun will set late at Golden Gate Fields this Saturday, April 29. The 12-race card features three $75,000 stakes, the $100,000 Cal Derby and the featured Grade III San Francisco Mile. Three of the stakes are covered in the 50-cent Late Pick 4 wager that begins at 8:15 p.m. EST and carries a $200,000 guaranteed pool. All four races drew at least nine entrants. Here's a closer look with a suggested $54 bet:
GG 9th race (8:15 EST) -- AUSTRALIA MIA, who won six consecutive stakes races in Chile last year and made a good first impression in the U.S. with a third-place finish in the Astra Stakes at Santa Anita, pulled a disappearing act her last start, the Grade III Santa Ana on soft footing. She starts fresh and surely can bounce back, but as one of the favorites, look elsewhere to begin the Pick 4. BUYBACK, the runner-up in this race last year, took a different approach into this year’s $75,000 Golden Poppy. She raced evenly in a useful sprint on the main track to get ready for her second start after nine months away. She dueled through fast fractions in last year’s race before winning favorite Always Seeking (7-13, $192k) rallied from last to win. EVER SMART had trouble lines in five of her nine starts on turf in allowance company but still managed a win and two seconds. She worked forwardly for her seasonal debut and gets a spot on the ticket. TAM’S LITTLE ANGEL is a longshot worth considering off an improved try with second-time Lasix last out. She chased fast fractions and bid into contention in mid-stretch at 5-1/2F before weakening.
GG 10th race (8:45 EST) -- Like the way HARCYN is coming into the $100,000 Cal Derby. He went wire-to-wire in his first two starts, settled nicely and caught the runaway leader in the El Camino Real Derby at 1-1/8 miles before flattening out in deep stretch, then rallied into soft fractions and ran second at one mile despite not changing leads. He wears blinkers for the first time and can turn the tables on El Camino Real winner CHASE THE CHAOS at a shorter distance. CHASE THE CHAOS rallied for 1-2-3 stakes race finishes on Golden Gate’s synthetic track and will get ample pace flow to do it again.
GG 11th race (9:15 EST) -- DICEY MO CHARA shortens up off a series of Grade II turf marathons in which he had a win, two seconds and a third since September – all decided in photo finishes. He will need some pace flow in the featured Grade III San Francisco Mile, but should get it if the field stays intact. BALNIKHOV, no threat on ‘good’ footing in his first Grade I attempt to begin his 4-year-old season, parlayed his late kick into a Grade III victory and two Grade II runner-up finishes at various venues last year. He is a proven miler and a must use on the ticket.
GG 12th race (9:45 EST) – SUE GENEROUS led the parade of 2-3-4-5 finishers as the favorite in a race won by Serious Secret, who set a faster pace than a same-day MSW sprint at 6F and held on for the victory. Four lengths separated the four runners, now three new shooters and two first-time starters enter the mix in this bottom-level maiden claimer, prompting an ‘ALL’ punch in the final leg.
Suggested 50-cent Ticket
GG 9th Race: 4, 5, 6
GG 10th Race: 2, 8
GG 11th Race: 2, 9
GG 12th Race: ALL
Cost for 50-Cent Ticket: $54
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