Top pick: #9 (JUST BECAUSE) (9-5) - The probable favorite, grey gelding has finished second in three straight at Santa Anita and is working fast on this surface for his first race on a synthetic surface. A big bullet half-mile breeze here five days ago suggests his maiden win is forth-coming.
2nd pick: #6 (Decarchy's Trieste) (10-1) - Longshot is very lightly raced and showed a bit of early speed before tiring badly here at this level on May 11th. Race was his first since debuting at Santa Anita in late March of 2012 and trainer Mike Puype has him making back-to-back starts for the first time.
3rd pick: #11 (J Man) (4-1) - "Jay" has finished third in four of nine overall and until his most recent pair had been facing much tougher. He's working fast locally for his first since April 11th and trainer Mike Machowsky will race him without blinkers after five straight with the "hood" on. Contends this afternoon.
4th pick: #2 (Rondo Hondo) (15-1) - Looks like a minor factor at best as he ships in from Turf paradise and joins the barn of Bob Troeger. A small slice at a big price is possible with his "A" game.