Top pick: #8 (BACK TO BAKO) (3-1) - Home-bred colt finished second in his first three starts at this level and one of those came on this surface Oct. 13. Latest saw him make up some ground in the $200K "King Glorious" stakes at Hollywood on Dec. 16 and h trainer Blake Heap will add blinkers for the move back in with maidens.
2nd pick: #4 (Storm Fighter) (3-1) - One of two entered by trainer Bruce Headley and the pair race uncoupled. He did well to finish fourth when debuting on Dec. 31 after he was off "slowly" and he's since come back with a blazing 5 furlong work five days ago. Win candidate.
3rd pick: #1 (San Onofre) (5-2) - The second of the Headley pair, he set a fast and pressured pace before weakening slightly to finish second in the same Dec. 31 contest as his uncoupled barn-mate "Storm Fighter." Completes a strong hand from the barn.
4th pick: #5 (Through My Eyes) (5-1) - Moves up in class after finishing second here going 7 furlongs facing $50K state-bred maidens on Jan. 1. Faces much tougher, but a repeat of his latest "figure" makes him a threat.