Hute may offer value in stakes

With a lineup of a dozen 3-yearolds and the top two choices on the track’s morning line stuck in unfavorable post positions, the New Mexico Breeders’ Derby is clearly the best betting opportunity among the three $100,000 stakes for statebreds on the undercard of Sunday’s Sunland Derby at Sunland Park.

Over the past two years, posts 10 and 11 have produced just three wins from 33 starts (9 percent) in races between a mile and 1 1/16 miles at Sunland. That makes it tough to take either tepid 3-1 favorite He’s Another Who (post 11) or 4-1 second choice Storming Back (post 10) in the 1 1/16-mile New Mexico Breeders’ Derby (race 6).

The most obvious alternative is Hute, listed at 5-1 despite going 2 for 2 by daylight margins at Sunland since he was stretched out to a mile. Hute romped by seven lengths to clear his maiden condition in December and improved his Beyer Speed Figure by 10 points while scoring by 1 1/4 lengths – and defeating both He’s Another Who and Storming Back – in the Red Hedeman Mile in February.

Hute’s trainer, Joel Marr, won this stakes in 2012 with That’s Who and in 2015 with Weather Dodger.

The big question is whether jockey Ken Tohill can get Hute into a prominent position early in the two-turn race as easily as when the gelding broke from posts 3 and 4 in his two victories.

The live longshot could be Dom Strait (10-1). He rallied from fifth to be a close second in the Red Hedeman before enduring an extremely wide trip from post 9 in the local prep for Sunday’s race on March 7. Jockey Miguel Perez should be able to work out a better trip after breaking from post 3 on Sunday.

Go for a Stroll (5-1), who rallied from seventh to miss by a head as the even-money favorite in the one-mile local prep earlier this month, merits respect while making his third start going long. Over the past two seasons, jockey Tracy Hebert is 20 for 58 (34 percent) riding for trainer Todd Fincher.

◗ Sippin, whose seven-race winning streak was snapped when she challenged open company in last month’s Island Fashion, will be heavily favored to resume her winning ways when she returns to the statebred ranks against six other 3-year-old fillies in the New Mexico Breeders’ Oaks at 1 1/16 miles (race 3).

◗ Fincher will saddle four of the nine fillies and mares going 5 1/2 furlongs, including top two choices Bryn’s Fancy Pants and Diabolical Dame, in the La Coneja (race 4).

The 4-year-old Bryn’s Fancy Pants (3-1) is 7 for 10 lifetime, including four stakes victories. Diabolical Dame (7-2) has seven stakes wins among her 12 victories in 20 lifetime starts.

The competition includes My Bikini Fell Off (4-1), cutting back to a sprint after winning the one-mile Peppers Pride Handicap, and the Fincher-trained Tilla Cat (6-1), the winner of the New Mexico Cup Oaks at Zia Park in late October.