TURF PARADISE

FOURTH RACE

DECORATED FOR GOLD goes for a cold Diodoro barn of late but we just can’t resist her upcoming great trip behind three with speed. Her turf breeding is very good as her 347 Tomlinson can attest to. Plus, at some point in the near future this barn will heat up again. Any chance for a decent price here? EMERALD LADY went 10 wide last out. She has won twice on the sod and she does get good race flow. FRANCES ANNA is speed with more speed but she has stalked before. The Davis barn continues to have a good meet and they are 30% with horses that won their last start.

FIFTH RACE

COCO LOCO MAMA has speed but can stalk. She tried first time winners in her most recent and ran good while missing her Beyer top by only 3 points. There are no world beaters in here and we think this filly likes this dirt. WAIT FOR LOVE has improved her Beyers in four straight starts. Maybe 6 1/2 furlongs was a tad far two back. She cuts back a half furlong today and she broke her maiden going five furlongs. ENDEARMENT gets an extra half furlong to work with today and goes second time with new barn. A better break can only help.

SIXTH RACE

HONOR THE ANTHEM sheds the blinkers and gets in light. We thought his most recent was better. He goes third off the layoff and drops in class. We think he will like today’s elongated sprint distance. KIJANI drops in class and draws the attack post. Trainer stats are solid across the board while Stevens is 26% when riding for team Pearson. This gelding even has some upside with this being only his third start. MISSION RELAUNCH has some longer works going into this. He did get a 43 Beyer in his debut at Sacramento. With a good break, we think this guy has some hidden speed.

SEVENTH RACE

NEVER GIVE IN should sit a great trip while going third off the layoff. The big class drop is classic Diodoro. Lopez stays put and we think that is key. Recent work came seven days ago and this is perfectly spaced. This gelding has won half of his starts on this dirt. SUCCESS RATE loves to settle for less at 72-8-208. His last race came back key when 2 of 4 returned to win with figs of 76 and 63. He cuts back to his favorite distance of 5 1/2 furlongs where he is 10-15-2. RAIDER RED might be the value. We really liked that race three back at 870 yards (3.95 furlongs). We don’t know what happened last out but it can be tricky going from New Mexico to here. Perhaps he is more acclimated now. There is good pace in this race.

EIGHTH RACE

STRONGREACH might have needed his return try to some extent. We like that he was 12 lengths back at the first call and didn’t spit the bit but rather closed some to finish fourth. He gets a weight break today and gets great race flow as we count four with front speed in here. DELTA REWARD is a deep closing sprinter and that means he has to have a speed duel to run well. That is exactly what happened three back when he won at Cby at almost 13-1. He has three works and gets a weight break. DOING FINE was getting better at the end of the last meet. Why can’t he pick up where he left off? Maybe today’s five furlongs is too short but he has lots and lots of works. Stevens was up for recent W and he returns. CHIEF A CHIEF’S exits a key race where 2 of 4 returned to win with figs of 67 and 58.