ANALYSIS

BEST BET: RACE 2, ROCKIE CAUSEWAY

FIRST RACE

FABOZZI shortens to a dirt sprint and drops slightly in class after a creditable third-place comeback at a mile on turf. He wired a similar cast of dirt sprinters two back at Santa Anita; he has two recent easy works at Del Mar. With a frontrunning or pace-pressing trip, FABOZZI is the one to beat. CONQUEST COBRA also shortens to a sprint, and though he finished behind the top choice twice in March, ‘COBRA is an eight-time winner whose career-best figure was earned on this racetrack (albeit 2016). Route-to-sprint on dirt is an effective maneuver by this stable; ‘COBRA will be running late. ITALIANO, stablemate of the second choice, wheels back 14 days after a runner-up finish at Los Alamitos and also will rally. CONCUR returns from a layoff of four and one-half months. He adds speed.

SECOND RACE

This Cal-bred maiden filly turf mile is a split of race 4 and includes the most probable winner on the card. Second-time starter ROCKIE CAUSEWAY should be tough based on her promising fourthplace debut in a similar turf mile. She was keen early, wrangled off the pace, shuffled and lost position on the far turn, re-rallied inside and finished with run. Excellent debut, should be tough second out. A late rider change is forthcoming, because Flavien Prat is off his mounts after testing positive for coronavirus. BELLA CHICA completely misfired last out, but four previous starts were okay in-themoney finishes in sprints. She stretches out for the first time, and figures as a contender based on her early form. Blinkers on, pedigree fine for a mile. LA GATA ELEGANTE improved when she switched to turf two back. Her runner-up finish last time out in a maiden-25 at Golden Gate fits with these Cal-bred special-weight maidens.

THIRD RACE

PASITO finished nearly four lengths clear of third last out in her first start at the bottom class level for winners ($16k claiming, N2L). That was seven furlongs; she won a maiden-20 at this mile distance in spring. Leading jockey Umberto Rispoli started fast opening weekend: seven wins from 21 mounts. MISS BENNET drops to the bottom for the first time, and stretches back to a mile. Her third-place finish two back in a $25k claiming N2L mile makes her one of the ones; her closing third last out was possibly better than it looks. The race was dominated by speed; ‘BENNET rallied from behind. FIRST EMPRESS could vie for favoritism dropping from allowance races at Oaklawn. The last time she ran in California, she won a maiden30 by more than nine lengths. BILLY K finished second last out in a similar spot, while nearly four lengths clear of third.

FOURTH RACE

This Cal-bred maiden filly turf mile is a split of race 2; second-time starter CHEERFUL CHARM can spring an upset after a better-than-looked sixthplace debut. She ran into severe traffic trouble and steadied into the far turn, re-rallied and finished fairly well. A sibling to three multiple winners, ‘CHARM can post a minor surprise for trainer Dan Blacker, who is 3-for-8 with second-start maidens the past year. As for Rispoli, he was 5-for-9 in turf routes opening weekend, with two seconds. EMPRESS OF FIRE stretches out from an okay fourth-place debut in a dirt sprint. After the race, her rider suggested she might like a turf route. Well, this is a turf route. ‘FIRE would be the first runner by this sire to win a turf race (nine starts). ON MARS could be among the favorites with three successive in-the-money finishes in Cal-bred maiden turf races. She has ability, but also lost three times as the favorite from five starts. Her most recent start, albeit with some trouble, was a disappointing third. ZAHRA is an 18-start maiden with nine in-the-money finishes; CASSIE BELLE might be ranked too low; her sprint form is solid including a runner-up finish last out. The question is two turns.

FIFTH RACE

This bottom-level N2L claiming sprint for fillies is