Daily Racing Form National Digital Edition
Top Harbor’s usual race puts him in the mix
Top Harbor has won a sprint stakes in Northern California each season of his three-year career and seldom runs a poor race, finishing in the top three in 10 of 13 starts. That consistency makes the 5-year-old Top Harbor a threat in Saturday’s $75,000 El Dorado Shooter Stakes for statebreds going six furlongs on the Tapeta at Golden Gate Fields.
Trained by Tim McCanna for Gordy Jarnig, Kenny Marshall, and Eric Schweiger, Top Harbor has had only two starts since he won the El Dorado Shooter in October 2021. He finished second in the Harris Farms Stakes at the Big Fresno Fair last October and won the Oakland Stakes at six furlongs at Golden Gate Fields in November.
“He had a little injury and he’s done well since he’s come back,” McCanna said on Thursday.
McCanna hoped to start Top Harbor in an allowance race, but said a suitable race was not available.
The El Dorado Shooter Stakes drew a field of nine, including five stakes winners.
Bettor Trip Nick won the 2022 El Dorado Shooter and a $20,000 claimer on Jan. 29, the day he was taken by trainer Jack Steiner. Bettor Trip Nick will be prominent early and likely to be closely followed by Psycho Dar, who won the Harris Farms Stakes and was third in the Oakland Stakes last fall.
Ultimate Bango, winner of the Lost in the Fog Stakes last April, can be a factor from farther off the pace.
McCanna expects Top Harbor to race from a stalking position under jockey Frank Alvarado.
“Frank knows him and he can lay where he wants to,” McCanna said. “Hopefully, we can get a good trip.”
Burnin Turf, who makes his second start on synthetic, has not raced since a third in the Grade 3 Daytona Stakes on the hillside turf course at Santa Anita last May. A winner of 5 of 13 starts, Burnin Turf was sidelined with a minor injury following that race.
Trainer Dan Blacker said he sent the 7-year-old Burnin Turf to Golden Gate Fields because he could not find an allowance race for him at Santa Anita.
“It was a good opportunity to run against Cal-breds,” Blacker said.
“No doubt he’s very good down the hill. The surface is a question mark. He hasn’t sprinted on the synthetic before. I think he’s shown a new dimension sprinting. I’m hoping it’s not just down the hill.
“He’s fit enough to win. It’s a question of the surface and shipping up there.”