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After a Derby week and recovery time/finals time hiatus, Racing Beat is back to clog up your sluggish Sunday feed!

How cool would it be if Pletcher entered Dreaming of Julia in the Belmont? He commented she wouldn’t be ready for a Preakness run after the Oaks soooo maybe another Rags to Riches attempt? YES PLEASE. (Two-weeks-later-edit: Seems my dreams of Julia is going to happen! Aw yeah!)

Poor Hollywood Park. If I do indeed get that full-time spot in the coming weeks like I hope, I may think about going out there just so I can soak in one of Zenyatta’s old stomping grounds before they tear it down. *Sigh* Who’s good at finding good cheap flights?

Oh Godolphin, getting desperate are we? Still, that was the quickest sentencing I’ve seen… why can’t we do that in the States?

One of the nice things about the Doug O’Neill camp is how much they believe in their horses and are all too willing to send in a possible bomber. But Handsome Mike to Royal Ascot? Against Shea Shea? *shrugs*

If I can save enough money, I have big Saratoga plans this year that involve me staying overnight here. *squee*

A full sister to 2007 Kentucky Derby winner/handsome stud Street Sense has been foaled at Darley America. Unf.

I feel like registering for a 5K mud race after the Kentucky Derby so I can pretend to be Orb mwahahaha if only those poseur races weren’t flipping expensive I might be more serious discussing this.

My mind has been off how Power Broker is moving forward and concentrating more on when Rolling Fog is coming back. Add Power Broker to the Belmont possibles list as well after his recent comeback win.

Some find the Ramsey family to be obnoxious or annoying, but let’s reward them for the fact that they claimed back their gelding Pleasant Prince recently, a recognizable older horse that has made appearances in the Breeders’ Cup Marathon as well as the Classic in the past.

Sweet baby Atigun won his race, but sweet baby Java’s War was dusted. So much sad THIS IS JULIEN’S FAULT YES THAT’S IT.

Add Freedom Child to your watch list for the Belmont Stakes as well as Tenango, who isn’t an “official” possible yet but one can assume things…

Rest in peace to Nehro, my beloved 2011 Kentucky Derby horse I really wanted to see in person, and to Chilled, the “savage” horse who was DQ’d to second in this famous 2012 photo.

Tweet o’ the Week: I love her already (by Istan)

Edit: For the diehard handicappers for Saturday, here’s the Brisnet PPs for the race! Critique Ebby away!

It’s not often you cope with 3-5 odds on a debuting three-year-old, but in the case of Eblouissante, those odds are sensible and possibly decent considering how much skill the near-black filly displayed in her maiden-winning effort last time out at Hollywood Park. I want to save most of this conversation for my upcoming video (which I assure you, is in the pipeline!), but to simplify the tone “Ebby” will have on Saturday’s card for her second start: E is for epic.

By now, you’ve probably know all about how well her first-ever race went. Accepting the fact she is not and likely will never be as good as her big half sis Zenyatta, she is still an incredible specimen and looked like a pro handling her first field over 1 1/16 miles. She looked totally “Zen” in her far turn move, eating up ground in just a few strides and was clear of the field mid-homestretch with little to no encouragement from jockey Corey Nakatani. Now that we’ve gotten a taste, what can we expect from her second start in an allowance optional claimer this Saturday? Let’s take a look at her competition:

1) Glowing Spirit [BRZ] (Crimson Tide x Deusa de Amor [BRZ], by Spend a Buck) - The 4-year-old filly trained by A. C. Avila missed a Fairplex stakes win this year by a head and has 1 win this year from 12 starts, which was a 10-furlong turf allowance back in January at Santa Anita. Edwin Maldonado rides and she’s claimable for $40,000.

2) The Only Key [GB] (Key of Luck x Sierra Virgen, by Stack) - Winless in 2 outings this year, the 6-year-old mare makes her 3rd North American start, last out running a stale 4th in a race similar to this one. Victor Espinoza rides this optional claimer.

3) Eblouissante

4) Include the Cat (Include x Cat Be Quick, by Tactical Cat) - Winless in 6 races this year, the career claimer hopes to do better than back-to-back place performances in her last 2 Hollywood starts. The 5-year-old gets Garrett Gomez.

5) Toomanytomatoes (Downtown Seattle x Toomanytomorrows, by French Deputy) - With 3 wins in 6 starts this year, the only other non-claimer in the race is also the only other sophomore and legitimate challenger. She’s 3-for-3 at Hollywood and was the winner of a mile turf allowance last out. Rafael Bejarano will be in the irons.

Numbers-wise, Toomanytomatoes and Eblouissante are on the same playing field. Obviously, you will get a little better value going with the former, but Eblouissante is the towering class of the field examining her effortless win and champion pedigree. I see this race as little more than a public workout for Ebby, who will use this as a [likely] last step toward a stakes debut.

The biggest race of the weekend is probably my least favorite on the Triple Crown trail. It’s too awkwardly-timed to be very meaningful leading up to the Kentucky Derby and it’s on polytrack with no eventual Derby winner since 1997’s Real Quiet— although yes, a few made it close. Needless to say, because it is still a G1, provides 10 Derby entry points to the winner, and has a $750k purse, expect a good race with great betting value. Bob Baffert is looking to nab his 7th win in his race and Mike Pegram hopes his Really Mr Greely puts him at the top of the all-time leading owner with 3 total victories.

Rain on and off throughout the week leading up to the race may slow down the Cushion track to favor off-the-pace and closers as it becomes wet and heavy.

$750,000 CashCall Futurity (I) - 2-Year-Olds. 1 1/16 miles on all-weather track at Hollywood Park. Post Time: Saturday, December 15 at

[Post Position, Horse - Jockey, Trainer - Summary, Opinion in italics]

1) He’s Had Enough - Mario Guiterrez, Doug O’Neill - A “maybe” who turned into somebody narrowly running second to Shanghai Bobby in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (I), this Tapit has a live shot of no longer being a longshot. He has 1 win to his credit breaking his maiden in a rallying cry at Del Mar, but has had enough bad races to match his good ones. He had a jumbled, “much best” ride to just lose last out and has been working well. O’Neill has commented he’s been slow to mentally mature and focus on the track, but might be better than I’ll Have Another from a physical capability standpoint. He probably won’t get good odds here, and gets a dodgy rail post to go with a lopsided record.

2) Den’s Legacy - Garrett Gomez, Bob Baffert - The Florida-bred Medaglia d’Oro son has had a few bumps, but has a generally good record so far as a juvenile with 3 wins and 2 places in 7 starts. He looked to be on the improve in his last start in the Generous (III) on turf at Hollywood, making a move in the stretch to win by 1/2 length from off-the-pace. He’s been working like a winner since the Breeders’ Cup wrapped and broke his maiden on Del Mar’s poly.

3) Dirty Swagg - Tyler Baze, Myung Kwon Cho - The Street Hero ridgeling has 1 win in 6 starts, last seen prepping for this race in the Real Quiet under the same conditions where he ran 3rd, missing the win by a short length while making up a bit of ground at the end. Owned, trained, and bred by Cho who was also at the helm of his sire, this guy digs the Hollywood track as seen in his bullet moves. Look for him to improve.

4) Carving - Martin Garcia, Bob Baffert - After a win at maiden claiming level and a Fairplex stakes win, the Any Given Saturday colt got caught up in a duel to finish a distant 4th in the FrontRunner (I). He bounced back successfully to win the Real Quiet in a stretch duel at Hollywood, same distance as here. Distance ability packs his pedigree, but the likelihood of conquering a fight for speed here is rocky.

5) Fury Kapcori - Joe Talamo, Jerry Hollendorfer - Toting Santa Anita’s top rider and Hollywood’s leading trainer, the Tiznow colt is on the war path to success. 2-for-4 in his career and improving, he was 2nd by a half-length to the more experienced Carving last out in the Real Quiet. Some impressive super fast works on the surface and a big improving angle make this colt a worthy candidate.

6) Violence - Javier Castellano, Todd Pletcher - Pletcher managed to sell me out of my “No Pletcher” stance on the Derby trail with this sturdy, nice-looking colt by Medaglia d’Oro. 2-for-2 so far and a 2 length winner of the Nashua (II) last out, Violence will be trying poly for the first time. A very talented colt that I still like, he will likely be overbet. The Nashua field just wasn’t that strong to me, he’ll be switching surface and making a big ship both for the first time. I think he was done for the year a few weeks ago.

7) Simon Eyes - Victor Espinoza, Wesley Ward - Wes always has a good horse under his belt, could this Street Hero gelding be his next? He spurted away to his maiden win at Keeneland, winning by 4 1/4 lengths going away despite a bad start, but was outgamed in the Real Quiet Stakes while 4th. His Real Quiet can be tossed out— he was all over the map on that one while stretching out for the first time. He has a nice :59.40 bullet fired last time over the course, so keep an eye on him for the improve.

8) Really Mr Greely - Mike Smith, Bob Baffert - A claimer turned stakes lion, the Horse Greely colt seems like an odd choice to be turning into Mike Pegram’s next superstar all of a sudden, but props were earned when he won the 7-furlong Hollywood Prevue (III) wire-to-wire while holding off stablemate Super Ninety Nine as the longest shot on the board. His speed figures make him tough, but keep in mind this one is stretching out a good bit against more experienced horses. Likely pacesetter in this field, he’s not an awful choice considering how fast Hollywood Park has been lately.

9) Title Contender - Rafael Bejarano, Bob Baffert - With just 3 races under his belt, the quality-looking Pulpit colt returns to poly and makes his first Hollywood start after running a tremendously disappointing 8th in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Perhaps he will like the track this time, as Baffert has indicated all of his horses turned in very good works coming into this race. This one’s been given longer breezing assignments and looks good, but the same thing could have been said leading up to the Breeders’ Cup.

10) Little Jerry - Aaron Gryder, Richard Baltas - The least experienced entry in the field with just an ace-in-the-hole maiden victory to his credit, the Candy Ride [ARG] colt raced off to a fast start winning at Hollywood last month with a terrific rallying win under these same conditions and under slow fractions. He made up some crazy ground to be the race’s most interesting entry. Look for him to keep improving and benefit from a [possibly] quicker pace than an opening quarter of :24 and change.

11) Oxbow - Corey Nakatani, D. Wayne Lukas - Paynter’s 3/4 brother I recently talked about, the Awesome Again colt broke his maiden on his 4th try last out at Churchill Downs, leading wire-to-wire to win by an excellent 4 3/4 lengths. He stretches out a bit here and his easy breezes look quick. Can he transfer that over to poly after a long ship?

Top Picks in Order:

1) Fury Kapcori

2) Den’s Legacy

3) Little Jerry

Favoritism magnet Bob Baffert actually doesn’t have that good of a lineup this year, with his best bet being Carving who is very beatable. I’m going with Hollendorfer’s colt Fury Kapcori— he just has some tremendous upside with jet-fast works and looked great losing to Carving last out by a teensy bit. Little Jerry should keep on improving off an already great performance as a maiden, and imagine if he gets a clean trip and a quick pace! As for Den’s Legacy, it’s more of a gut/belly-button pick, but he’s got some upside as a G3 winner with Gomez in the irons going back to poly.

Value Pick: Simon Eyes (Wesley Ward always has some great juveniles, I think this could be one of them!)

Since everyone’s so focused on the Hollywood Starlet (I) this weekend or even the Sugar Swirl (III) which I believe I did last year, I’m nodding in the direction of older female routers in the Bayakoa Handicap (II). It’s an interesting race with a lot of locally-based runners, some trying all-weather for the first time, and others trying to gain some last-minute clout. Weather looks to be cool for Saturday, equating into what will likely be a speed-favoring going.

$200,000 Bayakoa Handicap (II) - 3-Year-Old & Up Fillies and Mares. 1 1/16 mile on all-weather track at Hollywood Park. Post Time: Saturday, December 8 at 3:04pm PST.

[Post Position, Horse - Jockey, Impost, Trainer - Summary, Opinion in italics]

1) Open Water - Corey Nakatani, 114 lbs, Eric Guillot - Winless in stakes company, the Include filly appears to like synthetic with her last win occurring in a February allowance race at Turfway where she ran away in the stretch to win by 10 1/2 lengths. From there it’s been a rough assortment of wide trips and scattered placings, never being all that far from the win but a loss is a loss all the same. Breezes don’t look as good as her impost and her last race here was a dead effort.

2) Willa B Awesome - Martin Pedroza, 121 lbs, Walther Solis - 3 wins including a G1 win at Santa Anita make this fast filly by Awesome Gambler an awesome class choice. She has won at Hollywood before, and has only been off-the-board once in her 6 races here. She was 3rd last out in the bumpy Cat’s Cradle over 7 1/2 furlongs. Her works look good and she should like the extra running room. Form-wise, she’s a good upset pick, but I just think she’s off and likes dirt better anyway.

3) Lady of Fifty - Martin Garcia, 114 lbs, Jerry Hollendorfer - The gray daughter of After Market pulled an upset in her last race, winning the 1-mile Palm Springs Handicap at Santa Anita. A repeat winner at the stakes level, this is her second try at the graded game following a weakened 6th in the El Camino Real Derby (III) and this is her first race at Hollywood Park. Many of this filly’s best efforts took place when she was able to control the pace going slow up front or by devouring easy company. Her works look good, but I think she’s outgunned here.

4) Madera Castana [CHI] - Brice Blanc, 117 lbs, Angel Rodriguez - Winless in 7 starts this year, the Indy Dancer import has just 2 career wins in 27 races with 8 places. Her best efforts Stateside came on dirt, although she did lose by a nose last out at Hollywood in a 6-furlong allowance. Not much back-class and an overall tall order for this one.

5) Changethechannel - Tyler Baze, 114 lbs, Sean McCarthy - Twice a winner in 6 starts this year, the 3-year-old English Channel filly set up a solid pace to wire a Del Mar field breaking her maiden, went to turf, then came back to synthetic at Hollywood to snuff out another similar win at this distance. Not an entirely crazy prospect, she’ll likely want the lead. The fact she’s an English Channel who is just beginning to show her late bloom is enough for me to feel tempted.

6) Charm the Maker - Garrett Gomez, 114 lbs, Ron McAnally - Winless in 5 starts this year, the Empire Maker filly comes off the dirt and turf to hopefully make a good return to the all-weather. Her works at Santa Anita are decent and she’s had some good board efforts lately. 2-for-3 on synthetic, this is a horse for the course if I ever saw one.

7) Class Included - Kevin Krigger, 119 lbs, Jim Penney - 6 wins and a place give  this Include daughter the best record in the field after she was easily ousted in the super-deep Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (I). A G3 winner making her first start on dirt, her works look good but I have to question the surface difference as well as the class.

8) Inglorious - Mike Smith, 117 lbs, Josie Carroll - Last year’s Queen’s Plate winner and Canadian heroine makes a ship out west and a return to all-weather after making 3 losing starts this year all on turf (all won by the excellent Marketing Mix). She really hasn’t shown me a whole lot as a 3-year-old, and she’s coming off a long layoff with no races since July and just has rather leisurely breezes. However, she’s undefeated on all-weather.

Top Picks in Order:

1) Charm the Maker

2) Inglorious

3) Changethechannel

Hollywood’s 1 1/16 mile course typically favors outside posts, which is great because my top 3 are all on the outer posts. Back class and surface bias could make all the difference. Inglorious is likely a bit soft shipping in off a layoff, but can close into any pace… though I think she would favor a bit more ground in what will likely be a slow pace here set by Changethechannel and maybe Lady of Fifty. Even if you question her true class, Mike Smith is going to help her out a lot. Charm the Maker looks ready to roll as well and is going to be right at home here with top jock Gomez. I like Changethechannel on the improvement angle, but Baze is dead cold so far in the meet and she’s got a ways to climb.

Value Pick: Changethechannel - No honest idea on what the odds picture looks like, but she’ll be overlooked due to her inexperience. English Channel progeny mature later than most, and this gal seems to love the all-weather.

I am no stranger to enormous fan bases as well as enormous hate bases, but I am carefree in admitting that I am a big fan of Zenyatta. She is part of the reason I got into the deeper aspects of horse racing. After watching that amazing 2009 Triple Crown season with Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra, I enjoyed watching replays of their races and stumbled upon a mention that a horse named Zenyatta was better than Rachel. How on earth could someone be better than Rachel? I thought. I was skeptical and even outraged that someone could suggest that possibility. However, upon watching her fireworks, I became an instant fan of Z. She was big, fast, and just a wonderful being on and off the track complete with her own set of quirks. I related to her instantly in her slow-to-bloom ways of climbing the track ladder, being obviously bigger than her male counterparts, and simply condescending in her late dashes. How many brilliant athletes do you know of that are also wonderful people?

After all this, it should come as no surprise I’m looking forward to watching her little sister Eblouissante run on Friday. I am risking being late to work to watch this three-year-old filly run for the first time, if anything because I missed watching so many of Zenyatta’s races live. After two years of disappointments with the Bernardini crops, I am hopeful this one will be different. Stay Thirsty and Alpha were both very adept early in their careers, but both hit an awkward patch, blossomed, then faded again. Both resemble their beautiful sire very little, and while “Ebby” is still maturing mentally and physically, she’s probably my pick of the litter looking so much like her sister. I also liked another Bernardini from the same crop who now that I think about it, looks a lot like Ebby: unfortunately, Spare Change has not raced successfully recently.

Whether or not you know this gal’s pressure to perform, it should be a fantastic race to watch. Hollywood Park has one of my top favorite announcers in Vic Stauffer, who called many of Zenyatta’s most memorable wins and always gets really into it. The race should be full of green horses as a maiden special weight, but at the 1 1/16 mile distance, should also give us a good hint as to what we can expect to see from Ebby in the future— how much speed versus her stretch-out potential. With so much anticipation much like Archwarrior’s over the summer, I’m also predicting a lot of scratches…

Eblouissante means “dazzling” in French, and while I try to keep a lid on feeling confident in my juvenile judging capabilities, I suspect I’ll see something similar on Friday. If not, I’ll at least get a sliver of the old thrills and chills I got watching Zen score at Hollywood Park.