Horse Racing Fantasy Community

Kent Desormeaux Says:

The $300,000 Malibu Stakes on Monday is the opening day feature of the Santa Anita winter meet, and features a talented field of 11 runners. The Factor will be the likely favorite and will break from the outside 11 post. He will try to rebound following two sub-par races in the Ancient Title at Santa Anita and Breeders Cup Dirt Mile at Churchill Downs. He is the only Grade 1 winner in the field having won the Pat O Brien earlier this summer. Racing Aptitude most recently had a win with a fast 105 Beyer stakes at Hollywood Park and looks to be in peak form right now in his career. Associate is the runaway winner of a claiming and allowance race at Belmont and Aqueduct, respectively, winning those races by margins of 10-¾ and 8 lengths. Hoorayforhollywood has finished second in his last three, but only by a neck, a nose and a nose, so he likes to be there right at the finish. Rothko has won three consecutive races and will make his graded stakes debut in the Malibu. He has won his last two races by over six lengths each and the sky is the limit for this talented colt. Smash and Centralintelligence are the one-two finishers as non-winners of two allowance races at Hollywood last out, finishing within a half length of each other. Though this will be the first stakes attempt for both, the speed figures they received for that race suggest that they might be competitive at this level if they have the class. Wine Police most recently finished second in a non-graded stakes at Churchill and finished third in the G2 Amsterdam last summer at Saratoga. Light Up the Score, El Pocho, and Luckarack complete the Malibu field lineup.