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Sham draws six; Justique tops rescheduled Santa Ynez

Jan 06, 2023 Kellie Reilly/Brisnet.com

Sunday’s $100,000 Sham (G3) at Santa Anita has picked up a co-feature in the $200,000 Santa Ynez (G3) for fillies, which was rescheduled from New Year’s Day. The Sham on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, and the Santa Ynez on the Road to the Kentucky Oaks, offer points on the 10-4-3-2-1 scale to the top five finishers if eligible. 

Sham (G3) – Race 8
Spun Intended and Packs a Wahlop are the two entrants eligible to score points in the one-mile Sham. The other four are trained by Bob Baffert, whose horses are ineligible because he is suspended by Churchill Downs Inc.
The Mark Glatt-trained Spun Intended was last seen breaking his maiden by a resounding 6 1/2 lengths in a Nov. 26 sprint at Del Mar. He stretches out to a route for the first time here, but his pedigree is a plus. By 2007 Kentucky Derby runner-up Hard Spun, Spun Intended is out of multiple stakes winner Flora Dora, third in the 2016 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1). Drawn on the outside in post 6, he keeps Hall of Famer Mike Smith in the saddle.
Packs a Wahlop is proven over a route, but on turf. The Jeff Mullins pupil dominated the Del Mar Juvenile Turf (G3) and Zuma Beach (G3) before finishing eighth, beaten fewer than four lengths, in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G1). As a son of 2012 Triple Crown trail veteran Creative Cause, Packs a Wahlop is eligible to perform on dirt. The gray adds blinkers and picks up a new rider in Ramon Vazquez.

Baffert’s quartet comprises National Treasure, second in the American Pharoah (G1) and most recently third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1); Speed Boat Beach, who reverts to dirt after capturing the Cecil B. DeMille (G3) and Speakeasy S. on turf; Newgate, who comes off his best stakes result so far when runner-up in the Bob Hope (G3); and Reincarnate, exiting a maiden win at this trip at Del Mar. Hall of Famer John Velazquez sticks with National Treasure, so Newgate gets legendary Frankie Dettori (and takes the blinkers off). 

Santa Ynez (G3) – Race 6 
The exciting Justique, from the first crop of 2018 Triple Crown champion Justify, will remain the heavy favorite in the redrawn Santa Ynez. The field is nearly the same as the original cast for Jan. 1, with Lily Poo the lone defector from the seven-furlong affair. 
Justique is unbeaten around the one-turn configuration of the Santa Ynez. Trained by John Shirreffs for C R K Stable, she was a stunning last-to-first winner of her debut as well as the Desi Arnaz S., both at Del Mar. Her lone loss came in between in the 1 1/16-mile Chandelier (G2), in extenuating circumstances. Hall of Famer Victor Espinoza will guide the deep closer from post 3.
Two others are eligible for Santa Ynez points, Ice Dancing from the Richard Mandella barn and Doug O’Neill’s Satin Doll. Ice Dancing, who was third in the Del Mar Debutante (G1) and fourth in the Chandelier, just broke her maiden over a mile. 
Baffert has the other three – Parody and Huntingcoco, fourth and fifth to Justique in the Desi Arnaz, and Fast and Shiny, who shortens up and switches surfaces after attempting a mile on turf. 
Post time for the Santa Ynez is 5:30 p.m. (ET), and the Sham follows one hour later.

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