Gotta Love those First-Timers

Vegas Bound, a first-time starter, winning the 9th race at Santa Anita on January 12 (Photo ©Tom Hyland)

Every January, you can count on it at Santa Anita - there will be a good percentage of first-timers that win races. I've been following this meet since opening day on January 26 and there have been numerous first starters that have won both maiden special weight as well as maiden claiming races on the dirt and the turf, in sprints as well as distances.

The photo above shows Vegas Bound, a 3 year-old filly winning the 9th race on Sunday, January 12 at Santa Anita. This was a $30,000 maiden claiming race, with Vegas Bound going off at 16-1; this despite her morning line of 6-1. Why didn't the betting public think she had much of a chance? Two main reasons: one, there was a filly from Carla Gaines named Moscato Girl that was dropping from special weight to the claiming level and bettors were quick to spot this as usual. I see it as a red flag when a top notch trainer drops a horse from a $46,000 MSW to this level, but the public almost always makes a horse like this the favorite or one of the chalks. 

Add to that the fact that the trainer of Vegas Bound was Richard Rosales, a good conditioner, but not one of the more renowned in California. So the odds went up and up. I bet on her anyway, if only to win some money the last race and walk away with a little cash in my pocket. Long story short, the two of them battled for the lead right from the start, Vegas Bound took the lead just before the top of the stretch and won by several lengths over Moscato Girl.

Just the other day on Monday, Carla Gaines had a first-timer win a MSW turf race at the distance of one mile; the colt, named Texas Ryano, is a son of the great Curlin, while the mare is an Irish bred named Blending Element. Certainly, this is a horse bred to go long, so the distance wouldn't be a problem. Also, Carla Gaines does have a very good record with first-timers, so here was a horse that should have never gone off at 24-1. But he did and won by just getting up in a furious rally, while the two chalks finished 3rd and 5th (incidentally, another first-timer, Cowtownmary, ran an excellent race, as he had the lead in deep stretch, before tiring slightly to finish a close fourth, beaten for all the marbles by only two lengths.

Then just three races later, a 3 year-old filly named Wonderful Lie, trained by Dan Blacker, won a 5 and 1/2 furlong sprint on the main track. Her morning line was 12-1, at post time the horse went off at 17-1; she won by a half-length and the $1 trifecta payout was $3484.40!

So keep an eye out for 3 year-old first timers at Santa Anita (and other tracks) for the next few weeks. Generally the trainers have these horses primed to win early, as chances are the horse had a minor injury or condition that prevented it from running as a 2 year-old. And remember, these first-timers, - no matter the morning line or odds at post time - haven't done anything wrong yet!