Preview: Gold Cup Day and we like the idea of running the race as the last event on the card. Rafael Bejarano went 2-for-2 on Thursday to create some space in the jockey’s race and he could pick up some more today as Flavien Prat is suspended and can only ride in the Gold Cup. Bad day on Friday as favorites won everything and my favorites ran up the track

Race 3: #4 Concorso (9-2): Trainer Dan Hendricks is 2-for-8 at the meet. This gelding showed good speed in breaking his maiden at Los Alamitos but he also has the Brisnet top Late Pace Rating. Hendricks is 21% with horses coming off a 46 to 90-day layoff and jockey Drayden Van Dyke gets aboard.

Race 4: #7 Chasing Aces (6-1): Trainer Peter Miller scored Thursday with a maiden training at San Luis Rey Downs and that’s what we have here in this colt sired by Flatter, an 11% first out sire. Miller is 17% first time out and he’s 26% with jockey Fernando Perez.

Race 6: #8 Family Code (3-1): This gelding pressed the pace in his last win and has two wins over this track. Trainer Robertino Diodoro is 48% when he drops a horse off a win.

Race 7: #5 Tiz No Bluff (6-1): This colt is making his second career start after an even effort in his first try around two turns. He should improve off that effort for trainer Ron Ellis, who is 24% with horses off a 61 to 180-day layoff and 20% on the dirt.

Race 8: #2 Kobe’s Back (5-2): Absolutely love this horse in this spot going 7 furlongs. He also loves this track with a 6-3-2-0 record over the oval. There is plenty of speed in here and he has Brisnt’s top Class and Late Pace Ratings.

Race 9: #1 Bal a Bali (9-2): This horse has run all 21 lifetime efforts on the grass so why does Richard Mandella run him here? Because he’s a Hall of Fame trainer. The 6-year-old horse from Brazil has been tearing it up in the mornings in workouts on the dirt and there are no world beaters in this race so why not take a shot? Mandella is 26% going from turf to dirt and 22% with beaten favorites. This horses has been facing tough ones on the grass so the class shouldn’t be a problem and jockey Flavien Prat stays aboard.

Good luck.

@Jeff_Nahill on Twitter