With racing rained out in Southern California this weekend, let’s turn our sights to the Bay Area, where wet weather can be dismissed as nothing more than an inconvenience thanks to the all-weather Tapeta racing surface. Saturday’s card at Golden Gate Fields is typically challenging, but we’ve identified a couple of double-digit long shots that may be worth your consideration in the win pool and/or the exactas and trifectas.

Eighth Race – Golden Gate Fields (post time: 4:15 PT)
3-Topanticipation (GB) (10-1)

Trainer Manuel Badilla has two entrants in the featured eighth race, a second-level allowance event at a mile and one-sixteenth for older fillies and mares. The 2-1 morning line favorite, Signorina Merisi, is strictly the one to beat after winning her first two local starts since being imported from England, most recently in a productive, highly rated race over this course and distance last month. No doubt, the progressive daughter of Caravaggio could easily win again. However, stable mate Topanticipation was a better filly overseas, having competed in valuable handicaps and listed stakes, and has trained well enough to be fit and ready for her U.S. debut. Worth noting is that she has won off a layoff in the past, having registered a smart handicap victory at Leicester in England following a more than six month vacation last spring. She’s a first-time Lasix user with a strong closing kick, so at 10-1 on the morning line, she merits a strong look in the win pool and in the various exotic options.


Ninth Race - Golden Gate Fields (post time: 4:45 PT)
5-Stormin Galileo (12-1)

After more than 15 months on the sidelines, Stormin Galileo returned 20 days ago in a restricted (nw-2) $20,000 claiming sprint and shook off some of the rust when finishing a close fifth (beaten a length and one half) in what was a strong race for the level. The son of Circumference established the pace from his rail draw and led the way until inside the furlong pole before giving way grudgingly in the closing stages. Under the circumstances, it was a sharp effort, so much so that trainer Isidro Tamayo has chosen to protect him today with a raise to the starter’s allowance ($50,000) level while switching to one of the barn’s “go-to” riders, Irving Orozco. Lightly raced and a winner of his only prior two-turn race gate-to-wire, the 5-year-old gelding seems certain to employ similar front-running tactics in a race that projects to have comfortable early splits, so at 12-1 on the morning line, he’s worth a bit of a gamble.