Two weeks ago, Program Trading prevailed by a neck as the favorite in the Grade I Hollywood Derby, which brought together seven 3-year-olds to do battle at 1 1/8 miles on the turf.

Program Trading was my top pick in the selections I made for Xpressbet.com. He returned $3.80 for each $2 win wager.

Webslinger finished second. I also nailed the $1 exacta, which paid $5.50.

Okay, I readily admit that those were pretty puny mutuel prices. But you know what? A win wager on anyone besides Program Trading in the Hollywood Derby lost. Also, the only exacta combination that returned any money was Program Trading over Webslinger.

Last week, Nothing Like You won the Grade II Starlet Stakes at Los Alamitos by 5 1/2 lengths. She was my top pick.

Two others were sent off at lower odds than Nothing Like You. Chatalas departed the starting gate as the 9-5 favorite. Slightly more money was bet on Chatalas than Grazia, who also was 9-5 at race time. A $2 win wager on Nothing Like You paid $6.20.

This week, I am submitting selections for both the Springboard Mile at Remington Park and the Grade II Los Alamitos Futurity, a pair of stakes races for 2-year-olds.

This year’s edition of the Springboard Mile is set for Friday night (Dec. 15). It has attracted a field of nine.

From the rail out, the Springboard Mile field consists of Fidget, My Buddy Mel, Gettysburg Address, Magic Grant, Glengarry, Raging Torrent, Rhino Runner, Otto the Conqueror and Third Street.

The Los Alamitos Futurity will be contested at 1 1/16 miles on Saturday afternoon. It has drawn a field of six.

From the rail out, the Los Al Futurity cast is comprised of Moonlit Sonata, Wynstock, Stronghold, Ace of Clubs, Coach Prime and Wine Me Up.

As I said in the Santa Anita press box Monday on Steve Byk’s SiriuxXM radio program At the Races, I am picking Otto the Conqueror to win the Springboard Mile.

A $450,000 auction purchase, Otto the Conqueror was virtually ignored in the wagering when debuting in a seven-furlong maiden race at Ellis Park on Aug. 13. Off at 23-1 in the field of 11, he was a pace factor from the outset and finished second, one length behind Liberal Arts.

Liberal Arts would go on to finish third in the Grade III Iroquois Stakes at Churchill Downs on Sept. 16. He then won Churchill’s Grade III Street Sense Stakes on a sloppy track Oct. 29.

Otto the Conqueror followed his loss at first asking by winning a seven-furlong maiden contest at Churchill on Sept. 22.

And then Otto the Conqueror splashed his way to a four-length victory in a seven-furlong allowance/optional claiming affair at Churchill on Oct. 29. His win came in the race just prior to Liberal Art’s triumph in the Street Sense.

Liberal Arts was credited with an 83 Beyer Speed Figure for his Oct. 29 victory.

Otto the Conqueror received an 88 Beyer for his win on that same Oct. 29 card.

Honor Marie finished second to Otto the Conqueror on Oct. 29. Honor Marie then won Churchill’s Grade II Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes by two lengths on Nov. 25, a performance that flattered Otto the Conqueror’s maiden score.

Hall of Famer Steve Asmussen trains Otto the Conqueror. Asmussen has won this race a record six times (Shawklit Man in 2002, Smooth Bid in 2004, Test Boy in 2005, Bayerd in 2014, Long Range Toddy in 2018 and Shoplifted in 2019).

Asmussen has 10,326 lifetime Thoroughbred wins through Tuesday (Dec. 12), which makes him North America’s all-time leading trainer in this category.

Otto the Conqueror is a Kentucky-bred son of 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and the Shackleford mare Dream It is. Shackleford won the 2011 Preakness Stakes.

Below are my Springboard Mile selections:

1. Otto the Conqueror (5-2 morning-line favorite)
2. Raging Torrent (3-1)
3. Gettysburg Address (6-1)
4. Glengarry (7-2)

Raging Torrent is a Southern California shipper for trainer Doug O’Neill. The Kentucky-bred Maximus Mischief colt won a five-furlong maiden sprint by 2 1/4 lengths when unveiled at Del Mar on July 23.

After earning his maiden diploma, Raging Torrent has finished third in Del Mar’s Grade III Best Pal Stakes, fourth in the Grade I Del Mar Futurity, then also fourth in Santa Anita’s Grade I American Pharoah Stakes.

Raging Torrent had blinkers added for the American Pharoah. He will race sans blinkers in the Springboard Mile.

Antonio Fresu again rides Raging Torrent in Friday night’s race. Fresu has been aboard the youngster in all of his starts to date.

Fresu has established himself as one of the leading jockeys on the tough Southern California circuit. He finished third to Juan Hernandez and Umberto Rispoli in the final standings at the recent Santa Anita autumn meet.

Gettysburg Address, trained by Brad Cox, kicked off his racing career by winning a six-furlong maiden race at Ellis on Aug. 6. In his lone subsequent start, the Kentucky-bred Constitution colt set the early pace before finishing fourth on a sloppy surface in the aforementioned Grade III Street Sense Stakes won by Liberal Arts.

Flavien Prat rode Gettysburg Address in the Street Sense. It’s certainly a plus for Gettysburg Address that he again is going to be piloted by one of the nation’s top jockeys.

Luis Saez, also one of the best riders in the country, guided Glengarry to a half-length victory in Keeneland’s six-furlong Bowman Mill Stakes on Oct. 28.

Among the vanquished in the Bowman were Valentine Candy (who finished third) and Patriot Spirit (fourth). Valentine Candy won the Advent Stakes by 6 3/4 lengths as a 9-5 favorite at Oaklawn Park on Dec. 8. Patriot Spirit proved a punctual 3-5 favorite in Tampa Bay Downs’ Inaugural Stakes on Dec. 2.

The Springboard Mile will be Glengarry’s first start in a race longer than six furlongs.

Prior to Glengarry’s stakes win at Keeneland, he won a maiden race and the state-bred Iowa Cradle Stakes at Prairie Meadows when ridden by the venerable Ken Tohill.

BAFFERT SEEKS 14TH LOS ALAMITOS FUTURITY WIN

When Nothing Like You took last Saturday’s Starlet Stakes, it was Baffert’s seventh straight victory and record 10th overall in that race originally run at Hollywood Park and nowadays held at Los Alamitos.

The Los Alamitos Futurity began as the Hollywood Futurity at Hollywood Park in 1981. Baffert has won this race a record 13 times.

Baffert’s Los Alamitos Futurity winners are listed below:

2020 Spielberg (81 Beyer Speed Figure)
2019 Thousand Words (91)
2018 Improbable (96)
2017 McKinzie (92)
2016 Mastery (91)
2015 Mor Spirit (88)
2014 Dortmund (91)

Baffert’s Hollywood Futurity winners are listed below:

2011 Liaison (91)*
2009 Lookin At Lucky (83)*
2008 Pioneerof the Nile (86)*
2000 Point Given (101)
1999 Captain Steve (101)
1997 Real Quiet (102)

*Run on a synthetic surface

Baffert trains half the field in this year’s Los Alamitos Futurity. He is the conditioner of Wynstock, Coach Prime and Wine Me Up.

My top pick is $1.7 million auction purchase Coach Prime, who again will have Flavien Prat in the irons. Prat was aboard the Kentucky-bred Quality Road colt when he came from well off the pace to win a 1 1/16-mile maiden race by 7 1/4 lengths at Santa Anita on Nov. 10.

In his only previous start, Coach Prime finished third in a one-mile grass race for maidens at Santa Anita on Oct. 7. The winner of that maiden race, Stay Hot, then ran 10th in the Grade I Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita on Nov. 3 before winning Del Mar’s Grade III Cecil B. DeMille Stakes on Del Mar’s turf course Dec. 3.

Below are my Los Alamitos Futurity selections:

1. Coach Prime
2. Wine Me Up
3. Wynstock
4. Stronghold

Juan Hernandez is being reunited with Wine Me Up. They collaborated for a 1 1/2-length debut win in a six-furlong maiden race at Del Mar on Sept. 2. Ramon Vazquez, who now is riding at Oaklawn Park, was aboard Wine Me Up when he ran second in Santa Anita’s Grade I American Pharoah Stakes on Oct. 7, then eighth in the Grade I BC Juvenile at Santa Anita on Nov. 3.

A $300,000 auction acquisition, Wine Me Up is a Kentucky-bred colt by 2019 BC Classic winner Vino Rosso,

Wine Me Up’s 85 Beyer in the American Pharoah is the top figure in the Los Al Futurity field.

Watch out for Wynstock. He took a giant leap forward Beyer-wise to a 77 when he stretched out to one mile and won a maiden race by 7 1/2 lengths at Santa Anita on Oct. 15. The New York-bred Solomoni colt’s two prior Beyers sprinting were just 55 and 56.

Kyle Frey rode Wynstock in his maiden graduation and again has the mount Saturday.

Stronghold, trained by Phil D’Amato, won a Churchill Downs maiden race by 1 1/2 lengths at one mile and around one turn on Oct. 1. The Kentucky-bred colt by 2004 Horse of the Year Ghostzapper then finished second to the highly regarded Nysos in Del Mar’s Bob Hope Stakes at seven furlongs on Nov. 19. Stronghold’s two best Beyers of 82 and 80 stack up well vs. his Los Al Futurity adversaries.

Moonlit Sonata came charging from far back to win a 6 1/2-furlong maiden race going away by 2 1/2 lengths in his career bow on Nov. 25 at Del Mar. He’s trained by Tim Yakteen, who won last year’s Los Alamitos Futurity with the star-crossed Practical Move.

Ace of Clubs completes the lineup for this year’s Los Al Futurity.

Trained by Doug O’Neill, who won the 2021 renewal with Slow Down Andy, Ace of Clubs switches back to dirt after finishing fifth in Santa Anita’s Qatar Golden Mile on the grass Nov. 3.

Ace of Clubs is two for three when racing on the dirt.

MY KENTUCKY DERBY TOP 10

As we near the end of 2023, many horseplayers are looking far down the road to the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 4.

Below is my current Kentucky Derby Top 10:

1. Nash
2. Fierceness
3. Nysos
4. Locked
5. The Wine Steward
6. El Capi
7. Muth
8. Sierra Leone
9. Dornoch
10. Timberlake

I am really looking forward to Fair Grounds’ Gun Runner Stakes at 1 1/16 miles on Dec. 23. According to Daily Racing Form’s Marcus Hersh, that is scheduled to be the next start for Nash, a Kentucky-bred Medaglia d’Oro colt trained by Cox.

Nash is one of 25 sophomores nominated to the Gun Runner, according to Fair Grounds’ Kevin Kilroy of the track’s media relations department.

As I wrote for Xpressbet.com last week, “I loved Nash’s 10 1/4-length maiden win in a 1 1/16-mile maiden race at Churchill Downs on Nov. 12. He recorded a serious 95 Beyer Speed Figure. In my eyes, it’s a 95+ because he was geared down late, which Beyers do not take into account.”

In his only previous start, Nash finished second in a six-furlong maiden race at Keeneland.

It’s clear that Cox is sky high on Nash from what the trainer said to Hersh.

“I like him a lot,” Cox said. “He’s the best [2-year-old] I got for sure.”

In Kentucky Derby future odds listed by Horseracingnation.com’s Ron Flatter as of Dec. 3 at the Caesars Sportsbook in Las Vegas, Nash at 40-1 was the lowest of any horse trained by Cox.

The only four horses listed with shorter odds than Nash were:

Odds Horse (Trainer)

15-1 Fierceness (Todd Pletcher)
20-1 Nysos (Bob Baffert)
30-1 Locked (Todd Pletcher)
35-1 Knightsbridge (Bill Mott)

The other Cox trainees among the 111 Kentucky Derby candidates listed by Caesars were Lightline (65-1), Timberlake (70-1), Air of Defiance (75-1), Catching Freedom (125-1), Drum Roll Please (125-1), Rocketeer (125-1), Awesome Road (150-1), Bergen (150-1), Orange Diablo (150-1) and Alder (175-1).

FLASH BAK UPSETS CHAMPION OF CHAMPIONS

Dismissed at 9-1, Flash Bak broke cleanly from the inside post and went on to capture the prestigious Champion of Champions at Los Alamitos last Saturday evening (Dec. 9). The 5-year-old Missouri-bred gelding won the Grade I, $750,000 dash for Quarter Horses by three-parts of a length in :21.57.

Empressum, the reigning World Champion, finished second in the field of 10 as the 11-10 favorite. A Tres of Eagle ran third as a huge 45-1 longshot.

The 7-2 second favorite, Scoops Dynasty, “was fidgety in the gate, reared and came away slowly to lose all chance,” according to the Equibase chart. He finished ninth.

When I saw Scoops Dynasty begin poorly, I expected Empressum to win after he got away to a good start. But Empressum simply didn’t have the needed late response and thereby was unable to make it back-to-back Champion of Champion victories.

Apollitical Pence, off at 4-1, appeared to break stride for some reason at one point during the race “to lose all momentum,” as the chart put it. He ended up seventh. Thus, Apollitical Pence was thwarted in his bid to make history. He was attempting to join the great Refrigerator as a three-time Champion of Champions winner. Apollitical Pence won the 2020 and 2021 renewals.

PADDOCK HERO JOHN SHEAR PASSES AWAY

I will never forget what I saw from my television broadcasting perch at the Santa Anita walking ring on March 12, 2011.

John Shear (pictured above), as usual, was on duty in his capacity that day as the so-called paddock captain, a job that put him in charge of public safety with regard to the horses and the public in that area of the track.

On that March afternoon, a horse got loose, bolted out of the walking ring and ran back to his home in the stable area. In the process, the horse ran smack into Shear, who managed to shield a 5-year-old girl, Roxy Key, from being injured, perhaps seriously. The young girl, who was accompanied at the walking ring by her farther, Michael Key, escaped from the incident unscathed.

Shear “didn’t save a daughter, he saved a family,” Michael Key would say.

I witnessed Shear’s heroic actions that afternoon. Unfortunately, he did not escape unscathed. Shear suffered a broken pelvis and a fractured cheekbone, plus life-threatening internal bleeding.

In time, Shear recovered and returned to work at the Great Race Place, where he continued to perform his paddock area duties until he retired in 2021.

Shear died on Tuesday (Dec. 12) from natural causes at a rehabilitation facility in Arcadia, Calif. He was 102. Shear’s family released a statement announcing his death.

“John will be deeply missed by countless lifelong friends here at Santa Anita,” said Nate Newby, the track’s senior vice president and general manager. “We were honored to have him as part of the Santa Anita family for more of 60 years of dedicated service and we’ll never forget him.”

I knew Shear going all the back to the early 1980s. Let me tell you that you will never a find a nicer, kinder man. He was a true gentleman. Shear also was a hard worker. He took his job very seriously, as he so ably demonstrated at the Santa Anita on that March day in 2011.

A long time after the walking ring incident, I found myself riding the elevator to the Santa Anita press box with Shear.

“How are you doing these days, John?” I asked.

“Oh, I’m getting along,” he said. “The recovery was tough, very tough. I’m doing much better now, though. But I’ll tell you what was worse, much worse, than getting hit by that horse was when I got shingles after that. Having shingles was horrible!”

When Shear told me that having shingles was much more of an ordeal than the severe injuries he incurred when run into by a horse on the run, it really got my attention. It was a major reason that I got a shingles shot just as soon as I could.