The Say Florida Sandy Stakes – Race 9 at Aqueduct – Post Time 3:42 PM Eastern
Top Win Contender: Quick the Accuse
Other contenders: The Wine Steward and Acoustic Ave
Quick the Accuse ran in the Alex M. Robbins Stakes, leading from the start and was still in front at the final sixteenth point of the race, but then finished second. The Robbins is similar to this New York state-bred stakes, but that was a mile, and today the distance is seven furlongs. Considering Quick the Accuse was a length in front of the Robbins at the point where the Say Florida Sandy Stakes race ends, and that he earned a career-best 108 Equibase Speed Figure in that race, the best of any horse, Quick the Accuse could win by repeating this effort.
The other most probable horses are The Wine Steward and Acoustic Ave. The Wine Steward won a similar Hudson Stakes in October at six and a half furlongs. His only race since then was when he went to try an “open” company in the Thanksgiving Stakes at Fair Grounds in November and finished sixth. Back in New York and in New York state-bred stakes, he can run as well as when he earned a 104 figure in the Hudson.
Acoustic Ave has run six times in similar races in his career, won three times, and finished second or third for the rest. He easily won on January 23 in an “open” classified allowance race and earned a 104 figure. So, he has a shot to win his 10th career win in his 30th start.
Handicapper Picks:
Win bets: Quick the Accuse at odds of 2 to 1 or higher.
The Wine Steward and Acoustic Ave are at odds of 5 to 2 or higher.
Exactas: box Quick the Accuse, The Wine Steward, and box Quick the Accuse, Acoustic Ave
The Royal Delta Stakes – Race 11 at Gulfstream Park – Post Time 5:20 PM Eastern
Top Win Contender: Alpine Princess
Other contenders: Drexel Hill and Shred the Gnar
Alpine Princess won her last race, the Grade 3 Falls City Stakes on November 27, after a short layoff, the same as she is doing coming into the Royal Delta. She has tactical speed and should be first early with Shred the Gnar. Expect the speedier Alpin Princess to get second place early, the same as when she won the Falls City. She has won six times in 16 dirt races and is just $50,000 from making a million. Cox has consistently won 25% of his 1,000 starts over the past year, an amazing statistic. Alpine Princess earned her career-best Equibase Speed Figure, winning a stakes race last July at this distance, and she could be the horse to beat.
Drexel Hill has a good chance of being second, and she does have a chance to win. She has won or finished second in seven of eight races. She won the Busher Stakes last year, then finished second in the Kentucky Oaks and in the Grade 2 Mother Goose Stakes in November. She was off for three months and won her comeback in the Wayward Lass Stakes on January 10, where she earned a 94 figure. She fits perfectly here.
Shred the Gnar missed her first career race by a neck but has won all three of her other races. All her wins were led powerfully from the start. Her last race was the Grade Chilukki Stakes in November, at a one-mile distance, and she won her only two-turn race. Her win at this distance earned her a 94 figure, which is no better than the other two top contenders.
Handicapper Picks:
Win bets: Alpine Princess at odds of 9 to 5 or higher.
I would consider Drexel Hill at odds of 5 to 2 or higher.
The San Marcos Stakes – Race 7 at Santa Anita – Post Time 6:30 PM Eastern
Top Win Contender: Mondego
Other contenders are Stay Hot, Gold Phoenix, Endlessly
Mondego and Endlessly is an uncoupled entry from Michael McCarthy. This trainer has been hot on turf for the last 90 days, winning 11 from 68 starts, and of his routes, eight won and six finished second, with a 105% ROI ($4.10 for every $2.00). Mondego finished third in the San Gabriel Stakes on December 28, his second race after a layoff. He closed at the mile and one-eighth and rallied from seventh to third, earning a career-high 112 Equibase Speed Figure, the best in the field. Stretching out to the mile and one-quarter distance and with jockey Emisael Jaramillo getting to ride him for the first time, Mondego could win.
Stay Hot finished a nose behind Mondego in the San Gabriel. He was consistent in 2024 and 2025, with nine firsts and seconds in 14 races, but he has only one win in his last 10 races. Jockey Juan Hernandez rode him twice during that time, including a second-place finish in the Mathis Mile Stakes. Stay Hot earned the same 112 figure as Mondego, and he has a possibility to finish second, or to win, but he was the 2-to-1 favorite in the San Gabriel, and I’m not interested in betting him to win unless he is at least 7-to-2 or higher.
Gold Phoenix won four races at Santa Anita in his career, including the John Henry Turf Cup at this 10-furlong distance last September. He has been off for three months since he finished fifth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. He came off a similar layoff in March 2024, then he finished fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and he was poorly third in his comeback in August 2025. He is an eight-year-old horse with a 111 figure in the John Henry, but he may be better at winning after this second layoff.
Endlessly won back-to-back stakes in 2023 and 2024, the El Camino Real Derby and the Jeff Ruby Steaks Stakes in February and March 2024, and the Zuma Beach Stakes at Santa Anita and the Del Mar Juvenile Turf Stakes in 2023. In 2025, he is winless in seven races. However, his career best race, the San Gabriel, earned a 110 speed figure where he moved from eighth to fifth, finishing just three lengths behind Mondego coming off a four-month break, so his odds may be high.
Handicapper Picks:
Win bets: Mondego at odds of 4 to 1 or higher.
I would consider one other horse, Stay Hot, Gold Phoenix, Endlessly, at odds of 4 to 1 or higher.
Exactas: These exactas are a way to avoid using Stay and Hot with Gold Phoenix, the two favorites:
Mondego, Stay Hot, Endlessly
Mondego, Gold Phoenix, Endlessly