Santa Anita - Race 8

#7 Bench Points (8/1 ml)

Speaking of overlays. As talented as this field is, you can argue that none of them have looked any better than Bench Points has, as this undefeated gelding has simply been a terror in the lane throughout his short career. His first three all came in state-bred 2yo events, which i guess is why we're getting a big price here (that, and his low-profile connections), but he came off the long layoff last month and simply torched Da Ruler late, a horse that you may notice happened to beat the much-hyped Albergatti (also entered here) in their common debut race. There's also a ton of early speed in here, which sets it up beautifully for this guy's powerful late run. Unfortunately, this will be Bench Points' first start around two turns, so we really don't know if he'll show the same kind of late kick here that he does in the shorter races, but he's bred to route top-and-bottom, and the way he's able to relax early in his races seems to indicate that he'll stretch out well (you might compare him to Dialed In, in fact). Big value any way you look at it.

HRT record:

77 for 290 (27%)

$651.00 mutuels ($8.45 avg)

Bench Points ran third @ 8/1. Huge performance by the winner Premier Pegasus.

He looked huge doing it, has to be a top contender. However, 21.2 for a mile and 1/16... right.