Maiden King

The experienced runners in this 12-horse field all looked weak considering that the median winning Beyer Speed Figure for the class was 59 and the best Beyer any of these could muster was just a 44.

I took a long look at the three-first time starters and saw that #2 Storm Needed, #3 Private Valentine and #9 Royalty Gone Wild all had positive betting angles going for them.

However, I wanted to see some betting action on Storm Needed and she went off at 16-to-1, which was well above my maximum post time odds of 8-to-1. Conversely, I was interested in Washington-bred Private Valentine only at 10/1 to 19/1, but she was surprisingly bet down to just 5-to-1.

I liked Royalty Gone Wild at anywhere from 7/2 up to 19/1, but planned to bump my bet from $150 to $200 if she was at least 10/1.

During the race, longshot #6 Giveme Tat Ting dueled with second-time starter #1 Escape Plan until the top of the stretch when Private Valentine surged to the leaders. Royalty Gone Wild ran near the back of the pack then came like an express train in the stretch to win by 6 lengths.

The only drawback with Royalty Gone Wild winning was that her odds were only 7/1, so I had just $150 on her instead of $200. Anyway, I ended up profiting $1,005 after subtracting out $300 which includes $150 on #10 Sheskey, a 7/1 shot who showed speed in her last.

To watch a replay of this race, go to www.calracing.com.