Handicapping: Litfin Eyes the Cross Country Pick Five

There are standout favorites in two of the more noteworthy races Feb. 8, as Venetian Harbor takes on four rival sophomore fillies in the Las Virgenes Stakes (G2) at Santa Anita Park and Eclipse Award finalist Got Stormy is pegged at 4-5 in the Endeavour Stakes (G3T) at Tampa Bay Downs.

You don't need me to extoll their obvious virtues, but thankfully there are a plethora of more competitive-looking stakes. Five of them are linked in a Cross Country Pick Five that begins with the Jimmy Winkfield for 3-year-old sprinters at Aqueduct Racetrack and concludes with the King Cotton Stakes for older sprinters at Oaklawn Park, where the venerable Whitmore kicks off his 7-year-old campaign in the hopes of getting back to the Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) for the fourth straight year. The middle legs, all from Tampa Bay, are the Suncoast Stakes, Tampa Bay Stakes (G3T) and Sam F. Davis Stakes (G3).

Also of interest nationally are the Suwannee River (G3T),  in which the erstwhile $16,000 claimer-turned-grade 1 winner Starship Jubilee shoots for her 10th win on the Gulfstream Park turf course; and the Phoenix Gold Cup, annually the marquee event at Turf Paradise.

Let's take a look at the Cross Country Pick Five in race order (all post times ET).

Jimmy Winkfield Stakes (Aqu, race 8, 4:25): Right away we seem to be dealing with a vulnerable morning-line favorite in Quixotic (6), who had everything his own way wiring maidens three weeks ago but probably can't get the lead drawn outside more seasoned foes such as Newstome (1), Secret Rules (2) and Johnny Ritt (5), who all showed early speed in their most recent starts.

By my count, Newstome and Secret Rules earned big Quirin-style pace figures, the former battling from the rail against several rivals in the Pennsylvania Nursery Stakes and the latter garnering his first-level allowance condition on the lead.

Beneficiaries of a hot pace could be Montauk Traffic (3), the only member of the field to have won at the Winkfield's seven-furlong distance; and Old Chestnut (4), a turf-to-dirt turnback who has never run on dirt but is bred for it being by Speightstown  and out of the Silver Deputy mare Pool Land, who was 7 for 11 and a grade 1 winner on dirt.

Montauk Traffic steps up off a second-out maiden win for Linda Rice, who captured last Saturday's Withers Stakes (G3) with Max Player, another 3-year-old moving to stakes off a second-out maiden win.

A — 3, 4

B — 1, 2

C — 6

Suncoast Stakes (Tam, race 9, 4:29): To this point, the classiest fillies in this points qualifier (10-4-2-1) for the Longines Kentucky Oaks (G1) are Motu (4), Comical (5) and Blame Debbie (7), who are stakes-placed in grade 1 or grade 2 races.

Motu was a close second in the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) behind Finite, who returned to win the Silverbulletday. Comical won her first two starts, including the Schuylerville Stakes (G3), and then ran in four consecutive grade 1/grade 2 races; she changed ownership last fall and turned over to Steve Asmussen after struggling over the Santa Anita Park surface in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1). Blame Debbie ran against a speed bias when third in the Demoiselle Stakes (G2) first time for Graham Motion.

The only other filly we're using is the Godolphin homebred Embossed (9), a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro  who is a generous 10-1 on the morning line after two local wins on turf and dirt.

A — 4, 5, 7

B — 9

Tampa Bay Stakes (Tam, race 10, 4:59): In a nutshell, there should be an honest pace with Renaisance Frolic (5) and Halladay (6) in the mix, and that figures to help accomplished closers such as March to the Arch (1), Caribou Club (4) and Hembree (7).

Renaisance Frolic is irresistible at 15-1 on the line. He turned a corner winning his last three turf races of 2019 with good shows of tractable speed and was purchased after a throw-out race in the slop and transferred to Saffie Joseph Jr., who has been uncanny with new acquisitions.

March to the Arch overcame a very slow pace to get up in the Sunshine Million Turf with a big late kick and won the Turf Classic on this course last year.

Caribou Club has won stakes at four distances at five different tracks, including both starts at Saturday's 1 1/16 miles.

The knock on Hembree is that the veteran's late run has been most effective up to a mile.

Devamani (2) is used defensively off a trainer change to some guy named Chad Brown.

A — 1, 4, 5

B — 7

C — 2

Sam F. Davis Stakes (Tam, race 11, 5:29): Budget-minded bettors will take Independence Hall (4) as a free bingo square, and he will be tough to beat off anything like his supersonic score in the Nashua (G3). He was 1-10 in the Jerome after that and managed to win decisively despite throwing a tantrum in the paddock and lunging at the break to come away behind the field.

Independence Hall will have to deal with the 2-for-2 Premier Star (6), as they both make their initial attempts around two turns. At least the former has had a chance to settle in with four workouts over the Tampa Bay surface.

The intriguing late runner Sole Volante (2) won his first two starts on turf, including the Pulpit, and was then a solid third in the Mucho Macho Man. That race featured an extremely hot pace, and it's noteworthy Sole Volante's fractional splits for the second, third and fourth quarters were fastest in the race.

A — 4

B — 2

King Cotton Stakes (OP, race 8, 5:38): Whitmore's 7-3-1 record from 11 starts at Oaklawn includes five stakes wins, three in the Hot Springs Stakes and two in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap (G3), a race in which he ran second last year to champion sprinter Mitole .

Whitmore has had two months off since finishing unplaced in the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1) at a distance beyond his best but has won fresh repeatedly (including two editions of the Hot Springs).

The backup is Share the Upside (1), whose lone defeat from four local outings was a second to Whitmore in last year's Hot Springs, in which he dueled for the lead from the outset. He breaks from the rail as the potential lone speed of this matchup and returns from a six-month absence off a pair of bullet workouts.

A — 4

B — 1