Dressed in Hermes Looks for Derby Points in Sham Stakes

Dressed in Hermes looks for Kentucky Derby points as he transitions from turf to dirt in Saturday's Sham Stakes at Santa Anita. (Photos by Benoit Photo)
The 16th running of the Grade 3, $100,000 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park doesn't offer a huge prize to the winning owner, just $60,000, but it does offer Road to the Kentucky Derby points for the first four finishers in the field of nine. Leading the field in terms of accomplishments is Dressed in Hermes, moving to the main track after winning the Grade 3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes on grass at the end of November. DeMille runner-up Collected made the second start of his career in that race and could improve, as might DeMille fourth-place finisher Rare Candy.
Grade 1 Los Alamitos Futurity third- and seventh-place finishers, I'malreadythere and Sorryaboutnothing will try to improve off their recent efforts, while recent King Glorious Stakes winner Found Money, who has failed badly in his two graded stakes tries to date, hopes to run as well in open company after beating California-breds last month. Semper Fortis, a half-brother to multiple graded stakes winner Carpe Diem, has won two in a row versus lesser rivals and may be this good, as might strong recent maiden winner Let's Meet in Rio, who beat Laoban by a length and a half in that race.
Dressed in Hermes is a two-time stakes winner, the most recent of those efforts coming on Nov. 29 in the Cecil B. DeMille Stakes. Rallying from seventh in the early stages to draw off late, Dressed in Hermes earned a career-best and field-high 107 Equibase Speed Figure in the process under Mike Smith, who was in the saddle for the first time. Smith rides back in the Sham as Dressed in Hermes runs on dirt for only the second time in his six-race career. Dressed in Hermes finished fourth in his debut on dirt before four straight turf races including both victories but he is bred to relish dirt on both sides of his family tree as his sire's sire (Sunday Silence) won the 1989 Kentucky Derby and his dam's sire (Elusive Quality) is the sire of 2004 Derby winner Smarty Jones. As such, transferring his stakes-winning form from turf to dirt to run well enough to win the Sham Stakes should be no issue for Dressed in Hermes.
DRESSED IN HERMES DEFEATS COLLECTED (No. 2) IN THE DeMILLE STAKES

Collected, who finished second in the DeMille Stakes to Dressed in Hermes, was giving away a lot of experience as it was only the second race of his career and his first around two turns. He ran exceptionally well in that race, stalking the early pacesetter in second before taking over. He was then run down in the stretch but remained a length and a half clear of the next horse in a field of 12. Improving from a 93 speed figure in his debut to 103 in that race, Collected has every right to take another big step forward both physically and mentally and could potentially turn the tables on his foes to win the Sham.
Let's Meet in Rio started his career in sprints, having poor starts and not showing a lot of ability. However, that all changed when he was sent out at the distance of the Sham in his most recent race on Dec. 5. In that race, Let's Meet in Rio took his time in fifth in the early stages and was still five lengths behind the leader with an eighth of a mile to go but he put in a big late kick to win going away. Although the 90 figure earned is far below the figures the top two contenders earned, Let's Meet in Rio improved his figure 17 points in that race and it is conceivable he could show the same type of improvement here, which would enable him to post the upset win.
Found Money and Semper Fortis are two horses to keep an eye on for later down the Road to the Kentucky Derby and both may have chances for minor awards in the Sham as well. Found Money won the King Glorious Stakes (for California-bred horses only) last month at this mile trip with a 91 figure but his previous two tries in graded stakes resulted in only fourth-and fifth-place efforts. Semper Fortis showed promise when second in his debut last August but two subsequent poor efforts resulted in him being dropped into a maiden claiming race where he could have been purchased for $62,500. Semper Fortis won that maiden claiming race then won an allowance race at a mile with an 82 figure so he can improve as he continues to race. 
The rest of the field, with their best representative Equibase Speed Figures, is I'malreadythere (94), Laoban (87), Rare Candy (102) and Sorryaboutnothing (95).
My selections:Dressed in HermesCollectedLet's Meet in Rio
$100,000 Sham Stakes
Saturday, Race 6, Santa Anita Park, 6 p.m. ET
1 mile, dirt, 3-year-olds

PP

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

Owner

Odds

1

Rare Candy

Joe Talamo

David E. Hofmans

Tarabilla Farms

TBD

2

Dressed in Hermes

Mike Smith

Janet Armstrong

Budget Stable

TBD

3

Let's Meet in Rio

Kent Desormeaux

Bob Baffert

Juddmonte Farms

TBD

4

Found Money

Mario Gutierrez

Doug F. O'Neill

Reddam Racing

TBD

5

Semper Fortis

Kieren Fallon

Doug F. O'Neill

Reddam Racing

TBD

6

Laoban

Tyler Baze

Eric J. Guillot

Southern Equine Stable or McCormick Racing

TBD

7

I'malreadythere

Rafael Bejarano

Jerry Hollendorfer

Melen or Robertson or Taub, et al

TBD

8

Sorryaboutnothing

Flavien Prat

Doug F. O'Neill

Fog City Stable, ERJ Racing, RAP Racing or Kenney

TBD

9

Collected

Martin Garcia

Bob Baffert

Speedway Stable

TBD