Betting the Sham on a $20 Budget

Hero Ten All breaks his maiden at Los Alamitos in December. (Photo by Benoit Photo)
Some of the West Coast’s finest 3-year-olds are lined up for this Saturday’s Grade 3 Sham Stakes at Santa Anita Park with the hopes of picking up precious Kentucky Derby qualifying points.
If your New Year’s resolution was to make more money wagering while betting fewer dollars, you’re in the right spot. At post time, Calculator will almost certainly be the favorite on the toteboard. We’re going to find a way to work around the 8-to-5 morning-line favorite and make a few dollars in the process.
Calculator showed promise last autumn when finishing second to American Pharoah in his two most recent starts. After earning a spot in the 2014 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Calculator was scratched from the race by his connections because of a hoof injury.
Calculator has displayed the most talent of the field on the track to date. However, the pessimist in me doubts a return to prime form after that disappointing setback and subsequent break in action.
As a mild upset, I like the 4-to-1 third choice on the morning line, Hero Ten All. He nearly tracked down the highly regarded Dortmund, finishing second, in his first career start. He followed that up with a polished victory by 1 ¾ lengths in a two-turn mile race at Los Alamitos.
Hero Ten All’s 4-to-1 is a playable, fair price here. I like that he’s shown the ability to overcome less-than-ideal starts. As he faces his best competition to date, it would be great to see if he can settle in and stalk the pace. Tyler Baze has been aboard for each of his previous starts, and the tandem pair up for this affair as well.
In looking for a potential price, I landed on Rock Shandy. He gets back to the dirt, after taking to the Del Mar turf quite well in his two most recent starts. He’s grinded for position and also managed to win in front-running style as well. The shift in surface combined with a seasoned track record shows this well-bred colt might be ready to turn the corner mentally and physically.
Sham Strategy on a $20 Budget
$2 exacta box:  5,7,8 (Rock Shandy, Calculator, Hero Ten All) ($12)
$8 win: #8 Hero Ten All ($8)
Total=$20 
$100,000 Sham StakesSaturday, Santa Anita, Race 6, 6:00 p.m. ET1 mile, dirt, 3-year-olds

PP

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

1

St. Joe Bay 

Martin Pedroza

Peter Miller

2

Pioneerof the West 

Corey Nakatani

Mark Casse

3

Rockinatten 

Rafael Bejarano

Doug O'Neill

4

Unblunted 

Joe Talamo

Michael McCarthy

5

Rock Shandy 

Victor Espinoza

Peter Miller

6

Papacoolpapacool

FernandoPerez           

Jeff Mullins

7

Calculator

Elvis Trujillo

Peter Miller

8

Hero Ten All

Tyler Baze

Jeff Mullins

Field assigned 118 lbs.