Elkhorn Stakes – Grade 2 | Purse $400,000 | One Mile and One Half on Turf | Four Years Old and Upward

Top Win Contenders: Anegada (12), Utah Beach (3), Desvio (2)

All horses have won stakes races at this distance, and these three can repeat their similar previous performances. I will start with Anegada (12), who ran this distance in one race before winning the John B. Connally Turf Cup Stakes on January 24. He stepped up in class to the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida Stakes, where he finished third on February 28. He has also won two other races since October. He gets one of North America's top jockeys, Flavien Prat, although Prat has never ridden Anegada. Prat has won 27 of 91 races for trainer Michael Maker. Maker won the Elkhorn Stakes in 2013, 2016, 2019, and 2020. Anegada also earned 107 and 105 Equibase Speed Figures in his last two races. Those are good by any other horse in the race, and he opens as a long shot.

Utah Beach (3) won a similar stakes at Keeneland, the 2025 Elkhorn Stakes, with a 111 figure, and he won his next race, the Louisville Stakes, last May. He hasn’t won in five races since then, but he ran well when he finished third in the similar Sycamore Stakes last October at Keeneland, when he was leading at the last eighth. His last race off the layoff from October to March 21 was a slow step, and he raced ninth from start to finish. I would put a line through that race, as Utah Beach has earned four wins (out of five) at this distance, and his trainer, Brendan Walsh, would not put the horse into this race if he didn’t feel he had a chance.

Desvio (2) won the identical Sycamore Stakes last October at 34 to 1, earning a career-best 112 figure. Top jockey John Velazquez rode Desvio then and is aboard again. Another jockey rode him when he finished third in the Red Smith Stakes in November. Freshened, Desvio has a shot to rebound and win as he did in the fall.

Anegada (12) starts at 15 to 1 odds, while Utah Beach (3) opens at 8 to 1 and Desvio (2) at 8 to 1. All three horses have about an equal probability, with each around 20%, so their odds should be about 4 to 1.

Win bets: Anegada (12), Utah Beach (3), Desvio (2) at odds of 8 to 5 or higher, and I wouldn’t hesitate to bet the two horses at their odds near post time.

Exactas:

Box Anegada (12), Utah Beach (3), Desvio (2)

The $5 exacta costs $30.

Trifecta: Anegada (12), Utah Beach (3), Desvio (2) over ALL over Anegada (12), Utah Beach (3), Desvio (2)

This bet cost $30 at $0.50 for all 12 horses, but it could pay handsomely, and if all three horses finish first, second, and third, we win both the trifecta and the exacta.