2022 TVG Malibu Stakes Betting Odds and Contenders Preview
The TVG Malibu Stakes takes place on Monday, December 26th at Santa Anita. It's the last chance for three-year-old dirt males to vie for Grade 1 glory before turning four and having to face older horses. The field is a mix of locals and horses from all over the country. Taiba is the favorite, but there may be a more dedicated sprinter to steal the spotlight.
The field for the 2022 TVG Malibu Stakes was drawn on Wednesday, December 21. The morning line can provide a good preliminary picture of the betting action. It is smart to handicap the race and track the odds as post time approaches.
Taiba came third in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Hoist the Gold came fourth in Steel Valley Sprint. Perfect Flight and Apprehend won the Zia Park Derby. Nakatomi and Messier won their races in allowance company. Strava won a second-level allowance at Churchill Downs. Straight No Chaser won first- level allowance race at Santa Anita.
Forbidden Kingdom, a Richard Mandella trainee, came third in an allowance at Del Mar on November 20. Messier is one of two horses from the Bob Baffert barn that have to race without Lasix again. He has a Grade 3 winner going seven furlongs. He's a mixed bag because of the likely short price because he's trained by Baddert.
Apprehend won a second-level allowance two starts back. Nakatomi won an allowance at Keeneland on the Breeders’ Cup undercard. The seven furlongs of the Malibu Stakes will be Nakatsomi's longest race to date.
Hoist the Gold is the most experienced in the field with 15 starts so far. Taiba's only misstep came in Kentucky Derby. Hoist The Gold has run three good races at 1 ⅛ miles or longer. Taibai's debut was a six-furlong maiden special weight at Santa Anita in March.
Perfect Flight is trained by Peter Miller and won the Zia Park Derby on dirt in June. Strava is from the barn of Dallas Stewart and he won in the slop over a one-turn mile at Churchill Downs on November 27. He is versatile and can rally from off the pace. He has to prove that the improvement he showed last out was not a function of the track being sloppy.
Straight No Chaser is the only horse trying stakes company for the first time. Forbidden Kingdom is drawn inside. 2022 TVG Malibu Stakes Betting Odds and Contenders Preview.
The Malibu Stakes is one of the most successful races of Breeders’ Cup. Six of last ten winners of Malibu last raced in the Breeder's Cup, while the other three last-out alumni ran off the board at the Cup and the last one came in as a non-winner. The last five winners were lightly-raced horses who came out of non BreedERS” Cup races.
The 2022 Malibu Stakes will be run as the 10th of 11 races on Santa Anita’s card on Monday, December 26th. The Malibu is one of six graded-stakes races.
The present Santa Anita Park opened on Christmas Day in 1934. The main track is a one-mile dirt oval and the turf track inside of it is 0.9-miles grass oval. A unique feature of the grass track in the main Santa Ana is the downhill course.
The Malibu Stakes takes place at Santa Anita Park on Monday, December 26 at 3:30 pm Pacific. Taiba is the morning line favorite. Trainer Richard Mandella has the most wins in the Malibu Stake with six. Bill Shoemaker won the race eight times in his career between 1957 and 1986. Mike Smith has won five times, most recently with Charlatan in 2020. Flightline won in 2021 for trainer John Sadler and jockey Flavien Prat.
