This week’s Stronach 5 includes one race from Santa Anita – race 3 is the second leg of the 12-percent takeout wager. The sequence begins with race 7 from Gulfstream Park West at 1:30 PT/4:30 ET. Santa Anita look …

Santa Anita, race 3 (mile turf, fillies and mares, maiden special-weight)

At a mile on turf, Santa Anita is fair to all styles. Seven races this fall with the temporary rails at today’s 20-foot setting produced one gate-to-wire winner, three forwardly placed winners, and three more that rallied from the back half of the field. No bias.

Dearborn (9) is the proper favorite, following three successive third-place finishes. However, she is hardly infallible. Favored both recent starts, she lost. She had the lead at the furlong pole both previous routes, and lost. Those are the knocks.

Her attributes include speed figures among the highest in the field, and an up-front style that should play well in a field that lacks speed. Blinkers on, she continues to work well. National Turf clocker Andy Harrington wrote this about her half-mile work Oct. 17: “Full of run in the dark on the training track in going the last 3f in 37.0. Always a flashy worker. Grade: B”

The favorite’s vulnerability at two turns is reason Stronach-5 bettors need to include late-runner Sutro (4). The two-month layoff is fine, because she delivered the race of her career last out in her return from a layoff of nearly six months. In that race, Sutro rallied from midpack, ran her final quarter-mile in a respectable 23.46 seconds, and finished second. Dearborn was third.

European import Arctic Roll (7) is interesting. She set the pace and finished third in her most recent start in England vs. a nondescript allowance field; she gets Lasix for her U.S. debut. Furthermore, workout analysis from Harrington suggests she has trained well and is well-meant.  Arctic Roll is the first European import for trainer Andrew Lerner.

First-time starter Miss Voluptuous (2) reportedly has no speed and needs a prep; Take a Leap (5) has been freshened two months and has speed for a forwardly placed trip.

Summary: Dearborn (9) is the one to beat, but tough to trust at a mile. Sutro (4) will rally; she is a must-use as second preference. Arctic Roll (7) might be worth including on a back-up ticket, but Dearborn and Sutro should be enough for the main.

Post time for the first leg of the Stronach 5, race 7 at GPW, is 1:30 PT/4:30 ET.