The G3 Sham Stakes will be run this Saturday, January 7 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. A group of three year olds will chase the winner's share of the $100,000 purse when they saddle up and go one mile on Santa Anita's dirt track.

A field of seven will give it a go in the Sham Stakes - race 7 on Santa Anita's busy Saturday schedule. Post time is 3:30 PM. Let's take a peek into the past performances of all seven entries for this intriguing G3 stakes.

2017 Sham Stakes Entries at Santa Anita Park

Gormley - John Shirreffs trained colt will hit the track for the fourth time Saturday. His first start resulted in a nice win by 4 1/4 lengths at Del Mar September 4 and his second was a terrific wire-to-wire three length win in the G1 FrontRunner Stakes on this track October 1. Last time out was a slight step back - a seventh as third choice in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile on this track in November. Gormley looks for a strong bounce back and for his second career graded stakes score. Victor Espinoza gets the call from post 5.

American Anthem - highly regarded colt will hit the track for just the second time for trainer Bob Baffert. His only start was an impressive one - a maiden score against 11 others at Del Mar December 3. American Anthem will try to build on that nice effort Saturday when he leaves from the rail with Mike Smith aboard.

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Term Of Art - Doug O'Neill trained colt ahs placed in four of five career starts - two wins, a second and a third place finish. He enters off a career-best effort - a win in the G3 Cecil B. DeMille Stakes at Del Mar November 27 which followed a ninth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile and a maiden score on this track October 8. Term Of Art has been competitive so far and hopes for a second straight graded stakes score Saturday. Joe Talamo has been tabbed to ride in Term Of Art's first start on dirt - from gate 2.

Colonel Samsen - Eoin Harty trained gelding has six career starts with two wins, a second and a third place finish. He enters on a nice two race win streak - the minor Gold Rush Stakes last time out at Golden Gate December 3 and a maiden score at Del Mar November 13. He failed to place in his previous two however - a tenth in the minor Zuma Beach Stakes October 10 followed a fourth in a MSW October 1 - both on this track. Colonel Samsen arrives in career best form for his graded stakes debut and hopes to make it here straight wins overall with Flavien Prat in the irons from gate 4.

Big Hit - Phil D'Amato trained colt has three career starts with just one win to show for it. That win came last time out in a MSW at Del Mar November 19 which followed a sixth and a seventh respectively in similar races to start his career. Big Hit wasn't all that impressive before last time out and hopes to make it two straight wins in his stakes debut. Santiago Gonzalez has the mount from gate 6.

Blabimir - has one win in his three career starts for trainer Doug O'Neill - that coming in quick fashion last time out at Los Alamitos December 9. He started his career with a fifth on this track October 1 and a DNF also here November 6. Blabimir steps into stakes company for the first time Saturday off a career-best effort although his form wasn't great before that. Mario Gutierrez will be in the saddle from the outside post 7.

Bird Is the Word - GF Almeida trained colt has a second and a third place finish in his five career starts and makes his stakes debut Saturday. Last time out was a second in MSW at Del Mar December 4 which followed an eighth, a seventh, a third and a fourth in a quartet of MSW races to start his career. Bird Is the Word steps up and searching for his first career victory and looks as though he will be in over his head when he departs from post 3 with Gonzalo Gabriel Ulloa Perez guiding him.



The big gossip from the Formula One world is that Daniel Ricciardo appears to have finally confirmed his split with high school sweetheart Jemma Boskovich.

The silence of the Red Bull driver - accidentally outed as newly single by Lewis Hamilton during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend - spoke volumes when he moved the subject on during an awkward radio interview about his relationship status.

Why are we bothered? Well it's an example of how Ricciardo mostly flies under the radar as far as the glamour side of Grand Prix racing is concerned. While Lewis Hamilton is the party king, and Red Bull team mate Max Verstappen has been grabbing all the headlines as the sport's new young superstar, Ricciardo just gets on with his job.

Maybe it is because he hasn't won a race since 2014, but you tend not to notice how consistently he performs. Until I started checking the stats, I'd not realised that he has outdriven Verstappen in each of the last five races.

He currently sits in third place in the Drivers Championship, some 18 points ahead of Sebastian Vettel, yet there is a spread between [1.5] and [3.5] for him to end the season among the top three drivers.

That could be about to change this weekend, because if there was ever a chance for Ricciardo to end that two-year wait to stand on the top step of the podium, it will be at this Sunday's Singapore Grand Prix.

In a season dominated by Mercedes, when most weeks are a question of whether Lewis Hamilton [3.1], or his team mate Nico Rosberg [5.9] finish first, there are few opportunities for anybody else to get a look in. Singapore is one of them. Even Hamilton has called it a "Red Bull track" and Ricciardo is second favourite at [3.95] to take the chequered flag.

Without getting into too much of the technical stuff, Singapore has 23 corners, more than any other circuit on the calendar, and it favours cars with high downforce exactly like the Red Bull. As a street circuit it is similar to Monaco - where only a bungled pit stop cost Ricciardo the victory. It is comparable to both Budapest and Spa, where Ricciardo, who is [1.68] to achieve a podium finish, both times finished second.

The combination of so many corners, and the demands of temperature change as the race moves from day to night, mean this is a race which values experience behind the wheel. Verstappen might attack it with youthful enthusiasm, but Ricciardo in his 103rd Grand Prix, is less likely to make a mistake.

This race was a disaster for Mercedes last year, with Hamilton forced to retire due to engine trouble and Rosberg managing only fourth. In the early market the Silver Arrows are still [1.78] to provide the winning car as they have done for all but one race this season, but for once you'd be more tempted to lay at those odds rather than back.

If there is value anywhere it could be in supporting Sebastian Vettel for a podium finish at [2.56]. This is one of the Ferrari driver's favourite tracks - he has won four of the eight races held there since it was first added to the calendar.