DDF De Great Saiga Drives for Five

When DDF De Great Saiga finished third in the fifth race Dec. 29, it was the Idaho-bred filly’s seventh loss in nine starts in 2001.

Things have been much different so far this year. Owned by Miguel Martinez and trained by Adan Farias, DDF De Great Saiga is unbeaten in 2002, having won four races.

The 3-year-old filly will try to keep the streak going this evening when she meets five others in the seventh race, a $12,300 allowance at 350 yards.

DDF De Great Saiga began her roll with a 11/2-length victory against $6,250 claimers on Jan. 13, returned to win by a head two weeks later when stepping up to the $10,000 level, returned a month after that to win a starter allowance by three-quarters of a length, then on April 5 won by a remarkable 23/4 lengths as the 3-5 favorite. The field includes two other fillies who are coming off recent victories.

Rustys Quickid won for trainer Paul Jones in her first start of 2002 on April 14 and Taste My Cleat prevailed against $10,000 claimers on Feb. 16.

The picks: 1. Shewin. 2. Crocodile Hunter. 3. Triumphs Ace. 4. Tinys Royal Hugger. 5. Home Bird. 6. Oh To Win. 7. DDF De Great Saiga. 8. Famous Cartel. 9. Lanes Fortune.

Four! Single Shewin in the first, use Crocodile Hunter and Local Edition in the second, Concorde CS, Virgule, Seyvilla Tri-Sama, Mach II and Triumphs Ace in the third and Tinys Royal Hugger, Loves To Dash and Red Hot Winds in the fourth.

Shots in the dark: Loves To Dash is a first-time starter for trainer Christopher O’Dell in the fourth and it’s not a strong field. Uwinthegreen could be a threat from behind in the sixth for trainer Gus Turner.

Post Time: 5:30 p.m.

On The Net: For entries and results from Los Alamitos, visit: www.latimes.com/horseracing/