HORSE RACING

TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK

By Richard Eng

Post Time 1 p.m.

Race 1 – 6 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

1 Valor Da Vida – Been away 11 months since a Monmouth start; taking the big class drop from MSW to maiden claiming.

4 Tsunami Warning – Has a chance in one of the poorest races ever carded at Santa Anita; my goodness this is something.

Long Shot – 5 Green Dolphin

Race 2 – 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $59,000, Allowance, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

5 Blue Maiden – Rafael Bejarano picks up the mount from Joel Rosario; group class import has been slow to come around.

4 Smart Striking – Joel Rosario opted for this filly over the chalk; exits a pedestrian pace where closers were dead.

Long Shot – 2 Catchy Tune

Race 3 – 6 furlongs, Purse $33,000, Maiden claiming $75,000, 3-year-olds

6 Star Dance M D – Kathy Walsh adding blinkers on and dropping from MSW to claiming; exit the special Macleans Music MSW race.

5 Husky Glory – Hunch horse if you are a UConn Huskies fan; key vote comes from Rafael Bejarano, a leap of faith.

Long Shot – 7 Kemper County

Race 4 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $26,000, Claiming $25,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

2 Lisa Cozzene – Has faced much tougher in her 2 turf starts; gets the wood to save all the ground throughout.

3 The Great Atlantic – Has eight sod starts without winning; this is the first time with Corey Nakatani, a top turf rider.

Long Shot – 11 Ghost N Your Heart

Race 5 – 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

2 She Can Roar – Ran evenly in debut, then ripped off a sharp bullet workout; surely has room to improve in start two.

8 O She O – 5-YO mare has run relatively fast races for this bottom class level; need not be much to compete with these.

Long Shot – 6 True Beauty

Race 6 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $54,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds and up

11 Relentless Heat – Must draw in off the also eligibles; like the parking lot post and should finish with vigor.

5 Sun’s Out – FTS from Carla Gaines has top turf pedigree top and bottom; like that Joel Rosario takes the call.

Long Shot – 10 Romeo Royale

Race 7 – 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $56,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 4-year-olds and up

3 Circa’sgoldengear – Very consistent turf performer is eligible for this as a Cal-bred; expect value with the connections.

4 Power Series – Mike Mitchell import making his U.S. debut; first time Lasix, you’ll see the tote action long before I do.

Long Shot – 7 Yodelen Dan

Race 8 – 1 1/16th miles, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, 3-year-olds

3 Dancing Joy – Ran a deceiving debut; broke very poorly, found his best stride late and was gobbling up ground.

5 Popular Cause – His first time on dirt in last was OK; there isn’t much in here so he should be able to compete.

Long Shot – 7 Megaride

Best Bet – 2 Lisa Cozzene (race 4)

Santa Anita Park Thursday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 15/5/$42.20; Long Shots, 7/2/$24.20; Best Bet, 1/1/$5.60

Santa Anita Park Totals – 1,031/285/$1,850.90; Long Shots, 514/80/$779.00; Best Bets, 59/27/$109.10

SIMULCAST PICK OF THE DAY – 4 Shadow Warrior (7/2) in race 8 at Keeneland. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Thursday, Academicienne ran third at Gulfstream Park paying $2.20 to show. Stats – 58/43/$347.20