Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, Oct. 21

By Richard Eng

Post Time 1 p.m.

Race 1 – 6 furlongs, Purse $25,000, Claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

3 Max Cooper – Has run well for Jerry Hollendorfer since shipping in from Calder; tactical speed to sit a nice trip.

5 Vaundell – Has lots of early speed, but so does Courtside; second start off a 17-month hiatus.

Long Shot – 6 Swiss Tart

Race 2 – 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $29,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, Cal-breds, Fillies, 2-year-olds

5 Boller Bomb – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; best stride will come late.

7 A Little Luckier – Just missed last time in a solid try; that was in her first race over organic dirt.

Long Shot – 2 Cleverly Beverly

Race 3 – 1 mile, $65,000 Big Bear Handicap, 3-year-olds and up

3 Comma to the Top – Clearly the fastest horse in the race; key is his best races are normally around 1-turn.

2 Jaycito – Was overmatched in the Pacific Classic; class relief and dead fit from the Bob Baffert barn.

Long Shot – 4 Shaun Washington

Race 4 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $32,000, Claiming $32,000, 3-year-olds and up

1 Megastar – Won easily for $40K but is red flag dropped down to $32K; repeat of his last race would crush these.

5 Sky Cape – Hasn’t run a bad race since claimed by Bill Spawr; likes turf but has a tendency for runner-up spots.

Long Shot – 4 Mr. Make Believe

Race 5 – 1 mile, Purse $16,000, Claiming $12,500, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

2 Cee’s the Year – Slight edge in a loser’s race today; has even tacitcal speed to sit a nice trip throughout.

5 Sweetrayofsunshine – I don’t usually like betting horses that just graduated; this group is so slow, she can compete.

Long Shot – 3 Itsphun

Race 6 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $47,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

11 Bwanadada – Outran her 58-1 odds in debut; big rider switch to Joe Talamo and like the parking lot post too.

6 Point Cadet – Mike Mitchell has an uncoupled entry so caveat emptor; both look very live in this spot.

Long Shot – 1 Urania

Race 7 – 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $47,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies, 2-year-olds

10 Imwiththeblonde – Interesting jockey choice of J. J. Hernandez; will get a much better price on John Sadler favorite.

4 Lady Rosamond – Bob Baffert has an uncoupled entry so caveat emptor; both have the look of runners, watch the tote board.

Long Shot – 11 Heartless

Race 8 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $50,000, Allowance, 3-year-olds and up

1 Starspangled Heat – Dead late closer ran a huge race off a 8-month hiatus; Corey Nakatani is a terrific turf rider.

6 No Silent – Logical chalk weakened in the late stages last time; huge rider switch to Rafael Bejarano for the money shot.

Long Shot – 2 La Mano Nera

Race 9 – 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

14 Awkward Mondays – Joe Talamo for Victor Espinoza who is ice cold now; parking lot post in this elongated sprint.

8 Coranto – New trainer Gary Sherluck adding blinkers on and Rafael Bejarano; ask why a top jock rides in such a cheap race.

Long Shot – 4 Moonlit Meteor

Best Bet – 5 Boller Bomb (race 2)

Santa Anita Saturday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 16/4/$23.20; Long Shots, 8/3/$28.00; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Totals – 258/57/$460.80; Long Shots, 132/25/$254.40; Best Bets, 15/3/$9.20

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #1 Bubbly Jane (9/2) in race 8 at Keeneland. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Forward Thinker ran out at Keeneland. Stats – 156/108/$951.10; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick