Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita Park, March 23

TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK

By Richard Eng

Post Time 12:30 p.m.

Race 1 – 6 furlongs, Purse $26,000, Claiming $20,000, 4-year-olds and up

1 Hard Bill – Won well off a 2-year hiatus; if he can repeat the race no reason he can’t win again, certainly not over-raced.

5 Afleet Cowboy – Sight unseen since July 2012; Bill Spawr has a good batting average on long layoff horses.

Long Shot – 2 Gutshot Straight

Race 2 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $58,000, Allowance, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

1 Market Quote – John Shirreffs doesn’t win with a lot of FTS; the fact this filly did points her out as a good one.

2 Top Kisser – Shown steady improvement for the maestro Jerry Hollendorfer; his runners don’t typically bounce.

Long Shot – 5 Luckyvic

Race 3 – 6 furlongs, Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

6 Splendid Fortune – Bob Baffert has 3 in today and all have a strong chance of winning; like the move to a parking lot post.

4 Conkate – Good try facing tough allowance foes in last; this is actually a slightly easier spot in O/C condition.

Long Shot – 2 Twelve Folds

Race 4 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $30,000, Starter allowance $40,000, 3-year-olds and up

4 Baby Blake – Chalk did everything but win last time out; beaten favorite in his last 3 starts.

1 My Samurai Warrior – Start of a 2-day C/O in the pick 6 of $191K; small fields, but it still is a difficult test.

Long Shot – 6 Nome

Race 5 – 7 furlongs, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, 3-year-olds

8 Zee Bros – Bob Baffert with another strong win chance, has an uncoupled entry; again the parking lot post is a positive here.

2 Pure Loyalty – Shown enough ability to finish in the money in 3-of-4 starts; tactical speed to sit a perfect trip.

Long Shot – 4 Campeonisimo

Race 6 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies, 3-year-olds

2 Wednesday – Speedball takes a cut back in distance for this; should be finishing stronger than in prior route races.

6 Charm Catcher – Like the outside post for this down the hill sprint; has finished strongly in both career starts.

Long Shot – 1 Dance Team

Race 7 – 1 1/2 miles, $100,000 Tokyo City Cup, 4-year-olds and up

2 Sky Kingdom – Faced a stakes caliber group in last won by Tres Borrachos; Bob Baffert win would be a small upset.

8 Dhaamer – Sight unseen since August 2012; he’s a graded stakes caliber horse, key question is how tight he is for this.

Long Shot – 6 Calidoscopio

Race 8 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $32,000, Claiming $25,000, 4-year-olds and up

8 Mr. Bossy Pants – Has excelled when spotted for $25K price tag; these guys clearly are his friends.

3 Drift King – Ran evenly first off the claim by Dan Hendricks; like that Rafael Bejarano remains loyal to the cause.

Long Shot – 5 Bud I Crushed It

Race 9 – 6 furlongs, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

9 Going Back to Cali – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; Iggy Puglisi rides for Paul Aguirre.

1 Jawbreaker – Ran OK in debut for Mike Mitchell; makes an aggressive drop and should show some improvement.

Long Shot – 7 Top Tizzy

Best Bet – 8 Zee Bros (race 5)

Santa Anita Park Friday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 16/2/$9.80; Long Shots, 7/0/$0; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Park Totals – 869/223/$1,447.30; Long Shots, 429/57/$658.20; Best Bets, 50/18/$70.80

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #7 Ruler On Ice (3/1) in race 9 at Aqueduct. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, Sneaky Kitten ran second at Fair Grounds paying $2.80 to play and $2.10 to show. Stats – 47/34/$259.40; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick