Today at Santa Anita Park: April 27, 2014
TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK by Richard Eng
Post Time 1 p.m.
Race 1 – 6 furlongs, Purse $23,000, Claiming $16,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
3 Sidebar – Sliding down the claiming ladder to this career low class; not many rungs to drop down lower than this.
5 Queen of the Hill – Claimed by Doug O’Neill off a sharp victory; has enough back class to handle the modest class rise.
Long Shot – 2 Secret Genius
Race 2 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, 3-year-olds and up
6 Sunny Kat – Of the ones with experience, he looks the best; faced much tougher foes last summer down at Del Mar.
3 Willy Be Wild – FTS from Marty Jones with leading rider Rafael Bejarano up; that is a seal of approval from a top tandem.
Long Shot – 4 Mal Verde
Race 3 – 6 furlongs, Purse $35,000, Claiming $32,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
1 Julio’s Gold – Has cashed 3 straight paychecks off the claim by Vladimir Cerin; now dropped in price lower than was claimed at.
2 Chippette – New equine blood from back east; makes her SoCal debut for Paul Aguirre who uses Joe Talamo and not Iggy Puglisi.
Long Shot – 3 Vicki Victoria
Race 4 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $25,000, Claiming $25,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
4 Gelila – Been away since a solid second at Del Mar last Labor Day; is returned in a no claim spot, typically a good trainer angle.
2 Ascription – Is winless in five starts on grass; still this is a cheap group and a slight improvement can put her into the mix.
Long Shot – 7 Visions of Candy
Race 5 – 6 furlongs, Purse $31,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, Cal-breds, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
8 Fly to Freedom – Been away 18-months since 2012 Del Mar; Jon White made her the morning line chalk, indicative of the rest.
5 Ryderroo – Last two starts have been a drop off of her prior races; she has back speed figures fast enough to upset these.
Long Shot – 7 Charissa
Race 6 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
1 Bird In Love – Her career debut was down the hill and she ran a fine second; like the cut back in distance, should finish fast.
3 Miss Super Quick – Gary Stevens only rides two today, so he’ll make them count; this one can move forward off a nice tightener.
Long Shot – 5 Burning Arch
Race 7 – 6 furlongs, Purse $35,000, Claiming $32,000, 3-year-olds and up
1 Peacenik – Broke thru with a huge win last time for Bill Spawr; aggressively double jumped in class, must be razor sharp.
7 The Cleaners – Big class dropper by Mike Machowsky; his races for a price tag are above average, this is a very good spot for him.
Long Shot – 3 Too Fast to Pass
Race 8 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 8 feet), $100,000 Wilshire, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
5 Theatre Star – Has won four races in a row and don’t know where her ceiling is; suspect she does not need the lead to succeed.
2 Parranda – Like to see more new equine blood from back east; this one makes her SoCal debut for the maestro Jerry Hollendorfer.
Long Shot – 1 Moone’s My Name
Race 9 – 6 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
7 Shared Image – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; no problem with Kayla Stra in this corner.
6 Cleverly Beverly – Has had a mountain of chances, 17, with 7 paychecks so far; she is a nibbler, but hard to leave out.
Long Shot – 8 My Wish Come True
Best Bet – 3 Sidebar (race 1)
Santa Anita Park Saturday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 22/5/$31.60; Long Shots, 11/1/$15.40; Best Bet, 1/0/$0
Santa Anita Park Totals – 38/7/$41.40; Long Shots, 18/1/$15.40; Best Bets, 2/0/$0
SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #5 Ari The Adventurer (8/5) in race 4 at Aqueduct. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Zivo won at Aqueduct paying $6.10 to win, $3.40 to place and $2.40 to show. Stats – 67/38/$371.00; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick
