Santa Anita card starts strong — on its new surface

Opening day at Santa Anita passed with no repercussions from its finicky synthetic Cushion track. A bigger test will come later with the first heavy rain in Southern California. Since its installation last fall, Cushion track at Santa Anita has not drained properly. In fact, the track was closed for more than two weeks before opening day while workers dug up and renovated the surface.

To the layman, this makes no sense. The same company installed Cushion track at Hollywood Park, where the surface has performed admirably. The difference at Santa Anita has to do with the use of finer sand, which has clogged up the intricate drainage system.

The first Santa Anita card featured 93 horses in nine races, a healthy 10.3 average. There are revealing statistics beneath the surface. I believe the average number of starters can remain strong, and here’s why:

Of the 93 starters, only 26 were stabled at Santa Anita. That means 67 starters were shipped in from Hollywood Park, Fairplex and San Luis Rey Downs. So short term there is a dearth of Santa Anita horses mainly because they lost two weeks of training. As the Santa Anita stables catch up on their training, their numbers over the long term will increase. I believe that will help maintain the high average number of starters.

In the last race, Santa Anita introduced the new Super High Five wager, a bet I panned last week. It handled a promising $54,653 on opening day. For comparison basis, the bet it replaced, the last race superfecta, handled $193,122 on closing day at Hollywood Park. The High Five carryover going into today is $43,350.

I still feel it’s a dumb bet to make until the carryover pool reaches at least six figures. Because any long-shot horse can finish fifth, fourth and even third, the bet can become cost-prohibitive for most. For example, to use all horses in the field in the fifth and fourth spots could make the ticket cost $1,000 or more. Also with no consolations paid, the risk- versus-reward factor won’t balance unless there is a very large carryover to boost the winning payout.

Santa Anita’s next major test will be racing on Mondays instead of Wednesdays. I think it has a good chance of showing increases in overall handle and attendance. At worst, it should be a wash.

• STEVENS ON TV — Don’t do a double take next week when you see former TVG analyst Gary Stevens on HRTV. The Hall of Fame rider will add superstar panache to an already strong lineup.

• BAZE EYES 400 — Jockey Russell Baze is on target to win 400 races for an amazing 13th time in his Hall of Fame career. He has 393 wins this year going into today’s card at Golden Gate Fields.

• TRAINERS — The race to be the winningest trainer in 2007 is going down to the wire between Scott Lake and Steve Asmussen. Both have 474 victories this season, through Wednesday.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.