Today at Santa Anita Park: March 30, 2014

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

5 Kafister – Claimed by the maestro Jerry Hollendorfer off a sharp second; one step improvement can defeat these.

1 Limited Response – Sliding down the claiming ladder to this career low class; need not be much to get a piece of these.

Long Shot – 3 No Contingency

Race 2 – 6 furlongs, Purse $40,000, Claiming $40,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

4 South Sound – Subtle class drop to face slightly easier; has speed to lead or follow close up.

3 Senza Fina – Joe Steiner doesn’t get many live mounts; thus he better make best use of this filly who has good tactical speed.

Long Shot – 1 Swissarella

Race 3 – 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Claiming $10,000, 4-year-olds and up

2 She Digs Me – Sliding down the claiming ladder to this bottom rung; hot riding Victor Espinoza looks like a kid out there.

3 Carbonite – John Sadler barn has been winning races in bunches; this one drops way down in class to face softer.

Long Shot – 5 Newfound Gold

Race 4 – 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, 3-year-olds

4 Tommy’s Stylin – Typical green debut, slow early fast late; Mike Smith returns off of a profitable road trip.

7 Kozani – Showing slow, but steady, improvement in 3 career starts; natural speed should carry over this route distance.

Long Shot -6 Pantera Rojo

Race 5 – 6 furlongs, Purse $21,000, Claiming $12,500, Fillies, 4-year-olds

5 Holiday N Newport – One level class drop can make the difference; Robertino Diodoro still flies under the radar.

8 Tribal Dress – Sliding down the claiming ladder to this career low level; need not be much to compete with these.

Long Shot – 6 Funny Girl

Race 6 – 1 mile, (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $31,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, 3-year-olds and up

2 Big Medicine Man – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; has run 2 decent turf races.

4 Rob’s Pal – May get overlooked since recent races have been for M/C $20K; has cashed 3 paychecks in those heats.

Long Shot – 5 Street Maven

Race 7 – 1 mile, $75,000 Santana Mile, 4-year-olds and up

5 Fury Kapcori – Proven lover of the Santa Anita main track; has tried stakes before, appears razor sharp for this.

2 Appealing Tale – Really turned the corner with back to back wins; expect Victor Espinoza to send from the get go.

Long Shot – 7 Clubhouse Ride

Race 8 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $60,000, Optional claiming 462,500, 4-year-olds and up

7 Hear the Ghost – Tries turf for the first time; has back class and a good resume over the synthetic surfaces.

6 Power Ped – Turns back in distance and may show more late punch; will need to carve out a trip from a parking lot post.

Long Shot – 4 Ready for More

Race 9 – 5 furlongs, Purse $20,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

10 Nuerva Fortuna – Outran her 9/1 odds in career debut; Bill Spawr switches to main stable rider Agapito Delgadillo.

2 Sweet Heat – FTS has been working well for career debut; always cool when leading rider Rafael Bejarano takes the call.

Long Shot – 7 Cleverly Beverly

Best Bet – 5 Kafister (race 1)

Santa Anita Park Saturday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 18/4/$35.00; Long Shots, 8/1/$6.60; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Park Totals – 948/267/$1,677.80; Long Shots, 468/68/$734.20; Best Bets, 58/27/$112.80

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #11 Joy’s Kitten (6/1) in race 8 at Gulfstream Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Charge Now won at Gulfstream paying $7.80 to win, $3.60 to place and $3.00 to show. Stats – 54/31/$314.20; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick