HORSE RACING
April 8, 2011 - 1:10 am
TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK
By Richard Eng
Post Time 1 p.m.
Race 1 - 6 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up
1 Valor Da Vida - Been away 11 months since a Monmouth start; taking the big class drop from MSW to maiden claiming.
4 Tsunami Warning - Has a chance in one of the poorest races ever carded at Santa Anita; my goodness this is something.
Long Shot - 5 Green Dolphin
Race 2 - 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $59,000, Allowance, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up
5 Blue Maiden - Rafael Bejarano picks up the mount from Joel Rosario; group class import has been slow to come around.
4 Smart Striking - Joel Rosario opted for this filly over the chalk; exits a pedestrian pace where closers were dead.
Long Shot - 2 Catchy Tune
Race 3 - 6 furlongs, Purse $33,000, Maiden claiming $75,000, 3-year-olds
6 Star Dance M D - Kathy Walsh adding blinkers on and dropping from MSW to claiming; exit the special Macleans Music MSW race.
5 Husky Glory - Hunch horse if you are a UConn Huskies fan; key vote comes from Rafael Bejarano, a leap of faith.
Long Shot - 7 Kemper County
Race 4 - 1 mile (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $26,000, Claiming $25,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
2 Lisa Cozzene - Has faced much tougher in her 2 turf starts; gets the wood to save all the ground throughout.
3 The Great Atlantic - Has eight sod starts without winning; this is the first time with Corey Nakatani, a top turf rider.
Long Shot - 11 Ghost N Your Heart
Race 5 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up
2 She Can Roar - Ran evenly in debut, then ripped off a sharp bullet workout; surely has room to improve in start two.
8 O She O - 5-YO mare has run relatively fast races for this bottom class level; need not be much to compete with these.
Long Shot - 6 True Beauty
Race 6 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $54,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds and up
11 Relentless Heat - Must draw in off the also eligibles; like the parking lot post and should finish with vigor.
5 Sun's Out - FTS from Carla Gaines has top turf pedigree top and bottom; like that Joel Rosario takes the call.
Long Shot - 10 Romeo Royale
Race 7 - 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $56,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 4-year-olds and up
3 Circa'sgoldengear - Very consistent turf performer is eligible for this as a Cal-bred; expect value with the connections.
4 Power Series - Mike Mitchell import making his U.S. debut; first time Lasix, you'll see the tote action long before I do.
Long Shot - 7 Yodelen Dan
Race 8 - 1 1/16th miles, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, 3-year-olds
3 Dancing Joy - Ran a deceiving debut; broke very poorly, found his best stride late and was gobbling up ground.
5 Popular Cause - His first time on dirt in last was OK; there isn't much in here so he should be able to compete.
Long Shot - 7 Megaride
Best Bet - 2 Lisa Cozzene (race 4)
Santa Anita Park Thursday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 15/5/$42.20; Long Shots, 7/2/$24.20; Best Bet, 1/1/$5.60
Santa Anita Park Totals - 1,031/285/$1,850.90; Long Shots, 514/80/$779.00; Best Bets, 59/27/$109.10
SIMULCAST PICK OF THE DAY - 4 Shadow Warrior (7/2) in race 8 at Keeneland. For scoring purposes, we'll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Thursday, Academicienne ran third at Gulfstream Park paying $2.20 to show. Stats - 58/43/$347.20