Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, Dec. 26

By Richard Eng

Post Time noon

Race 1 – 1 mile, Purse $58,000, Allowance, 3-year-olds and up

7 Sir Bond – Tremendous opening day card at Santa Anita; Julien Leparoux is fresh off his 2-week honeymoon, set for a big meet.

9 Macho Dorado – Joe Talamo had choices and opted to ride for Mike Mitchell; must overcome a tough parking lot post at 1 mile.

Long Shot – 3 Tribal Jewel

Race 2 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf), Purse $32,000, Claiming $25,000, 3-year-olds and up

2 Drift King – Could be a Mike Mitchell daily double to open up the new season; may be a double for Julien Leparoux too.

6 Cherokee Heaven – Won and slides down one notch in class; Hector Palma exits an outstanding Hollywood Park meet.

Long Shot – 14 Stacy’s Hope

Race 3 – 6 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

3 Time to Doubledown – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; former SoCal regular Joel Rosario rides.

7 Cold Bay – Exits a key race where he ran well off a year hiatus; gets the weight off with 7-pound apprentice.

Long Shot – 5 Sky Fox

Race 4 – 7 furlongs, $300,000 La Brea, Fillies, 3-year-olds

5 My Miss Aurelia – Given 2-months off to try avoiding a Breeders’ Cup bounce; my Eclipse Award vote for top 3-YO filly.

3 Reneesgotzip – Speedball is fine as long as the distances are one turn; tactical speed to sit a close up trip.

Long Shot – 1 Mamma Kimbo

Race 5 – 1 mile (turf), $150,000 Sir Beaufort, 3-year-olds

3 Smart Ellis – Draw a line thru a miserable try in the grade 1 Hollywood Derby; this class is more like it for him.

7 Battle Force – Was not concerned losing last in a test drive; he showed in the Generous is has the class to compete with these.

Long Shot – 4 Big Bane Theory

Race 6 – 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, 2-year-olds

12 Belvin – Bob Baffert has a ton of horses entered on this opening day card; this colt can still be one of the ones.

3 Aleander – This is the other Baffert colt in this uncoupled entry; watch the tote board for additional clues.

Long Shot – 13 Wind of Boxphorus

Race 7 – 1 mile (turf), Purse $30,000, Starter allowance $40,000, 3-year-olds and up

3 Fable Haven – Just looks like a better horse on turf; Edwin Maldonado exits a championship meet at Hollywood Park, congrats!

7 Winds of Dubai – Dead late closer can see them all the first half of the race; key is finding a lane late to do his best.

Long Shot – 2 Silver Dragon

Race 8 – 7 furlongs, $300,000 Malibu, 3-year-olds

4 The Lumber Guy – New York superstar joins the Neil Drysdale barn; ready made horse now in Hall of Fame hands, improvement?

5 Politicallycorrect – Sharp win in the Damascus in his SoCal debut; Joel Rosario sticks around to cash some paychecks.

Long Shot – 2 Jimmy Creed

Race 9 – 6 furlongs, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, 3-year-olds and up

2 Brannaman – Could conclude an outstanding day for Bob Baffert; would not be shocked to see upsets over the deep sandy dirt track.

8 Scorpion Warrior – First start off an 18-month hiatus; he had the talent, concern is if he is tight enough off a long layoff.

Long Shot – 12 Wild Media

Best Bet – 12 Belvin (race 6)

Hollywood Park Sunday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 20/5/$46.00; Long Shots, 11/1/$16.60; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Hollywood Park Final Totals – 403/113/$726.80; Long Shots, 204/25/$281.00; Best Bets, 22/12/$54.80

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #1 Brilliant Autumn (3/1) in race 9 at Fair Grounds. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Sunday, Schillerette ran third at Aqueduct paying $2.40 to show. Final Stats – 186/126/$1,090.00; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick