Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, January 2

Race 1 – 1 1/16th miles, Purse $19,000, Claiming $10,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

5 Acute – Small field but 3 horses seem to tower above the others; has won 4-times over the Santa Anita main dirt track.

3 Cayanna – Value may hold with Rafael Bejarano off; tactical speed to sit a decent trip throughout.

Long Shot – 1 I’m No Patsy

Race 2 – 1 1/8th miles, Purse $20,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 4-year-olds and up

4 Thesheetsguy – Claimed by Richard Baltas, expect some improvement tonight; like that Rafael Bejarano is taking the call.

3 Beach Fever – The blinkers come off for Mark Glatt; has natural speed but maybe will be a bit more manageable.

Long Shot – 1 Prospector Alley

Race 3 – 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, 3-year-olds

1 Sky Heart – Sliding down the maiden claiming ladder to this career low level; John Sadler taking the blinkers off too.

7 Believe Too – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; expect him to mix it up from the get go.

Long Shot – 5 Sterling Wager

Race 4 – 6 furlongs, Purse $20,000, Claiming $16,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

6 Midnight Lady – Game run last time over Del Mar synthetics; may have finally found his friends at this class level.

9 Moscato Girl – Claimed by Vann Belvoir and spotted well to win; has a strong Santa Anita main dirt track resume.

Long Shot – 10 Patriotic Brother

Race 5 – 1 mile, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies, 3-year-olds

5 Popover – Was well regarded in debut and did everything but win; second time out for this Bob Baffert filly, expect improvement.

4 Danette – Gets class relief from three straight grade 1 stakes for this; hope she hasn’t been beaten up too much mentally.

Long Shot – 8 Meta Mu

Race 6 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $65,000, Optional claiming $80,000, 4-year-olds and up

4 Boozer – Above average turfer especially loves the Arcadia sod; has tactical speed to lead wire to wire of sit just off the early pace.

5 Little Jerry – Gets class relief from the grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup for this; has good early speed, but can win from off the pace.

Long Shot – 2 Horizontalyspeakin

Race 7 – 1 1/8th miles, Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 4-year-olds and up

2 Day of Fury – Quit last time after dueling in a wicked pace; the fractions will be softer here and Bob Baffert takes the blinkers off.

3 Alfa Bird – Highly regarded colt finally got his diploma last time; he looks like a colt who will get better with additional distance.

Long Shot – 5 Cautious Giant

Race 8 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $35,000, Claiming $32,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

14 Miss Ellany – She must draw in off the also eligible list; takes a huge class drop to face much easier tonight.

9 Zanbo – Gutsy win last time but is dropped a notch in class; tactical speed to sit a nice trip for Rafael Bejarano.

Long Shot – 11 Always a Chance

Best Bet – 1 Sky Heart (race 3)

Santa Anita Thursday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 17/5/$31.80; Long Shots, 9/0/$0; Best Bet, 1/1/$7.00

Santa Anita Totals – 86/23/$161.00; Long Shots, 44/4/$41.80; Best Bets, 5/3/$15.40

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #3 Majestic Affair (7/5) in race 3 at Aqueduct. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Thursday, La Bella Valeria ran second at Aqueduct paying $2.90 to place and $2.60 to show. Stats – 3/3/$13.20;

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