Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, June 14
Post Time 12:30 p.m.
Race 1 - 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $27,000, Maiden claiming $40,000, 3-year-olds and up
2 Bandido Too - Rafael Bejarano is piling up wins like hotels on Boardwalk and Park Place; he is even riding in cheap maiden claiming.
4 Visiibility - Has finished in the money in all four career starts, that has to count for something; Tiago Pereira takes over tonight.
Long Shot - 1 Best Two Minutes
Race 2 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $40,000, Claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
2 Dissension - Tiny edge in a harder than looks race; Rafael Bejarano had options and chose to ride for main man Jerry Hollendorfer.
6 Pearl de Vere - With Rafael Bejarano off, Joe Talamo takes over; lost a photo finish to the favorite last time out.
Long Shot - 5 Pica
Race 3 - 1 mile, Purse $16,000, Claiming $12,500, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
4 Wild Caroline - Claimed by high percentage trainer Ron Ellis; Ellis doesn’t take many, so when he does you need to pay extra attention.
6 I Heart You - Claimed last time out by top NoCal trainer Steve Miyadi; he’s as good a claiming trainer as there is up north.
Long Shot - 5 Flyin for a Livin
Race 4 - 1 mile, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds and up
3 Jens de Ville - Is protected again today after a nice try for a $50K price tag; offers value in a wide open affair.
4 Fight Thru - Logical chalk after two good races in a row; there isn’t much consistency here so no horse has a killer instinct.
Long Shot - 7 Seedsandstemsagain
Race 5 - 1 mile (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $35,000, Claiming $32,000, 3-year-olds and up
1 Jomelo - Leap of faith that the hot tandem of Rafael Bejarano and Richard Baltas will be tough again; saves every inch of ground too.
7 Los Bambinos - Has a solid turf resume of four wins and places in 14 starts; has good tactical speed to carve out a decent trip.
Long Shot - 9 Empty Headed
Race 6 - 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
1 Ben’s Duchess - Gets big class relief from two stakes for this first level condition; will be tough if she runs to her capabilities.
2 My Fiona - When Rafael Bejarano rides a long layoff horse like this, take notice; class relief plus she must be working well.
Long Shot - 4 French Press
Race 7 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $60,000, Optional claiming $62,500, 3-year-olds and up
1 Toledo Eddie - If you have read my work over the years, you know how much I like cutback horses; will sit and make one late brush.
7 Pepnic - Another angle I like is the parking lot post down the hillside turf course; Joe Talamo should make a strong late move.
Long Shot -6 Horse Laugh
Race 8 - 6 furlongs, $75,000 Desert Stormer, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
8 Sam’s Sister - Was completely overmatched in the grade 1 Madison at Keeneland; these are her friends that she can boss around.
5 Wasted At Midnight - Gets reunited with Martin Garcia as Flavien Prat opted to ride for Neil Drysdale; they won two races ago.
Long Shot - 6 Winning Vision
Race 9 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 24 feet), Purse $31,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, 3-year-olds and up
3 Currency Exchange - Difficult finale was decided for me when Rafael Bejarano sticks around late; dropping from MSW to a price tag.
6 Nakamoto - Tepid chalk in a wide open get out race; he ran well in last first for a price tag and first time wearing blinkers on.
Long Shot - 9 True Image
Best Bet - 8 Sam’s Sister (race 8)
Santa Anita Saturday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 17/6/$27.60; Long Shots, 9/1/$7.60; Best Bet, 1/1/$2.40
Santa Anita Meet Totals - 434/116/$652.60; Long Shots, 216/32/$384.00; Best Bets, 26/13/$53.80
SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #3 Vitani (5/2) in race 6 at Churchill Downs. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Il Campione ran third at Belmont Park paying $3.40 to show. Stats - 81/56/$403.80; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick
