Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, April 4

Post Time Noon

Race 1 - 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $31,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds and up

2 Roper - Ran a career best in last, now must repeat the effort; the key it appears was it was his first time wearing blinkers on.

3 Hye I’m Jack - Drayden Van Dyke had options, chose to ride for Doug O’Neill; biggest class drop in racing is MSW to maiden claiming.

Long Shot - 9 Cat From Iraq

Race 2 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies, 3-year-olds and up

7 Never Ends - Three frustrating seconds in a row; she is fastest among those who have started, key is the make-up of the FTS.

1 Cadet Roni - Ran OK in debut despite a slow start; been given plenty of time to mature and could show a lot of improvement today.

Long Shot - 6 Mahee

Race 3 - 6 1/2 furlongs, $200,000 Echo Eddie, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds

7 Grazen Sky - Has really come into his own the last two starts in Arcadia; if he repeats his race two back, the race is for place.

9 Gimme Da Lute - The ever present danger of a Bob Baffert horse; parking lot post to stalk the early leaders from.

Long Shot - 4 Richard’s Boy

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

10 Screaming Skylar - Sprinter stretching out around 2-turns for the first time; blinkers off so Victor Espinoza can get her to relax.

5 Scandal - Dead late closer did everything but win last time; shown steady improvement in all three career starts, ready for diploma.

Long Shot - 4 Mighty Souper

Race 5 - 1 mile, Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 4-year-olds and up

6 Short Heat Wave - Joe Steiner doesn’t get many live mounts; this is one of them and he won last time riding for trainer Joe Herrick.

9 American Blend - Was claimed by John Sadler off a poor run last out; been given 10-months where he’s had plenty of time to recover.

Long Shot - 1 Anxious Times

Race 6 - 1 mile (turf), Purse $58,000, Allowance, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds and up

7 Pulmarack - Tiny edge is a wide open affair; exits the grade 2 San Felipe for this much easier state bred entry condition.

4 Deputy Heat - Joe Talamo for Tiago Pereira who still has some bumps and bruises; likes to settle back and make one big brush.

Long Shot - 2 Zinvor

Race 7 - 1 1/16th miles, $400,000 Santa Anita Oaks, Fillies, 3-year-olds

6 Stellar Wind - Sure looks like a good addition to the John Sadler barn; won the Santa Ysabel in her SoCal debut, her ceiling is high.

1 Light the City - Like the rail post to save every inch of ground; seems like a lost art amongst jockeys who prefer to race wide out.

Long Shot - 5 Luminance

Race 8 - 1 1/8th miles, $1-Million Santa Anita Derby, 3-year-olds

1 Dortmund - If he and stablemate American Pharoah both win, trainer Bob Baffert will saddle the two Kentucky Derby favorites.

5 Prospect Park - You can see the improvement with each race; dead late closer could be a dangerous rival when they get to Louisville.

Long Shot - 4 Bolo

Race 9 - 1 1/8th miles, $150,000 Providencia, Fillies, 3-year-olds

8 Prize Exhibit - Tiny edge in a very difficult heat; first leg of the $10K Station Twin Quinella, this is a real doozy.

4 Entrechat - Had to enjoy her MSW win down the hill in last; the race melted down off a suicidal pace, but she flew on wings late.

Long Shot - 6 Spanish Queen

Race 10 - 6 1/2 furlongs, $200,000 Evening Jewel, Fillies, 3-year-olds

1 Long Shot Summer - After 3 excellent starts, make her dirt debut; has shown good closing ability whatever the surface.

5 Bad Ju Ju - You are sure to get value here as noboby bets Kayla Stra; this filly appears ready for this much tougher task.

Long Shot - 9 Sheer Pleasure

Race 11 - 1 mile (turf), $75,000 Thunder Road, 4-year-olds and up

4 Winning Prize - Gets class relief from a long series of graded stakes for this; hope he isn’t mentally jaded facing tougher stock.

7 Pure Tactics - Cost me the late Pick 4 last time when I didn’t use him; I’ve learned my lesson and he’ll be on all of my tickets.

Long Shot - 6 Talco

Best Bet - 7 Grazen Sky (race 3)

Santa Anita Friday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 16/4/$26.80; Long Shots, 7/0/$0; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Totals - 954/252/$1,610.60; Long Shots, 477/68/$694.20; Best Bets, 58/21/$91.80

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #8 Wisecracker (2/1) in race 3 at Keeneland. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, White Clover ran second at Keeneland paying $2.80 to place and $2.40 to show. Stats - 47/34/$219.10; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick