Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, Dec. 26
December 26, 2012 - 2:02 am
TODAY AT SANTA ANITA
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