Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, February 1

Race 1 – 1 mile, Purse $17,000, Claiming $8,000, 4-year-olds and up

3 Qatar’s Pearl – Sliding down the claiming ladder to this new low level; switch to Kent Desormeaux for the money shot.

7 Tama County – Dead late closer will sit in arrears and make a half-mile rally; won for this class two back at Los Alamitos.

Long Shot – 6 Unmatched Force

Race 2 – 6 furlongs, Purse $60,000, Optional claiming $62,500, 4-year-olds and up

6 Seeking the Sherif – Ron Ellis is putting him where he can win, despite exiting a pair of graded stakes; was 43/1 in the BC Sprint.

1 Athens – Game win last time and now gets boosted up in class; will save all the ground inside for underrated Flavien Prat.

Long Shot – 3 Diamond Bachelor

Race 3 – 1 mile (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $60,000, Optional claiming $62,500, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

7 Gender Agenda – Gets class relief from two graded stakes for this; Joe Talamo socked home four wins on the Saturday card.

6 Hijra – Was a stride late in last under Rafael Bejarano; she has more tactical speed than that and Bejarano is a master of pace.

Long Shot – 3 Aguafria

Race 4 – 6 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 4-year-olds and up

7 Cinematic Cat – Been away since last June, but showed some ability then; returns with a lowly $20K price tag, these are his friends.

5 Warren’s Sunny Boy – Flavien Prat has another live mount on today’s Super Bowl card; hope you’re live with a Pick 6 carryover of $95K.

Long Shot – 6 Win Wish

Race 5 – 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies, 3-year-olds

13 Awesome Diamond – Like the parking lot post down the hillside turf course; figures to draw in off the also eligible list.

9 Curlin’s Fox – In a race this wide open, a FTS with pedigree credentials is worth a flyer; Carla Gaines turns to HOF Mike Smith.

Long Shot – 11 Screaming Skylar

Race 6 – 7 furlongs, $200,000 San Vicente, 3-year-olds

1 Lord Nelson – Lost all chance in the Kentucky Jockey Club at the start; has speed which is always a weapon in a Bob Baffert charge.

4 Texas Red – This begins his road to the Kentucky Derby; his target races are 2-turn stakes, expect a public workout and a strong finish.

Long Shot – 2 Serbian Syclone

Race 7 – 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 8 feet), $40,000 Super Bowl Party Handicap, 4-year-olds and up

3 Press Baron – Has a strong turf resume, but no wins here at Santa Anita; distinct possibility he will get way overbet.

11 Persuasive Paul – Takes a big class dropto face a lot easier; his three prior races, if repeated gives him a puncher’s chance tonight.

Long Shot – 10 Buymeabond

Race 8 – 6 furlongs, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

2 Froggy Fresh – With Tyler Baze on a 3-day suspension, Fernando Perez takes over; how Alert Bay did not get DQ’d remains a mystery.

12 Dixie Dame – Woke up with a huge second in last at 27/1 odds; won’t be that price today, but must equal, or exceed, her last race.

Long Shot – 6 Just Bookin

Best Bet – 7 Gender Agenda (race 3)

Santa Anita Saturday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 17/2/$8.40; Long Shots, 9/1/$13.00; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Totals – 379/100/$657.80; Long Shots, 191/28/$279.40; Best Bets, 23/9/$40.80

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY – #7 March Reward (7/2) in race 9 at Gulfstream Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Carolina Jasmine ran second at Fair Grounds paying $2.40 to place and $2.20 to show. Stats – 18/14/$81.10; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick