Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, February 16

Post Time 12:30 p.m.

Race 1 - 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $23,000, Claiming $16,000, 4-year-olds and up

7 Nextdoorneighbor - Sharp win off the claim and now is double jumped up in class; he is a veteran horse that likes to win races.

4 Sacred Ovation - Chance to be lone early speed, the most dangerous play in horse racing; was overmatched for $32K last time out.

Long Shot - 2 Hope ‘n Pray

Race 2 - 1 mile, Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $20,000, Cal-breds, 4-year-olds and up

4 Valley Cat - Could be a chalky early daily double if these horses run to form; Joel Rosario makes a rare visit home to California.

6 Luckbox Sam - Returns to a dirt surface that has served him better than grass; tactical speed to sit a nice trip throughout.

Long Shot - 3 Memphis

Race 3 - 1 mile, Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

2 Interject - Now we’re talking about a chalky start to the Pick 5; Rafael Bejarano has been riding in great form this winter.

3 Fascinating - Martin Garcia takes over for HOF Mike Smith who is riding at Oaklawn Park in the Southwest; good tactical speed here.

Long Shot - 1 Mum’s Truckee

Race 4 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 4-year-olds and up

5 Antinanco - Sliding down the maiden claiming ladder to this bottom rung; has not been seen since last June also at Santa Anita.

8 Practical - Another taking a big class drop to face the slowest group of his life; he’s been away since April, watch the tote board.

Long Shot - 9 El Monterey

Race 5 - 1 1/8th miles (turf), Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $20,000, Cal-breds, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

3 Tangelo - She has made all six career starts on grass; prefers to sit midpack and kick it in turning for home.

5 Winninginfashion - Her one turf race at Santa Anita was a corker last October; it was by far the best race of her career.

Long Shot - 4 Frandontjudge

Race 6 - 6 furlongs, Purse $16,000, Claiming $12,500, 4-year-olds and up

9 Hidden Zensation - This card seems full of class droppers; the angle is they are facing an easier task, but are overbet in price.

4 Lolo El Canonero - Claimed by Vann Belvoir who has been very quiet of late; we know he does good work and this horse has back class.

Long Shot - 10 Matzoh Ball Magic

Race 7 - 1 mile (turf), $200,000 Buena Vista, 4-year-olds and up

1 La Tia - This is the reason Joel Rosario came out to SoCal today; with her speed and class, she could be in for a very big season.

6 Annecdote - When she won her U.S. debut, she looked like a potential champion; been given time off and could redeem herself.

Long Shot - 3 Diversy Harbor

Race 8 - 6 furlongs, Purse $30,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

1 Peaches n’ Brandy - Has yet to run a bad race in three career starts; claimed by Dean Pederson, she is hiked up in class tonight.

11 Kiss At Midnight - Sharp maiden claiming win and was no secret at 9/5 odds; she is protected today which is something I like to see.

Long Shot - 4 Seek Safe Harbor

Race 9 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, 4-year-olds and up

11 Odin - Like the jockey switch to HOF Kent Desormeaux for the money shot; parking lot post is fine down the hillside turf course.

4 Hazardous Dreams - Rafael Bejarano may sneak up on us with a couple higher priced winners; he rode this colt well down at Del Mar.

Long Shot - 9 The Custodian

Best Bet - 1 La Tia (race 7)

Santa Anita Sunday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 16/5/$25.00; Long Shots, 9/0/$0; Best Bet, 1/1/$4.00

Santa Anita Totals - 524/140/$898.60; Long Shots, 265/37/$355.00; Best Bets, 32/13/$60.20

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #2 Rovavevi (9/5) in race 10 at Gulfstream Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Sunday, Killer Partner ran second at Gulfstream Park paying $3.00 to place and $2.40 to show. Stats - 26/20/$124.50; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick