Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, Jan 17

Post Time 12:30 p.m.

Race 1 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $31,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds

4 Hot Lightning - Has paired seconds and is the logical chalk tonight; tactical speed to sit a perfect trip.

5 Royal Gambler - Got off a step slow in debut, but settled down and ran well for third; tough with even one step of improvement.

Long Shot - 6 Dr. Suer

Race 2 - 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $21,000, Claiming $12,500, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

2 Faith Proof - Has put together a terrific 4-race win streak; it’s not often any horse, much less a claimer, can stay in top form.

8 Rosewhitenblue - Second race off the claim by Mike Machowsky; gets class relief from her last start.

Long Shot - 6 Peppy Bolly

Race 3 - 1 1/8th miles, Purse $16,000, Claiming $12,500, 4-year-olds and up

2 Vavoom - This pick is for forgiving handicappers only; first race off the claim by Paulo Lobo was a stinker, hoping for a rebound.

3 Fonz - Rafael Bejarano is dangerous on anything that he rides; key for me is he’s stayed loyal to Mike Pender and this claimer.

Long Shot - 6 Warren’s Wesley

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

6 Silk in Silver - She won for this $8K class three races ago; returns to that level after two races facing a lot better.

7 Ghost N Your Heart - Sliding down the claiming ladder to this bottom rung; she won at this class a little over a year ago.

Long Shot - 5 Nothing to Hide

Race 5 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $60,000, Optional claiming $62,500, 4-year-olds and up

8 Pepnic - Like the parking lot post down the hillside turf course; figures to sit midpack and come running late.

2 Holy Lute - Tries turf for the first time; grass debut is down the tricky hillside course, but has a solid sprinter resume.

Long Shot - 4 U S Citizen

Race 6 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $31,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds

4 Tiz All That - Stepped up with a career best effort last time out; the question is if he can repeat or do one step better.

7 Top Estate - Should get a lot of value with the connections of Joe Steiner and Kory Owens; tough if he can improve in his second race.

Long Shot - 6 North Lake Tahoe

Race 7 - 1 mile (turf, rail at 15 feet), $75,000 Megahertz, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

3 Rusty Slipper - Graham Motion hires the top gun in SoCal, Rafael Bejarano; was thought of enough to run in the Breeders’ Cup F&M Turf.

4 Nashoba’s Gold - Logical chalk in an incredible difficult spot; been away since May, but this is not her final goal.

Long Shot - 1 Blingismything

Race 8 - 1 1/16th miles, $200,000 La Canada, Fillies, 4-year-olds

3 Lexie Lou - Ran her eyeballs out when second to California Chrome; is back with distaffers today and is the one to beat.

2 Sam’s Sister - Upset winner of the grade 1 La Brea last out; she has a dirt resume, that Lexie Lou does not have.

Long Shot - 4 Thegirlinthatsong

Race 9 - 1 mile (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, 4-year-olds and up

5 The Custodian - Been slow sledding for Doug O’Neill lately; he takes the blinkers off and stretches back out around 2-turns.

7 Fort Cady - Ran a career topper last time out; the key will be if he can repeat or even improve off that last effort.

Long Shot - 10 Itsgettinhotinhere

Best Bet - 2 Faith Proof (race 2)

Santa Anita Friday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 14/5/$23.00; Long Shots, 8/1/$6.60; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Totals - 226/61/$376.80; Long Shots, 114/14/$114.80; Best Bets, 14/6/$27.00

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #11 Pyrite Mountain (2/1) in race 7 at Gulfstream Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, Tarty to the Party ran third at Aqueduct paying $2.80 to show. Stats - 9/8/$34.40; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick