Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, March 21

Post Time 12:30 p.m.

Race 1 - 1 1/16th miles, Purse $32,000, Claiming $25,000, 4-year-olds and up

4 Thesheetsguy - Has shown solid improvement in two races off the claim by Doug O’Neill; note that Rafael Bejarano has been riding.

2 Gladding - When horses are claim proof, that is a real positive; it’s free roll of the dice off a long layoff.

Long Shot - 5 Carlot Cowboy

Race 2 - 7 furlongs, Purse $26,000, Claiming $20,000, 4-year-olds and up

7 Nextdoorneighbors - Peter Miller has found the fountain of youth with this one; has run great and keeps moving up the class ladder.

1 Memphis - Interesting trainer switch to Tim Yakteen; I like that fact that he gets reunited with hard riding Iggy Puglisi.

Long Shot - 2 Sacred Ovation

Race 3 - 1 mile, Purse $17,000, Claiming $8,000, 4-year-olds and up

6 Timeless Indy - Pretty mundane effort last time out; the key is his race two back, if repeated, is fast enough to beat these.

3 So Elite - Has done well over Golden Gate Tapeta surface; has a good dirt resume too in limited efforts.

Long Shot - 8 Relentless Heat

Race 4 - 1 mile (turf, rail at 8 feet), $75,000 Pasadena, 3-year-olds

2 Daddy D T - Did everything but win last time in a gutsy effort; should be able to sit a nice trip from an inside post.

1 Bench Warrant - Tepid chalk in a wide open affair; is 2-for-2 on grass and I like the fact he’ll save every inch of ground.

Long Shot - 7 Soul Driver

Race 5 - 6 furlongs, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

7 Explicable - Has run well in both career starts; Gary Mandella didn’t crank her up early, now showing steady improvement.

9 Exposure - FTS from the Bob Baffert barn; Baffert popped a FTS this week that was primed for a big race but not bet on the board.

Long Shot - 10 Vivacious Beauty

Race 6 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 8 feet), Purse $35,000, Maiden claiming $75,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

8 Vow Me Over -

12 Dragon Eyes - Cliff Sise has an uncoupled entry of two FTS; your edge is you’ll see the tote board action on the many FTS in here.

Long Shot - 3 Class Devine

Race 7 - 6 furlongs, Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

9 Crushed Velvet - Bob Baffert reserve has not been seen since last January; appears to be working well enough and is highly regarded.

2 Courageous - Has shown some moxie with recent hard fought efforts; tactical speed to sit a nice trip throughout.

Long Shot - 7 Imwiththeblonde

Race 8 - 1 1/2 miles (turf, rail at 8 feet), $200,000 San Luis Rey, 4-year-olds and up

8 Finnegans Wake - Huge edge facing a truly underwhelming field; has really come to hand under Peter Miller.

9 Ashleyluvssugar - Has shown good form in winning three of his last five starts; suspect the race here is for place.

Long Shot - 6 Joes Blazing Aaron

Race 9 - 7 furlongs, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, 3-year-olds

14 Captain Carchy - Is overdue to win one of these; Tyler Baze may need to be more aggressive early on in the race.

12 Bandido Too - Tyler Baze opted for Captain Carchy; Rafael Bejarano is an able sub under any circumstance.

Long Shot - 5 Spin Forty

Best Bet - 8 Finnegans Wake (race 8)

Santa Anita Friday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 16/5/$32.80; Long Shots, 8/1/$10.80; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Totals - 824/216/$1,387.00; Long Shots, 414/60/$599.00; Best Bets, 50/19/$85.40

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #3 No Act (7/5) in race 5 at Gulfstream Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, Rebecca’s Surprise won at Gulfstream Park paying $3.20 to win, $2.60 to place and $2.10 to show. Stats - 41/31/$206.10; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick