Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita, Oct. 25

Post Time 1 p.m.
Race 1 – 1 mile, Purse $28,000, Optional claiming $32,000, 2-year-olds
6 Courageous Dave – Going 2-turns for the first time is always the unknown voyage; has been well bet and run well in two career starts for trainer Doug O’Neill.
2 Sugar Buzz – Has run twice and been claimed twice so that should tell you something; like that he runs protected today by trainer Dan Hendricks.
Long Shot – 4 Mishegas
Race 2 – 5 ½ furlongs, Purse $28,000, Maiden claiming $50,000, Cal-breds, Fillies, 2-year-olds
4 Tiz Pleasant – Been knocking on the door and now drops in class from $50K to $30K tonight; like that Rafael Bejarano remains loyal despite the low class level.
8 Manhattan Fashion – Emerald Downs shipper may look outclassed, but look again; exits an open MSW there and trainer Robert Gilker wins at 26 percent.
Long Shot – 2 Nine Point Nine
Race 3 – 6 furlongs, Purse $36,000, Claiming $40,000, 3-year-olds
2 Percy Fawcett – What are the odds of a daily double with two horse from Emerald Downs, could happen; this one exits Northwest stakes races for a $40K price tag.
3 Smack Talk – Tepid chalk in a fairly open affair; the last two turf races don’t mean much for today’s main track dirt try, has won twice on dirt already.
Long Shot – 5 Lambo Luxx
Race 4 – 7 furlongs, Purse $21,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, Fillies, 2-year-olds
4 Blessherheart – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; her last race was a pop and stop try, but her debut was not bad.
3 Bella Anatola – When the one’s with experience look like this, you need to eyeball the FTS extra hard; this FTS is from HOF trainer Bob Baffert, watch the tote board.
Long Shot – 2 Cordiality
Race 5 – 6 ½ furlongs (turf), $100,000 Senator Ken Maddy, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up
2 Velvet Mesquite – When you have won 5-of-9 races down the hillside turf course, that’s well earned respect; has good tactical speed to gain position too.
6 Baruta – Tepid chalk in clearly the hardest race on the card; smart to put it in race 5 so all key horizontal wagers today go thru this significant turf sprint.
Long Shot – 1 Chati’s On Top
Race 6 – 1 mile, Purse $16,000, Claiming $8,000, 3-year-olds and up
3 Planet Sunshine – Sliding down the claiming ladder to this new career low; figures to be grinding away in a race full of slowpokes, be along in time.
4 Cant Do the Danse – NoCal shipper is from the Jonathan Wong barn that wins at 34 percent, that’s nothing to sneeze at; chance to be dangerous lone early speed too.
Long Shot – 6 Dekko
Race 7 – 1 1/16th miles, Purse $53,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 3-year-olds and up
11 Chief of Staff – The main issue for this morning line favorite is overcoming a parking lot post; Rafael Bejarano has a way of carving out a good trip regardless.
6 China Girl Lover – Came back from a year hiatus with two straight wins; has put a hop into the step of jockey Alex Solis who hasn’t gotten a whole lot of live mounts.
Long Shot – 7 Got Even
Race 8 – 6 ½ furlongs (turf), Purse $53,000, Optional claiming $20,000, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds and up
11 Pay the Fine – Has shown a fondness for the hillside turf course already; now he draws the favorable parking lot post where Mario Gutierrez should get a dream trip.
7 Global Magician – Has run down the hill only once but didn’t fare too badly; should like the turnback in distance where Martin Garcia can sit a trip and fly home late.
Long Shot – 8 Pathway to Yes
Race 9 – 6 ½ furlongs, Purse $17,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up
6 Lucky Reality – Sliding down the maiden claiming ladder to this career low; his race two back, if repeated, would crush these so he does offer some value.
8 Cass in Stone – Claimed by trainer Doug O’Neill and spotted nicely in here; Rafael Bejarano has been burning my money up in these finales, so he better win some.
Long Shot – 14 Where’s Bubba
Best Bet - 3 Planet Sunshine (race 6)
Santa Anita Saturday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 18/4/$12.20; Long Shots, 9/3/$26.80; Best Bet, 1/0/$0
Santa Anita Totals - 303/67/$402.40; Long Shots, 153/34/$410.80; Best Bets, 16/4/$14.40
SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #11 Madison Blues (5/1) in race 9 at Belmont Park. For scoring purposes, we'll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Tiger Moth ran second at Keeneland paying $2.80 to place and $2.60 to show. Stats - 158/106/$813.90; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick