Horse Racing: Today at Santa Anita Park, March 30

TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK

By Richard Eng

Post Time 12:30 p.m.

Race 1 - 6 furlongs, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds

4 Ethnic Dance - Did a classic pop and stop in a 2-turn route; he cuts back in distance, a tactic I like a lot.

5 Bob Consultation - Really showed major improvement second time out; will need a repeat effort to beat these.

Long Shot - 1 Justamitch

Race 2 - 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 4-year-olds and up

1 Diamondsdiplomat - Claimed by John Sadler off a sharp win; is dropped in class from $50K to $40K, a red flag move for some.

4 Smokey Lonesome - This is the $40K class that he was claimed at Del Mar; class relief should give him a major boost.

Long Shot - 6 Odeon

Race 3 - 1 mile, Purse $16,000, Claiming $12,500, 4-year-olds and up

4 Lite That Baby Up - Takes a 50 percent drop in price tag; also returns to dirt where he ran well two races ago.

1 Only the Gold - Logical chalk should save all the ground under Garrett Gomez; he too is taking a large class drop.

Long Shot - 6 Keyboard Courage

Race 4 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $23,000, Maiden claiming $30,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

8 Chila Ali - Nearly won in last despite regressing in speed figure; her race two back, if repeated, would defeat these.

10 Circular Logic - Has high cheese to contest for the early lead; she has tired badly in each of her last two starts.

Long Shot - 13 Bluegrass Ellie

Race 5 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, 3-year-olds

7 Major Affair - Exits a key race where the winner, Governor Charlie easily won the Sunland Derby next out.

5 Colburn - Also exits the Governor Charlie key race; check the FTS to see if any come up hot on the tote board.

Long Shot - 3 Brother Pete

Race 6 - 6 1/2 furlongs, $200,000 Evening Jewel, Cal-breds, Fillies, 3-year-olds

2 Sweet Marini - Private purchase off a monstrous debut win; flattered when Blushing Angel won next time out.

5 Marks Mine - Speedball doesn’t know how to quit; like the turn back in distance where she may be most effective.

Long Shot - 9 Doinghardtimeagain

Race 7 - 1 1/8th miles (turf, rail at 15 feet), $40,000 March Madness Handicap, 4-year-olds and up

2 Tale of a Champion - Has underachieved since coming from Calder highly regarded; this is the softest spot yet for this 5-YO.

5 McAllister Boys - Claimed by Jerry Hollendorfer; chased turf wiz Bright Thought in last, hoping some of that rubs off.

Long Shot - 1 Ain

Race 8 - 6 1/2 furlongs, $200,000, Echo Eddie, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds

9 Omega Star - Was completely out of sorts in the San Felipe last time; he’s a lot better than that and can rebound in here.

3 Surfcup - Has won two straight and appears to be coming into himself; could be a pretty useful turf router.

Long Shot - 4 Could Be Trouble

Race 9 - 6 furlongs, Purse $16,000, Claiming $12,500, 4-year-olds and up

9 Banged His Eye - Did everything but win last time out; suspect Garrett Gomez will take back further and make one run.

3 The Director - Has not run since being pulled up 14-months ago; value with Kayla Stra up, and has been working lights out.

Long Shot - 6 Catquest

Best Bet - 9 Omega Star (race 8)

Santa Anita Park Friday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 15/2/$9.80; Long Shots, 7/2/$14.40; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Park Totals - 933/246/$1,598.30; Long Shots, 462/61/$686.00; Best Bets, 53/20/$81.60

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #1 Amira’s Prince (3/1) in race 10 at Fair Grounds. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, Seeker won at Aqueduct paying $4.00 to win, $2.80 to place and $2.60 to show. Stats - 51/36/$277.10; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick