Today at Santa Anita Park: June 1, 2014

TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK by Richard Eng

Post Time 1 p.m.

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

4 American Pride - Chalky start to the day with Bob Baffert; this is one of his cheaper colts, only cost $180K.

6 Rusty Road - FTS from the Richard Mandella barn; sign of acceptance is he’s starting to use the talented bugboy Drayden Van Dyke.

Long Shot - 3 Steep N Deep

Race 2 - 1 1/16th miles, Purse $19,000, Claiming $10,000, 3-year-olds and up

5 Coo Cachoo - Steady improvement culminated in a nice win last out; the key with cheaper horses, is can they repeat the good effort.

1 Dr Williams - Will be able to save every inch of ground from the rail; claimed by George Lopez who is an underrated trainer.

Long Shot - 4 Tuckers Point

Race 3 - 6 furlongs, Purse $32,000, Claiming $25,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

4 L T Reckless - Interesting claim by Robertino Diodoro off a sharp win; has back class speed numbers to repeat that race.

5 Sensational Nikki - Big class relief from a stakes race for this; the key is she’s been away 9-months, may be trying to steal one.

Long Shot - 6 Time for Angie

Race 4 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

1 Wasted at Midnight - Interesting name for those who like to carouse; has improved a lot since joining the Richard Mandella barn.

3 Little Miss S - FTS from HOF trainer Bob Baffert; this one is a bargain price at $95K, watch the tote board for additional clues.

Long Shot - 4 Southern Sunshine

Race 5 - 6 1/2 furlongs (turf), $75,000 Siren Lure, 3-year-olds and up

6 Chips All In - Has shown good success going down the hillside turf course; drew a favorable parking lot post for the question mark turn.

3 Pure Tactics - Doug O’Neill barn has been extremely hot; Mike Smith takes over for Rafael Bejarano who remains out for a month or so.

Long Shot - 2 Rosengold

Race 6 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $30,000, Starter allowance $40,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

8 Fly to Freedom - Returned from a 18-month hiatus like a bat out of hell; suspect she can handle facing winners for the first time.

5 More Stormyweather - Ran a career topper in last and still didn’t win; a repeat gives her a puncher’s chance with these.

Long Shot - 1 Pearl de Vere

Race 7 - 1 mile (turf), Purse $56,000, Maiden special weights, 3-year-olds and up

5 Wicked Finance - Has never been favored in 7 career starts, and won’t be today; will sit a trip and try to mow them down late.

9 A Red Tie Day - Tries turf for the first time; Ron Ellis is trying to find his hole card, long, short, dirt, synthetics, now grass.

Long Shot - 4 Sunny Kat

Race 8 - 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $58,000, Optional claiming $40,000, 3-year-olds and up

3 Chasintheaces - Came off a 14-month hiatus with a monster MSW win; facing winners for the first time, figures to be grossly overbet.

2 Peacenik - Has won 2 straight since being claimed by Bill Spawr; when he gets them good, they stay good for a while.

Long Shot - 5 Raised a Secret

Race 9 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $19,000, Maiden claiming $20,000, 3-year-olds and up

7 Super Reagan - Must be a Republican horse owner; ran evenly in debut, now taking the biggest class drop in racing.

3 Real Deal Appeal - Been away a year, but respect the tandem of Paul Aguirre and Iggy Puglisi; the tote board will tell you a lot.

Long Shot - 2 Aftermarketslam

Best Bet - 4 American Pride (race 1)

Santa Anita Park Saturday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 17/5/$61.00; Long Shots, 8/4/$37.00; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Park Totals - 362/100/$698.20; Long Shots, 175/23/$224.80; Best Bets, 20/5/$16.40

SIMULCAST PLAY OF THE DAY - #2 Thirteen Arrows (2/1) in race 3 at Belmont Park. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Saturday, Mah Jong Maddnes won at Belmont Park paying $13.20 to win, $3.90 to place and $3.00 to show. Stats - 86/51/$498.70; Follow him on Twitter: @richeng4propick