HORSE RACING

By Richard Eng

Post Time 12:30 p.m.

Race 1 – 6½ furlongs, Purse $26,000, Starter allowance $40,000, 2-year-olds

1 Dancing At Dark – Sharp maiden claiming winner as the heavy favorite; first race against winners is not a daunting task.

2 Memo to Kathy – Another daylight winner in her maiden claiming graduation; tactical speed to sit a perfect trip.

Long Shot – 3 Future Readings

Race 2 – 6½ furlongs, Purse $13,000, Maiden claiming $25,000, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

4 Elegant – Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; need not be much to handle these slowpokes.

1 Miss Picaboo – Huge rider switch to Joel Rosario for the money shot; sliding down the maiden claiming ladder to this career-low level.

Long Shot – 8 Marquisite

Race 3 – 1 1/16th miles (turf), Purse $48,000, Allowance, 3-year-olds and up

4 Fluke – Proven to be an unlucky sort with various close calls in rich races; tactical speed to sit a perfect trip.

1 No Inflation – Ran evenly in her long awaited return to SoCal; biggest edge is saving ground throughout for Joel Rosario.

Long Shot – 5 Jeranimo

Race 4 – 6½ furlongs, Purse $15,000, Maiden claiming $32,000, Fillies, 2-year-olds

8 Hot Ticket – Big improvement in last to snatch second late; appeared to respond to first time with blinkers on.

4 McDuffie – Barn is doing well with limited starters; taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming.

Long Shot – 7 She’sawontontomato

Race 5 – 6 furlongs (turf), Purse $29,000, Claiming $40,000, 3-year-olds and up

5 Dapper Gene – Claimed by Hector Palma after a gutsy nose win; adding blinkers on, key is keeping Rafael Bejarano to ride.

4 Position A – Did everything but win last time in a frustrating finish; logical chalk is clearly the one to beat in here.

Long Shot – 2 Maui Mark

Race 6 – 6 furlongs, Purse $38,000, Maiden special weights, Fillies, 2-year-olds

8 River’s Mambo – Beaten favorite in last as a filly facing males; she returns to her own kind and reunited with P Val.

2 Lunch Time Diva – Did everything but win last time in a tough beat; comes back with a bullet work and redemption in mind.

Long Shot – 5 Born Flirt

Race 7 – 1 mile (turf), $100,000 Generous, 2-year-olds

8 Comma to the Top – Speedball has ripped off 3 straight wins over synthetics; tries turf for the first time, the one to catch.

9 Divine Child – Interesting bomb tries turf for the first time; ran better than looked passing tired horses in the lane in last.

Long Shot – 3 Moment of Weakness

Race 8 – 6½ furlongs, Purse $40,000, Optional claiming $25,000, Cal-breds, 3-year-olds and up

4 Red Defense – Has won both career starts, showing a grittiness that should serve him well; well placed to win through his conditions.

5 Italian Rules – Expect P Val to be on the engine with this one; could pop the gate and play catch me if you can.

Long Shot – 3 Runaway Bandido

Race 9 – 1 1/16th miles (turf), $250,000 Citation Handicap, 3-year-olds and up

8 Court Vision – Has not skipped any dances with at least 12 straight grade 1 starts; hard tryer had no shot in the BC Turf Mile.

7 Proudinsky – Worth rooting for Humberto Ascanio, Bobby Frankel’s long-time assistant; talented 7-YO coming off the bench.

Long Shot – 1 Victor’s Cry

Race 10 – 6½ furlongs, Purse $12,000, Claiming $12,500, Fillies and mares, 3-year-olds and up

10 Lost Prophet – Leap of faith in Mike Mitchell to get the job done; class dropper has never faced an easier task than this.

6 Space Age Lovesong – Reuntied with Matt Chew who guided him to his best races; has a ton of back class facing these slowpokes.

Long Shot – 3 Warren’s Moon

Best Bet – 8 Comma to the Top (race 7)

Hollywood Park Friday – Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 20/9/$63.20; Long Shots, 10/1/$7.60; Best Bet, 1/1/$3.00

Hollywood Park Totals – 232/69/$388.80; Long Shots, 114/20/$188.20; Best Bets, 14/4/$14.20

SIMULCAST PICK OF THE DAY – 2 Soaring Empire (20/1) in race 9 at Aqueduct. For scoring purposes, we’ll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Friday, Brahman ran out at Aqueduct. Stats – 195/140/$1,072.00