Santa Anita Park Horse Racing Picks for Saturday 1/2/21
It's a great time to dive into horse racing, and FanDuel Racing gives you the chance to do just that.
Starting at 3:30 p.m. EST, we have 9 races at Santa Anita Park. Using numberFire’s projections as a guide, here are some of the best bets.
As always, check the program for scratches and changes, and check the weather and track conditions.
(I will reference Equibase's Speed Figure in selected races, which tells you how fast a horse has been running in each of its races -- adjusted for track, distances, and conditions..
Popular Kid, Race 2
FanDuel Racing Odds: 8/5
Race 2 is an Allowance race for older Cal-breds, and it's going 1 mile. The winner by numberFire’s projection is Tizhotndusty (9/2) in front of favorites Popular Kid (8/5) and Coalinga Road (9/5).
Popular Kid is an 11-time winner and is repeatedly proven at two turns. His missed the board in two recent races against open company and now drops back to state running for the optional $20,000 claiming price for trainer Peter Miller. Popular Kid has won this condition race four times, and Daily Horse Picks (DHP) makes Popular Kid their top pick. Guaranteed Tip Sheet has him as a best bet with leading jockey Flavien Prat riding.
Tizhotndusty stretches out to a mile with an even-paced running style. He’s rated top speed along with Popular Kid and Coalinga Road by DHP.
Count Again , Race 7
FanDuel Racing Odds: 2/1
Race 7 is the $200K Grade II San Gabriel Stakes for older horses going 1 1/8 miles on the turf. The race is dominated by EPO trainers, who are especially noteworthy in longer distance races.
Trainer Peter Miller has favorite Anothertwistafate (5/2) along with Multiplier (12/1). Phil D’Amato has Bowies Hero (6/1) with Flavien Prat riding along with top contender Count Again (2/1) with the meet's top jockey Juan Hernandez, who has eight wins. Then there is Richard Baltas with Next Shares (4/1) along with Bob and Jackie (4/1).
In the end, DHP projects Multiplier to pull the upset while numberFire’s algorithm picks Next Shares to outduel Court Again. Guaranteed Tip Sheet picks Count Again to win in his Santa Anita debut, and Horse Racing Radar notes that Count Again is the son of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Awesome Again. Count Again has won four of seven races on the turf, including the Grade II Seabiscuit Handicap five weeks ago. He came from way off the pace with a blistering finish to win impressively by 1 1/2 lengths in front of third-place finisher Next Shares and fourth place ‘Twistafate.
Life is Good, Race 8
FanDuel Racing Odds: 2/5
Race 8 is the Grade II $100K Sham Stakes at 1 mile. Just five 3-year-olds are entered, and four will earn Kentucky Derby qualifying points (10-4-2-1).
The top pick of numberFire is longshot Uncle Boogie (12/1) with Flavien Prat riding. Uncle Boogie is looking to upset heavy favorite Life is Good (2/5) with Mike Smith riding. Life is Good trainer Bob Baffert won this race last year with eventual Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.
Horse Racing Radar notes that Life is Good won his debut race by more than 9 lengths and posted the highest speed figure (106) for a California 2-year-old. He’s a son of Into Mischief and clearly the one to beat in his second start, but there's no value in betting.
Parnelli (5/2) hasn’t missed the board in four races, breaking his maiden impressively last out. He’s run two turns and had a narrow loss to subsequent Grade II winner Spielberg.
