A 4-day holiday racing week kicks off Friday at Santa Anita with a $60,494 pick 6 carryover at The Great Race Place. The Memorial Day weekend opening card also features a $12,381 Sunset 6 carryover in conjunction with sister track Gulfstream Park. And horseplayers at Xpressbet and 1/ST BET can take part in a $2,000 Late Pick 4 Hit & Split Promotion on the final 4 races each day through Memorial Day Monday.
Let’s get to work on Friday’s Santa Anita pick 6 races.
Race 4: maiden
We’re poised with a single-or-spread situation right off the bat as 6 maidens match up over a mile on dirt. #5 Decisive Win debuted fourth in a highly productive race in which winner Crude Velocity has gone on to be a Grade 2 Pat Day Mile winner and runner-up / Doug O’Neill stablemate Civil Liberty (who was last year’s Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity third-place finisher) came back to easily win next out at Keeneland. If Decisive Win handles 2 turns as he’s bred to do, he should graduate. None of the other 5, despite hailing from power barns like Baffert, Glatt, McCarthy and Yakteen offer much appeal to date nor much separation from one another. Single is the right play.
Race 5: starter allowance
Eight turf sprinters (plus 1 also-eligible) go 6 furlongs as morning line favorite #1 Money Makes Money hits a second-off-the-layoff spot in his form cycle that’s been good to him in the past. He doesn’t need a move forward off his April 30 return try for Mark Glatt, just to avoid a bounce. You could arguably single but I’m giving #5 News At Ten a big chance in his first start in 11 months. He should be highly sharpened for the return sprint and a threat from the opening bell under Emisael Jaramillo. Trainer Peter Eurton’s barn has been on point in May at SA with 4 wins and 6 seconds from 15 starters this month. I’ll focus on this pair, but in the event of scratches #9 Liam Smith would be a major consideration from the also-eligible list.
Race 6: claiming
The $12,500-level dash at 5-1/2 furlongs on dirt is laced with early speed. #5 Outrageous, who has won back-to-back starts, can sit a patient and perfect trip here if she’s as good as she was when she left. She appears to have missed 2 workouts in late April, resulting in her absence since mid-March. I get the feeling of not wanting to single Marcia Stortz in a pick 6, a trainer with 3 wins all year, but 2 of them came with this mare. #2 Miz Clubcall would be the other option to punch home late and she’s better on dirt like this than the turf races that have soiled her form. Difficult for me to see 1 of the (at least) 4 early pace burners turning them all away. Don’t forget the $2,000 Late Pick 4 Hit & Split promo with 1/ST BET and Xpressbet begins here.
Race 7: allowance / optional claiming
#6 Mythical Reel and #7 Crazy Cavalier are the pair I ended up with after considering #4 Catch the Breeze and #5 Poor Connection as well. Some fashion of current form and projection for the 1-1/4 miles turf trip whittled in down for me in the end. #6 Mythical Reel exits a promising third-place return bid over a tough 9F trip for the layoff and note this one showed significant improvement off a similar form cycle to start 2025. His runner-up last out, City Exile, came back here May 16 to win a similar allowance as the 3-2 chalk. #7 Crazy Cavalier has been effective from 6 furlongs to 1-1/4 miles like this and was simply overmatched when placed above his head last out. He won a similar turf mile 2 starts back in terms of class and is eligible here because Doug O’Neill put him in for the $50,000 optional claiming tag.
Race 8: claiming
A trio of logical contenders are difficult to separate: #6 Makenarita, #8 Bear’s Board and #9 A Fleet Ride. This cast of non-winners of 2 lifetime claimers at the $10,000 level will be tested over a mile on dirt. #9 A Fleet Ride won a Cal-bred maiden special weight that stacks up very favorably to the other winners in this race. She should be in the mix from the opening bell and has proven in recent starts to fit at this class and level. #8 Bear’s Board is most interesting among the quartet of 3-year-olds taking on elders in this cast of 10 and her $32,000 maiden claiming score is among the best wins on paper in the lineup. She gets a 6-pound weight break taking on elders. #6 Makenarita goes for a George Papaprodromou barn that last week posted a sharp 9: 3-2-0 mark in local starts. Filly has made positive strides in recent starts after a long string of uninspired initial efforts.
Race 9: maiden
Another 8-runner max turf sprint wraps the action and includes a trio of also-eligibles. Trainer Mike Puype’s barn went 3-for-3 last week and that’s got me honed-in on rookie #7 Helping Hand as a live longshot (12-1 ML). Puype also has rookie #10 Miss Hellfire on the AE list to consider if she were to draw into the mix. Experienced runners #3 Sacred Sound and #6 Zip Me Up both return from August layoffs but showed some ability at Del Mar last summer for Peter Miller and Carla Gaines, respectively. They are 4-year-olds lined up against a bevy of shorter-priced sophomores on the morning line that have failed several times at short prices. I’ll try to avoid those types and find something juicier.
The Ticket
5 with 1,5 with 5,2 with 6,7 with 9,8,6 with 7,6,3 = $144 for $2 play
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