HORSE RACING TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK

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HORSE RACING

By RICHARD ENG
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
TODAY AT SANTA ANITA PARK

By Richard Eng

Post Time 1 p.m.

Race 1 - 1 1/16th miles, Purse $14,000, Claiming $12,500, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Joint Agreement - We know she likes the Santa Anita surface; key is her lack of distance experience, bred for it though.

Lucy Got Lucky - Tepid favorite in a wide open affair; beaten chalk ran big two races ago breaking her maiden.

Long Shot - Lacey Leilah

Race 2 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $15,000, Maiden claiming $25,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Kahlua Mist - Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; second start off a 3-month hiatus.

Lyrical Goddess - FTS in a race where the ones with experience all have question marks; Cliff Sise babies are firing.

Long Shot - Chobe Chika

Race 3 - 6 1/2 furlongs, Purse $46,000, Allowance, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Wynning Ride - Classy filly has been away 8-months since her Alabama debacle; soft spot for her 2010 return.

Stevie's Afleet - Expect Victor Espinoza to try and stick it to Bob Baffert whenever he can; favorite to his inside.

Long Shot - Music Magic

Race 4 - 1 mile (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $32,000, Claiming $32,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Dash Dot Dash - Winless on turf, but not for a lack of trying; tactical speed to sit a perfect trip.

Warren's Appeal - Tepid chalk has finished 8-for-12 in the money on grass; runs for the lowest price tag of her life.

Long Shot - Living Our Dream

Race 5 - 5 1/2 furlongs, Purse $25,000, Claiming $25,000, 3-year-olds

Toro Trippi - Was overmatched in an allowance, this $25K claimer will be with his friends; speed to attend the early pace.

Arkham Asylum - Dead late closer will sit in arrears and make one run; like the turn back in distance from a turf mile.

Long Shot - Driveliketiger

Race 6 - 1 mile (turf, rail at 15 feet), Purse $20,000, Starter allowance $16,000, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Lilly Fa Pootz - Biggest obstacle was drawing in off the also eligible list; expect Rafael Bejarano to make one run.

Sindyfromsantacruz - Just missed in last in a good try; ground saving rail trip, tactical speed to hold her position.

Long Shot - Stanford Dolly

Race 7 - 1 1/16th miles, $55,000 Santa Lucia Handicap, Fillies and mares, 4-year-olds and up

Made for Magic - Wheeled back in 2-weeks off a crushing victory; ground saving trip, she is in rare form for this.

Third Dawn - Returns off a 7-month hiatus; beware John Sadler has an uncoupled entry, prep for the Hollywood meet.

Long Shot - Pretty Katherine

Race 8 - 5 furlongs, Purse $18,000, Maiden claiming $32,000, Fillies, 3-year-olds

Movie Duty - Speedball tactics in a likely no passing zone field; Rafael Bejarano plays catch me if you can.

Ghost Shadow - Taking the biggest class drop in racing from MSW to maiden claiming; best stride will come late.

Long Shot - Misty Miss Joanna

Best Bet - Wynning Ride (race 3)

Santa Anita Thursday - Picks/Winners/Mutuels, 16/2/$9.80; Long Shots, 8/0/$0; Best Bet, 1/0/$0

Santa Anita Totals - 1,236/310/$2,042.20; Long Shots, 609/100/$1,017.00; Best Bets, 74/27/$144.20

SIMULCAST PICK OF THE DAY - #5 Distant Strike (9/5) in race 7 at Aqueduct. For scoring purposes, we'll make a hypothetical $2 win, place and show bet, $6 total. On Thursday, Persistently ran second at Aqueduct paying $2.20 to place and $2.10 to show. Stats - 73/53/$411.30

 

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RICHARD ENG: Charles Town Classic turns spotlight toward worthy older horses

RICHARD ENG: Charles Town Classic turns spotlight toward worthy older horses

RICHARD ENG: Charles Town Classic turns spotlight toward worthy older horses
Isn't it ironic that older handicap horses run for a lot less purse money than the 3-year-old colts and geldings? These star horses that exemplify class, talent and durability are not rewarded on a par with their Triple Crown brethren.

If you don't think it's true, look at a spring sampling of purse differentials between a track's marquee handicap race versus its 3-year-old counterpart: Gulfstream Park's $500,000 Donn and $750,000 Florida Derby, Oaklawn Park's $500,000 Oaklawn Handicap and $1 million Arkansas Derby, Belmont Park's $600,000 Met Mile and $1 million Belmont Stakes, Churchill Downs' $600,000 Stephen Foster and $2 million Kentucky Derby. And Pimlico no longer offers the Pimlico Special, having only the $1 million Preakness.

That's what makes Saturday's $1 million Charles Town Classic a real throwback race. The West Virginia track with purses subsidized by mountains of slot-machine profits does not offer a Kentucky Derby prep. It put its gold eggs into a feature race for older horses.

I became interested in racing while following the lengthy careers of the great geldings Kelso, Forego and John Henry. There seemed to be more geldings then because the sport was racing first, breeding second. Remember that the mantra of racing is to improve the breed. One can only do that by measuring performance on the racetrack.

I will enjoy seeing older geldings such as Awesome Gem and Researcher facing off in the Charles Town Classic. Awesome Gem is a 7-year-old who has earned more than $1.7 million. He has done it the hard way too because he has won only six races lifetime.

Researcher is definitely a horse for the course. In 13 starts at Charles Town, he has won nine and has three seconds. The most intriguing horse in the race is Gone Astray, who is owned by Ogden Phipps and trained by Shug McGaughey. When was the last time a Phipps horse ran at Charles Town?

■ DERBY PREPS -- It would be easy to dismiss Saturday's long-shot winners of the Arkansas Derby and Toyota Blue Grass.

Line of David beat Super Saver and Dublin in a head-butting rumble at Oaklawn. It was the type of finish that could take a lot out of those horses.

The same can't be said for Stately Victor at Keeneland. He was the only horse running at the end. His Beyer speed figure was a modest 94 rating. But Derby horses improve dramatically in the spring, so keep an eye on this one.