Racing! It’s showtime at Santa Anita

Hello, my name is John Cherwa and welcome back to our horse racing newsletter as we have returned after the newsletter went on holiday.

I’m back. Those of you who were hoping that Christmas would bring a different host for this newsletter are no doubt disappointed. So, to you, I wish you only the same kind thoughts you often send me although, in my case, without the profanity.

Anyway, for Southern California race fans, this is the biggest day of the year—the opening of Santa Anita. It will likely be the biggest crowd of the year. Last December, the opener did not go well, in part because of a lack of pari-mutuel tellers. No doubt most of that has been figured out, especially after the high-profile firings done by Santa Anita (and The Stronach Group) boss Tim Ritvo.

While we were away, Santa Anita named Steve Lym as its vice president of racing and racing secretary. (You can read about it here.) He comes here from Woodbine, up near Toronto. He starts after the beginning of the year. It’ll be a good test to watch what it is a racing secretary can do to improve the product. I don’t really know, but hopefully we’ll see some ideas that make a difference.

I did a story for the web and print of all the new things at Santa Anita, mostly through the eyes of new race caller Frank Mirahmadi. (You can read the story here.)

Also, Santa Anita decided to stay with the big program instead of the pocket-sized one. Ritvo even admitted there were more people who disliked it than liked it, but he’s sticking with it. He thinks it will help people make more betting decisions because of the past performances. You’ll also notice the program has the added designation of red, back or green for each of the horses involved in the new roulette bet, which we’ve written about. As I said, it’s either “exceedingly brilliant or incredibly stupid.” (It’s fun to quote yourself.)

Best of all, and I say this with tongue firmly planted in cheek, morning-line oddsmaker Jon White (and newsletter contributor extraordinaire) has to come up with a morning-line for each color.

It was great having a week off after 51 straight weeks of racing. Now we pay for it, with eight straight newsletters. But the racing should be good, especially on Wednesday.

As for Christmas, I broke my tradition of watching the 1938 version of “A Christmas Carol.” Instead, opted for the 2003 movie “Bad Santa.” (Explains a lot about newsletter, doesn’t it?) Also saw “Mary Poppins Returns.” Emily Blunt could not have played the role any more perfect. Looking forward to seeing “Vice”.

Now, with all that out of the way, let’s get on to previewing the big races on opening day. It’s a super early 11:30 a.m. post for the 10 races. I don’t often say this, but however good you think this card is, it’s even better. Half of the races are stakes, and four of them are Grades 1 or 2. The smallest field is eight. In other words, this card is loaded.

Let’s go through the stakes.

Lady of Shamrock Stakes (1:07 p.m.)

This is the lightweight in the bunch. It’s for 3-year-old fillies going a mile on the turf for $75,000. Amandine is the favorite, at 2-1, for trainer Jeff Mullins and jockey Drayden Van Dyke. She ships in from England, having run only one race over here, a 3 ¼ allowance win at Del Mar last out. Ms Bad Behavior is the 5-2 second choice for Richard Baltas and Joel Rosario, who joins the Santa Anita jockey colony from New York. She hasn’t won since March 10, but has three seconds, a third and a fourth since then.

Grade 1 La Brea Stakes (2:15 p.m.)

This is a $300,000 race for 3-year-old fillies going seven furlongs. All eyes are going to be on Dream Tree, undefeated in five races for Bob Baffert and Van Dyke has ridden her in four of those races. She was supposed to go in the Breeders’ Cup Fillies & Mares Sprint but pulled out because of an epiglottis entrapment. At 8-5, she has won one Grade 1 and two Grade 2s.

Second favorite, at 4-1, is shipper Happy Like a Fool, for Wesley Ward and John Velazquez. Happy Like a Fool is four of nine lifetime and is coming off an allowance win at Churchill. Spiced Perfection, a Cal-bred owned in part by our own Mike Tierney, is the 5-1 third choice.

Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile (2:50 p.m.)

This a $200,000 turf race for 3-year-olds. We’ll let you guess the distance. River Boyne, at 8-5, is the favorite for Mullins and Flavien Prat. He was second at 1 1/8 miles in the Hollywood Derby at Del Mar and won at 1 1/8 miles in the Twilight Derby in the previous race. Cutting back to a mile should help.

Gidu, another shipper, is the 4-1 second choice for Todd Pletcher and Velazquez. He last won on May 26 at Belmont but hasn’t been strong since then with a fourth being his best finish in five races.

Grade 2 San Antonio Stakes (3:25 p.m.)

It’s a 1 1/16-mile race for horses 3 and up running for $300,000. Battle of Midway, winner of the Breeders’ Cup Mile two years ago, is the 9-5 favorite for Jerry Hollendorfer and Prat. He has won his last two races including the Grade 3 Native Diver at Del Mar. He has won seven of 14 races, was retired but proved to be an insufficient stallion so he was returned to racing.

Dabster, for Baffert and Joe Talamo, is the second favorite at 5-2. He finished second by a neck to Battle of Midway in the Native Diver. He is five of 11 lifetime but lacks a graded stakes win.

Grade 1 Malibu Stakes (4 p.m.)

This is the feature of the day with an unbelievable field size of 14 with two also eligibles. It’s a seven-furlong race for 3-year-olds running for $300,000. The story is if McKinzie has returned to form after a terrible Breeders’ Cup Classic, where he finished 12^th. He’s four of six lifetime and his last two works have been bullets. He’s a very fair priced 7-2 for Baffert and Mike Smith.

Ax Man, also for Baffert with Van Dyke riding, is the 5-1 second choice. He has won three of six but hasn’t raced since July 14, where he had a disappointing third in the Los Alamitos Derby.

Here are the field sizes, in order: 9, 8, 9, 8, 11, 9, 11, 9, 14 (2 also eligible), 12.

Helen Watts, RIP

We’re a little late on this but we found out that big racing fan (and devoted newsletter reader) Helen Watts died on Dec. 3. She was 85. She and her late husband Bill never missed a day at Santa Anita until they retired to Del Mar in the early 1990s, where they never missed a day at the seaside track.

She no doubt spent a lot of time talking racing with her son-in-law, Ray Paulick, who heads the extremely popular racing website and email newsletter, the Paulick Report. And, like ours, it’s free. (Check it out here.)

“Helen never met a race she didn’t like,” Paulick said. “She could always find a reason to make a bet on any race. She and Bill went racing in England, Ireland, France and throughout the U.S. and this year at 85 she went to her first Kentucky Derby with a tour group. The seats were unprotected on the ground floor outside and she sat out in the rain most of the day. A real gamer.”

They had a celebration of her life on Dec. 17 at The Brigantine, which overlooks Del Mar. We figure if you went to Del Mar, you might have met her, so with that we celebrate a life well lived.

Bob Ike’s SA pick of the day

TENTH RACE: No. 4 Acker (5-2)

Coming off back-to-back victories, no reason this Peter Miller-trained gelding won't win again. He is four for 15 lifetime vs. mostly one-time winners, he likes the Santa Anita turf course, handles the nine furlong distance, and he just beat similar first-level allowance runners by four lengths when risked for the optional claiming tag at Del Mar. Close out the opening day card with a “single” in all multi-race bets.

Bob Ike is a Partner/VP of Horsebills.com (here's a video) and the proprietor of BobIkePicks.com (full-card picks, 3 Best Plays and betting strategy).

Final thought

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Any thoughts, you can reach me at [email protected]. You can also feed my ego by following me on Twitter @jcherwa

Now, the star of the show, Santa Anita’s big opening day entries.