Hammersly: Santa Anita pick three for Sunday, Dec. 28
Some deep, tough races in the middle of the card make races 4-6 attractive for a pick three play. The difficult races likely will add up to a hefty payout.
Michael HammerslyDec 26, 2014
Some deep, tough races in the middle of the card make races 4-6 attractive for a pick three play. The difficult races likely will add up to a hefty payout.
Dan Illman's pick four play for Gulfstream Park on Friday, Dec. 26, 2014.
A terrific slate of races on opposite coasts is anchored by a trio of Grade 3 events at Gulfstream Park as well as three stakes at Santa Anita, two of them also carrying Grade 3 rankings. Tampa Bay Downs also has a couple of nice ungraded stakes for 2-year-olds.
Horseplayers will have a smorgasbord of post-Christmas opportunities Friday, including opening day at Santa Anita, the resumption of racing at Aqueduct, and a solid card at Gulfstream Park.
Opening day at the Great Race Place can be dangerous to a bankroll. The temptation is to come out firing. Fields are big, and overlay opportunities abound. Well, maybe.
Santa Anita’s winter-spring meet has been luring top trainers and horses in North America, since the track opened on Christmas Day in 1934. This meet, which begins Friday, Dec. 26, boasts 39 graded stakes, including eight Grade 1 stakes. Let’s use DRF Formulator to see which trainers have excelled at the meet in recent history, which angles have been most profitable, and which ones have been ones to avoid.
A competitive opening leg gives appeal to the pick three comprising races 5-7. An added benefit may be a solid ‘A’ in Leg 2, the Grade 1 La Brea, with TARIS, and then a contentious Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile with the promising HEART TO HEART as a key.
Trip Notes for December 20: Los Alamitos Futurity by Michael Hammersly.
Sunday is closing day at Los Alamitos, and I'll look to tackle the late pick three.
For many circuits, Sunday is the last day of racing before Christmas week hits full swing. And that’s certainly true at Los Alamitos Race Course, where Sunday is closing day before Southern California racing takes a short break before Santa Anita opens Dec. 26.