Bernier: How I'll play Santa Anita on Saturday, Jan. 20

Here's a look at the late pick four at Santa Anita on Saturday.

RACE 6

Forward positioning has been important in routes on the main track recently, and WINSINFASHION (7) projects to be toward the front from the moment the gates open, if not outright on the lead. The outside post allows Joe Talamo to play the break and determine if he's best suited being aggressive and going toward the lead or sitting off a target. TINABUD (6) responded nicely to the stretch-out in distance most recently, winning her maiden over a good/sealed racetrack at Fair Grounds in New Orleans. Horses who excel over a wet track are always tricky to analyze, but she doesn’t face a group of monsters and could work out a nice trip.

RACE 7 – LAS CIENEGAS

The Las Cienegas features several talented fillies and mares, but I’m not sure all of them will appreciate going down the hillside turf course at Santa Anita. BEAU RECALL (9) may be the best horse in the race, but she’s likely to be completely outrun early, and I still think she’s best going longer distances. Conversely, ANITA PARTNER (6) relishes the hillside turf, compiling a record of 5-2-1-2 going 6 1/2 furlongs at Santa Anita. She has an adaptable running style and should be primed for a strong effort. There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of pace signed on, and that makes CONIAH (1) very dangerous; her two prior starts downhill were strong, and a soft lead early could make her tough to run down.

RACE 8

I’m looking to use three of the inside runners: GOSOFAR (2), JAY MAKES US LAUGH (3), and ROCKY’S SHOW (4). Rocky’s Show could be the speed of the speed, and that alone makes him dangerous traveling 5 1/2 furlongs. If he has an issue seeing out the distance, Jay Makes Us Laugh could take up the running and inherit the lead turning for home. If these two runners hook up and throw it down early, things could fall into the lap of Gosofar on the turnback in distance.

RACE 9

CONQUEST TSUNAMI (6) has tremendous early speed and could be loose on the front end in the nightcap; the downhill turf course isn’t the easiest for horses to handle, but if he takes to it, he could be gone. HORSE GREEDY (2) is an interesting value play while making his second start off the bench, and it’s worth noting that his lone turf sprint resulted in a narrow second-place finish going five furlongs at Del Mar. RONALD R (8) makes his North American debut for Simon Callaghan, and while our clockers don’t love what they’ve seen from him in the mornings, it should be noted that he’s fired fresh in each of his starts off any sort of layoff.

$0.50 P4 – 6,7 / 1,6 / 2,3,4 / 2,6,8 = $18