Bernier: How I'll play Santa Anita for Sunday, Feb. 5

The Super Bowl Sunday card at Santa Anita Park is highlighted by the Grade 2 Las Virgenes for 3-year-old fillies, and the headliner in that race is the ultra-promising Unique Bella. She looms as a heavy favorite in that spot, even with the presence of 2-year-old champion Champagne Room. I'll try to throw one of them out in my plays, as well as look at the seventh race on Sunday's card.

RACE 6 - G2 LAS VIRGENES

UNIQUE BELLA (4) may in fact be a "freak." The way she dismantled a talented field in the Santa Ynez last month indicated that we may be dealing with an exceptional talent. Today she'll try two turns for the first time, and, likely, she'll pass this test with flying colors. Her main adversary is the champion CHAMPAGNE ROOM (2). There's really nothing to knock about Champagne Room, other than that she's a bit slow on paper and needs to run the race of her life to defeat Unique Bella. As a logical second choice, I'll try to catch her off the bench and toss her out. I've become a fan of MOPOTISM (1) over the past few months, and I believe she has a legitimate chance to round out the exacta here. She's only won outright on the lead at this point in her career; however, she doesn't appear to be a need-the-lead type when watching her run. At what will be a very nice price, I'll use Mopotism as my major key in the Las Virgenes.

THE PLAY

$5 WIN: (1) Mopotism

$10 EXACTA: (4) Unique Bella / (1) Mopotism

$5 EXACTA: (1) Mopotism / (4) Unique Bella

RACE 7
HAYABUSA ONE (1) looks like a legit stakes-caliber turf router, and based on what we saw in yesterday's San Marcos, the division is ripe for picking in Southern California. He gets his 4-year-old campaign started here for Graham Motion, and he'll be my key in exactas. PROSPECT PARK (5) has been searching for his home recently, and, likely, the turf is where he belongs. The argument can be made that the best race of his career came in the La Jolla at Del Mar in August 2015, and his return to the weeds could mark his return to the winner's circle. His tactical speed makes him very dangerous in a spot like this. SOME IN TIEME (4) scratched from yesterday's San Marcos to run in this spot; whether that was a smart move or not remains to be seen. This Paulo Lobo trainee makes his North American debut today, and he'll receive Lasix for the first time. He would have been considered a fringe contender without Lasix based on his prior TimeformUS ratings; if the Lasix moves him up, he's a true threat here.

THE PLAY

$10 EXACTA: (1) Hayabusa One / (4) Some in Tieme, (5) Prospect Park

$5 EXACTA: (4) Some in Tieme, (5) Prospect Park / (1) Hayabusa One

$2 EXACTA BOX: (4) Some in Tieme, (5) Prospect Park