Bernier: Santa Anita pick five play for Saturday, Jan. 17
Saturday’s card at Santa Anita leaves something to be desired. I don’t love the stakes races carded on the back half, and the front side of the card isn’t terribly appealing. That being said, I will put together a few tickets using DRF TicketMaker and take a shot at the pick five.
RACE 1
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ROYAL GAMBLER (5) ran a solid race in his debut here at Santa Anita on opening day, and any sort of forward move puts this Caesar Dominguez trainee squarely in contention. PRICE OF GLORY (7) drops in for a tag after competing against state-bred maiden special weight company in all six of his lifetime starts. The turn-back from seven furlongs to 5 ½ should suit this son of Smoke Glacken well, and it’s nice to see Victor Espinoza take the mount.
A: 5,7
B: 3
C: 1,2
RACE 2
FAITH PROOF (2) lays over this field when it comes to Beyer Speed Figures, and it also doesn’t hurt that she has the ability to sit off a target or take the field gate-to-wire if allowed the lead. She’s strictly the horse to beat in this spot and looms as a logical single on many pick four and pick five tickets.
A: 2
B: NONE
C: 3,4
RACE 3
If you draw a line through the disastrous effort at Los Alamitos last time out, VAVOOM (2) is the logical choice in this field. Sporting three different Beyer Speed Figures of at least 70, this son of Grand Slam seems to fit in this field quite nicely. If he breaks cleanly expect Tiago Pereira to send from the gate and try to wire this field. The most intriguing “backup” for me is PUERTO WILLIAMS (7) who won his maiden last time out at Los Al in his 19th career start. Many times you will see horses repeat in their first try against winners, and it’s not as if this is the greatest field of all time.
A: 2
B: 7,9
C: 1
RACE 4
SILK IN SILVER (6) is no superstar, but she should be able to situate herself in a beautiful spot throughout. If she’s allowed an easy lead Bejarano can nurse her along and leave the field too much to do down the lane, and if GIANIS (1) gets bold stretching out from the rail, Silk and Silver can sit. She’s another logical runner in this sequence.
A: 6
B: 9
C: NONE
RACE 5
Both PEPNIC (8) and U S CITIZEN (4) share a recent common race – the sixth at Santa Anita on Dec. 28. In that spot, Pepnic got the jump on U S Citizen and was able to hang on late, while U S Citizen flew home. U S Citizen then came back to win his next start for Doug O’Neill going down the hill, getting his final fraction in 27.89 seconds. If things get hot on the front end for some reason, expect U S Citizen to be rolling late.
A: 4,8
B: 2
C: NONE
Total cost of an ALL A’s/ALL B’s ticket for $0.50 = $27
Total cost of all A’s with one C tickets for $0.50 = $20