Co-features tell tale of two trips

ARCADIA, Calif. – One had a bad trip and finished off the board last out, the other set the pace and ran away. They are key entrants in starter-allowance sprints Friday at Santa Anita, where one hopes for a different trip and the other hopes for the same.

Tough-luck Smiling Annie should be favored in the second race, a 5 1/2-furlong turf sprint for fillies and mares who have started for a $50,000 claiming price or less and have not won two races.

Runaway maiden winner Mucho Macho Woman is favored in the seventh race, a 6 1/2-furlong dirt sprint at the same condition. If she reproduces her most recent start, the race could be a formality.

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Beyond roles as favorites, Smiling Annie and Mucho Macho Woman share another advantageous quirk – each will run in a five-horse field. Small fields are predictable this winter at Santa Anita. Favorites have won 46 percent (18 of 39) of races with four- or five-horse fields, compared to a 38 percent win rate in races with six runners or more.

Mark Glatt trains Smiling Annie, a 5-year-old by Smiling Tiger produced by stakes winner Bootleg Annie. Smiling Annie is a sibling to graded stakes-winning turf miler Blackjackcat, but Smiling Annie’s specialty is sprints. So is finding trouble.

Smiling Annie has been repeatedly compromised by severe pace or traffic trouble, none more extreme than a California-bred allowance last out. Smiling Annie was shuffled at the three-eighths and badly blocked much of the stretch. She finished fifth by 2 1/2 lengths and never had a fair shot.

Flavien Prat takes over Friday on Smiling Annie, whose pressing style should play well in a field short on speed. Smiling Annie’s main rival is route-to-sprint Querelle, who figures as no less than second choice. Roses and Candy, Remember to Smile, and Hot On the Trail also are entered.

The seventh race Friday is easy, at least on paper. Mucho Macho Woman figures to clear the field from the outside post and race gate to wire. That assumes she reproduces her romping win last time out.

Ron Ellis trains Mucho Macho Woman, a 4-year-old Mucho Macho Man filly who returned Jan. 30 from a three-month layoff to win a $40,000 maiden-claiming sprint by more than nine lengths while being ridden out.

She has worked an easy half-mile since, and looks like the controlling speed under Jose Valdivia. Rivals include closer Jaccat, pace-presser Tamaraandtheboys, Tinsel Town Queen, and Samandah.