Huge pick six on Thunder Road card

ARCADIA, Calif. - A two-day pick-six carryover of $751,394 will overshadow the $75,000 as the focus of Wednesday's program at Santa Anita.

Wednesday's card will be the 11th in the first 31 racing days of the winter-spring meeting to include a carryover, and the second card with a two-day carryover.

The pick six covers the third through eighth races - a $25,000 claimer for 3-year-old fillies at a mile, a starter allowance at 1 1/4 miles on turf, a maiden claimer for statebreds at six furlongs, a sprint for $28,000 to $32,000 claimers, the Thunder Road Handicap, and a maiden claimer for sprinters.

The Thunder Road, at a mile on turf, drew 11 entrants. Terroplane will be favored, but several others are capable of winning.

Tedo won a division of the Sir Beaufort Stakes on Dec. 26 and has drawn the rail in the Thunder Road. Toasted, the 120-pound highweight, finished third in the San Gabriel Handicap on Jan. 1. Senor Swinger, unraced since October, has won four turf stakes in the last two years. Minister Eric, who battled illness last year, makes his first start since winning the San Fernando Breeders' Cup Stakes in January 2005.

Terroplane rallied impressively to win an allowance race at a mile on turf on Jan. 20. He made up 5 1/4 lengths in the final quarter-mile to catch Uncle Denny, another starter in the Thunder Road.

Tedo, a stalker, has drawn the rail. Tedo started from the outside in a field of 10 under Corey Nakatani when he won the Sir Beaufort by a head.

"He's training phenomenal," trainer Doug O'Neill said. "Corey was able to save ground last time."

A win by Minister Eric would be a pleasant surprise for trainer Richard Mandella. Second in the 2003 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Minister Eric suffered a bout of pneumonia at Del Mar last summer. He was nearly retired to stud until he showed renewed interest during training last fall.

"He kept getting better and better, and it cleaned up well," Mandella said of the illness.

But Mandella was cautious about Wednesday's race. "He doesn't usually run his best race first time back," Mandella said.

Helm Bank, 6, makes his U.S. debut, and first start since finishing seventh in England in November. Now trained by Jim Cassidy, Helm Bank was competitive in one-mile handicaps last year, winning one of them at Newcastle.

"He's a lovely looking horse and he has a great stride on him," Cassidy said.