McGee: How I'd play Santa Anita on Sunday, June 28
Race 3
Locked in a dogfight for leading-trainer honors with Doug O’Neill as the Santa Anita meet winds to a close, it looks like Peter Miller is being pretty aggressive by spotting Pat the Bear (4) for the optional $40,000 claiming tag in this spot. Pat the Bear is a 3-year-old facing older and has been on an eight-week layoff. Still, it seems like his best effort will do here, even with the double bug Brayan Pena getting the mount.
I found Sunday’s first two races nearly indecipherable (but by all means, go ahead and try some pick five action starting with Race 1 if you like), so I’ll use Pat the Bear as a pick three single, then emphasize Going Somewhere (6) as the most likely winner (as a race-long front-runner) of race 4, the Grade 3 San Juan Capistrano. For race 5, I’ll lead with a couple of older horses well drawn toward the rail while using a scattershot approach. Here’s the ticket:
R3 – 4
R4 – A: 6; B: 2, 4
R5 – A: 1, 2; B: 3, 7, 8
Race 6
Regrouped and newly gelded, Blue Law (5) is an interesting longshot for the familiar Hess-Desormeaux tandem. With opponents such as Pay the Bank, Pretentious, and Air Pocket showing better Beyers, it’s possible that he’ll be overlooked on the tote. I’ll use him horizontally and vertically in the tricks.
Race 7
Designated Royalty (1) got a much-needed education earlier this month in her first start, finishing third when very well backed among a big field. She may show improved speed when sent from the rail by jockey Edwin Maldonado. I’ll use her as a key in a variety of ways, too.
Race 10
I will end the day by keying primarily on two horses in this big field of maiden-claiming turf milers: Luvuryan (1), who could get a sneaky-good rail trip under Alfonso Quinonez before moving past the tired ones (and there should be quite a few of those), and Scuti de Patuti (8), who drops out of maiden special weight company and gets blinkers off for trainer Mike Puype, who’s had another very productive meet.