ARCADIA, Calif. – Wagering options become more appealing later on the Friday card at Santa Anita than the first-race allowance in which a well-known Grade 1 winner will be tough to beat. Stormy Liberal, two-time Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner, meets just four rivals in the five-furlong grass sprint. Every tangible handicapping factor points to Stormy Liberal, the odds-on favorite. Hooray for Stormy Liberal, who runs for a $67,000 purse. Race 1 will be fun to watch, less fun to bet. A more attractive parimutuel challenge is offered in race 5, where a deep field of fillies and mares sprint 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf. The competitive first-level allowance promises to be among the most highly scrutinized races on the national simulcast menu. The turf sprint is the final leg of the Stronach 5, a 12 percent takeout wager that begins with a $169,305 carryover. The $1 bet links Laurel race 9, Gulfstream Park races 10-11, Golden Gate race 5, and ends with the tantalizing allowance that is Santa Anita race 5. Twelve entered, 10 can start, with the turf rails at the outermost 30-foot setting. Program favorite Spy Ring seeks better racing luck than her tough-trip third last out; Batiquitos figures for a great trip setting or pressing the pace in a field short on speed; hard-pulling Animosity, who won her debut on the hill, may appreciate a return to a sprint. The field is familiar. Seven entered the same first-level turf sprint Feb. 10, then scratched when rain forced it to the main track. Showers are possible midweek, but Friday’s forecast is clear. The hill should be fine, and Animosity is due for better fortune. Paddy Gallagher trains Animosity, who shortens up for the first time since her downhill debut victory last March. “She’s a little bit of a headstrong filly,” Gallagher noted. And, trouble prone. Animosity began her career in style, two wins and a Grade 2 runner-up. But summer at Del Mar was a debacle. She got rank, lost position and finished sixth in the Grade 2 San Clemente. She set the pace in the Grade 1 Del Mar Oaks, inexplicably ducked in and hit the rail at the three-eighths, and backed up. Finally, in the Grade 2 Del Mar Derby, she was declared a non-starter when she was held by a gate assistant just as the stall doors opened. “After all that fiasco, we backed off and ran her here,” Gallagher said, referring to a last-place finish Dec. 26 in a turf mile stakes. “She still wanted to pull. We thought we’d try this, down the hill.” The move makes sense. Distance horses that pull can improve sprinting, when they are outrun naturally, without restraint. Joel Rosario rides Animosity for the first time Friday. It looks good for the dropper, though Gallagher acknowledged: “The rails are at 30 feet, and you’re trying to come from behind.” Rails-at-30 in downhill sprints this winter has favored speed – four of the seven were won by the pacesetter, two by pace-pressers, only one by a closer. The course configuration and shortage of pace benefits Batiquitos, the Bill Spawr trainee whose last-out fourth was better than it looks. “She was on the rail, and he used her to get her in the race,” Spawr said. “It cost her.” Spawr prefers Batiquitos be positioned just off the speed. She would get that trip if either also-eligible front-runner draws in – Algorhythmic and The Craic. Otherwise, Batiquitos could find herself setting the pace. “Well then, she’d have an easy time,” Spawr said, smiling. The others entered are Team Hollywood, Trustini, Tyfosha, Space Talk, Merger Arbitrage, Nice Ice, and Special Purpose. KEY CONTENDERS Spy Ring, by Bushranger Last 3 Beyers: 78-54-77 ◗ She was blocked the final quarter-mile last out when third by a length in a similar downhill sprint, a race she might otherwise have won. ◗ Spy Ring breaks from the rail as the 7-2 program favorite. Although the inside post is considered undesirable, four of the last five downhill sprints were won from post 1. Animosity, by Animal Kingdom Last 3 Beyers: 76-67-73 ◗ She won a first-level allowance at Golden Gate, but remains eligible to the first condition at Santa Anita due to a condition-book clause: “Wins in the first conditioned allowance race in Northern California shall be disregarded for eligibility purposes … in Southern California.” Batiquitos, by Dixie Chatter Last 3 Beyers: 77-80-77 ◗ Winner of a statebred allowance on the hill last autumn, she is listed at an attractive 6-1. Algorhythmic, by Vronsky Last 3 Beyers: 76-83-90 ◗ Five-time winner on the hill, she returns from a six-month layoff while entered for the optional $40,000 claiming price. A 7-year-old, her most recent in-the-money finish was a win in July 2017.