Race 1: #6 Chico Grande is the horse to beat as he takes a class drop, and his speed plays in the opener. I don't trust him enough to single him in the pick five and will also use #3 Watch the Tie on a main ticket. Watch the Tie's best race matches up well with that of the favorite, and he was unlucky in his last race when surviving a multiple-horse duel, only to be closed down late.

Aqueduct | Race 8 | Post Time 3:29 p.m. (ET) | Go To The TimeformUS PPs

ARCADIA, Calif. – Whom do you like – Unique Bella or Shane’s Girlfriend? What do you like more, 8-5 or 9-5?

It’s a trick question. Everyone knows how difficult it is to generate consistent profits by backing low-odds favorites, although the Grade 2 Santa Ynez Stakes on Sunday shapes up as one of the most interesting stakes of the Santa Anita winter meet. Either favorite, Unique Bella or Shane’s Girlfriend, could win the seven-furlong Santa Ynez, for 3-year-old fillies.

The recent stretch of soggy weather in Southern California has made handicapping the races at Santa Anita particularly difficult, and today appears to be no exception. The National Weather Service is predicting a 90 percent chance of rain until 4 p.m. locally before it falls to a 60 percent chance for the remainder of the day. It would appear that turf racing is in serious jeopardy, and even if they do run on the grass, it's likely to be quite wet. Having said all of that, here are a few runners to consider on today's card at Santa Anita.

RACE 5

A series of contentious races offers value in the late pick four at Gulfstream on Saturday. So, let’s take a look at the sequence and my suggested TicketMaker play.

Race 8

ARCADIA, Calif. - The $2 pick six paid $44,401 at Santa Anita on Friday, but since there were multiple winning tickets sold the carryover provision in the single ticket jackpot pool has swelled to $85,520 for Saturday.

The bet began with a carryover of $76,755 in the main pool and $35,366 in the single ticket jackpot pool from Monday. Bettors added $438,106 in new money Friday.

They’re right about rain in California—it pours. Thus is probably the logical reason our Pick last week was washed down the tubes as Dre Dan floundered away—but we were saved by one of the other well-qualified BreezeFigs runners as Sheer Fantasy popped over at $7.60.

Aqueduct | Race 7 | Post Time 3:20 p.m. (ET) | Go To The TimeformUS PPs 

While it drew only six runners, this race is one of the more interesting on the card. The horse to beat is Holding Aces (#2). This speedy runner gets a positive trainer switch to Chris Englehart, whose barn has been on quite a roll at this meet. He's run plenty of speed figures that would make him formidable, but he will have to show up with a slightly improved performance, since his last race was disappointing.

Race 3

Spotty Zealous (#2)

Dropping from maiden special weight to maiden claiming company.

Set a fast pace last time, indicated by red color-coding in TimeformUS PPs.

Earned a 102 TimeformUS Speed Figure last time, easily the highest number in the field.

5-2 on ML

Race 7

Monte Man (#3)

SHA TIN SELECTIONS

(Sunday, Jan. 8, 2017)

RACE 1: #9 Dashing Fortune, #6 Fantasticlife, #5 Power Dragon, #7 Gorgeous Again

RACE 2: #3 Superior Boy, #10 Everest, #8 Daring Heart, #1 Beauty Love

RACE 3: #5 Bad Boy, #4 Amber Sky, #2 Amazing Kids, #1 Peniaphobia

RACE 4: #11 Peace Combination, #3 Flying Godspell, #8 Respect, #7 Helen’s Choice

RACE 5: #2 Super Form, #5 King Bountiful, #4 Ashkiyr, #11 Expectator