Saturday's card at Gulfstream features some excellent betting races. Here are a few opinions.

Race 4

Saturday’s card at Santa Anita features two graded stakes, as well as the long-awaited return of 2015 Sham Stakes winner, Calculator. I’ll look to have money involved in all three of these events in some way, shape or form.

RACE 3 – GRADE 2 ARCADIA

In last week’s Pick we thought that Echo Chamber would go to the lead and Georgia Blue would hold back and come on to be stronger at the finish.  What happened was that Echo Chamber got off slowly and never got into the hunt while Georgia Blue pressed the pace and just didn’t have enough gas left to hold off a 13-to-1 first timer, but she did finish second, also at 13-to-1 to complete a $132 exacta for a buck.

YEAGER
Trainer: Tom Morley
Last race: Feb. 6, 4th
Finish: 2nd by head
Beyer: 77
Caught a wet track for the second time since coming over from Europe, trailed early and rallied steadily while four wide to just miss in a $35,000 restricted claiming route, improving on his previous Beyer Speed Figure substantially.

HUNT, by Dark Angel
Trainer: Phil D’Amato
Last race: Feb. 4, 6th
Finish: 1st by 3/4
Beyer: 88
An import from Europe, he found his niche as a turf sprinter; this N1X victory was visually impressive. He can win right back in a N2X turf sprint.

Saturday, February 6

Gulfstream - Fred W. Hooper Handicap (race 5)

COMMENT: Trainer Todd Pletcher said he very much considered Tommy Macho for the Grade 1 Donn, but with three runners already going there and the notion that Tommy Macho would benefit from an easier spot, he went here instead, and the decision paid off, as Tommy Macho proved an impressive winner.

The late races on Sunday’s 13-race card at Gulfstream Park remain on the turf despite overnight rain, providing a good sequence for the late pick four. (Only the fourth race was moved from turf to the main track.) So here’s my late pick four wagering strategy, rating my selections as either an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ based on their chances in each race, and then plugging the horses into DRF’s Ticketmaker program.

Race 10

I’m well aware that New York trainer David Jacobson hasn’t gotten away to the quickest of starts with his new venture in Southern California, but COOPER’S STORM (1) in race 2 on Sunday really piques the interest when getting first-time Lasix (remarkably, after 47 starts) and the bugboy Cohen on the fence. He’s been pretty solid in the middle ranks in Arizona and now resurfaces against a so-so group when debuting for a trainer well known (well, in New York at least) for moving horses up. 

The Saturday card at Gulfstream Park features the Donn Handicap and the Turf Handicap, part of an intriguing pick four sequence to cap off the program.

ARCADIA, Calif. – Binoculars, television monitor, or both?

The binoculars will be trained Saturday on live races at Santa Anita, including four graded stakes and the 2016 debut of Songbird. The television monitor will be tuned Saturday to Gulfstream Park, where a second-start maiden and a Grade 1 contender offer wagering appeal at double-digit odds. With a little luck, it could be a super Saturday.

Santa Anita, race 2