A look at Saturday’s late pick four at Santa Anita:

HOLY WEEK
Trainer: Billy Turner
Last race: Jan. 22, 3rd
Finish: 4th by 3/4
Beyer: 55
This 16-start maiden took some money in a $25,000 New York-bred affair, trailed through the opening stages, checked in tight quarters while attempting to rally in the stretch, and finished with some run left in the tank.

ABETS ABET
Trainer: Steve Knapp
Last race: Jan. 22, 4th
Finish: 3rd by 1/2
Beyer: 65
A claiming filly, she could have won this route race. Broke slowly, four wide start to finish, hung late. Claimed for $8,000 by Knapp from Bill Spawr, she fits vs. similar.

Saturday, January 23

Santa Anita - Santa Monica (race 8)

COMMENT: Lost Bus, claimed for $32,000 just over two months ago, picked the right day to run the race of her life and posted a 64-1 upset. A non-threatening third in the Kalookan Queen at 39-1 here Dec. 30, she hadn’t won in over 10 months, but had looked rejuvenated since adding blinkers again. She went right out to be part of a three-way duel with Finest City and 3-1 favorite Tara’s Tango, had her head in front on the far turn as Living the Life joined the fray, and continued on gamely.

With three of the four final races at Gulfstream Park on Sunday being closely matched, the late pick four, which can be played in 50-cent increments, is an attractive wager in which to spread. So here’s my strategy for hitting it, ranking horses as either an ‘A’ or a ‘B’ based on their probability of winning each respective race, and then plugging the horses into DRF’s Ticketmaker program.

Race 8

The first leg, a first-level allowance, is competitive, and I will go with two A plays and two B’s.

ARCADIA, Calif. – A weather forecast calling for the possibility of showers Saturday evening casts uncertainty on three grass races Sunday at Santa Anita.

Here’s hoping for a postponement of the rain because overlay possibilities exist in each turf race – a route for 3-year-olds and two downhill sprints. It might be time to dive in.

ARCADIA, Calif. – The pick six pool will mushroom to $1.5 million or higher Saturday at Santa Anita, thanks to a two-day carryover of $307,070.

The fields are big; each race Saturday has nine or more entrants, including the Grade 2 Santa Monica Stakes for filly-and-mare sprinters. The sequence, races 4-9, begins and ends with maiden special weights for 3-year-olds – a turf route and a dirt sprint for California-breds.

The late double Saturday is comprised of Races 8 and 9 – the Grade 2 Santa Monica and a maiden special weight affair for California-bred 3-year-olds.

How nice to see two of your three Pix come storming to the line together—and pay off with a $401 exacta.  That’s what happened when Instant Drama ($28) nailed Always Believe in the last stride last week.  But what topped it is if you happened to also like Dancing Ava as a gimmick throw-in, you got back $12,775 in the superfecta.  Not a bad kick off for a week where 11 BreezeFigs maidens broke through to win, including two more BreezeFigs exactas—at Gulfstream and Penn National.  A

From the standpoint of quality, Saturday’s card at Gulfstream Park is disappointing, especially for this time of year. There are no maiden special weight races on dirt and not one legitimate allowance event, which is shocking for Gulfstream on a Saturday in the winter. The one stakes race, the H. Allen Jerkens, is, frankly, a novelty event, what with it being at two miles on turf.