It’s opening day at Santa Anita, and the nine-race card is chock-full of competitive races. The late pick four sequence boasts tons of quality, with three graded stakes and a salty allowance. Here are some thoughts:

There are certain days on the racing calendar that horseplayers await with eager anticipation. The granddaddy of them all is, of course, the first Saturday in May, with the running of the Kentucky Derby. But in the honorable-mention category, there is always Dec. 26, when Santa Anita opens for its winter-spring meet and the track runs the Grade 1 Malibu, among other graded stakes races.

GUNLOCK
Trainer: David Cannizzo
Last race: Dec. 16, 4th
Finish: 4th by 9 1/4
Beyer: 48
Bobbled and bumped at the break and raced three to four wide around both turns while making the second start back from an extended layoff against maiden-claiming routers.

Saturday, December 19

Gulfstream - Mr. Prospector (race 4)

COMMENT: X Y Jet flashed promise early in 2015, including running second in the Grade 3 Hutcheson here. But he then stumbled badly at the start of the Grade 2 Swale here March 7, was eased, and had to have surgery to remove a bone chip. After recuperating, he’s come back strong, winning two allowance races this summer and fall and topping it off here with a monster performance.

Trainer Brad Cox saddles Majestic Angel (#5, ML 8-1) in Sunday's sixth race at Fair Grounds, an about one-mile maiden special weight race on turf. Since Jan. 1, 2014, Cox is winning at a 29 percent clip with first-time turf starters, for a return on investment of $3.73.

A series of competitive races late on the Sunday card at Gulfstream Park, and a 50-cent minimum for the pick four make that wager appealing. With sunny skies forecast and therefore fast and firm conditions likely, here is my recommended ticket.

Race 7

You will most likely not get rich playing the late pick four on races 6-9 at Aqueduct on Sunday but the fairly direct sequence has the potential to pay off well enough to make your handicapping efforts worthwhile.

I have updated this ticket from Saturday to reflect ROCK GARDEN (#13, 8-1) drawing in from the also eligibles in race 6, the scratch of COLONEL JUANTITA (#3, 3-1) in race 7, and the scratch of STEVIE’S MOONSHOT (#1, 5-2) in race 9.

Gulfstream’s Saturday card features plenty of excellent betting races full of evenly matched horses. Let’s look at the two stakes races for 3-year-olds on turf as well as a loaded maiden special weight for juvenile colts on the main track.

Tropical Park Oaks – Race 11

Race 7:  The morning-line favorite for this maiden special weight for 2-year-olds going one mile on turf is Bluegrass Tiger (#4).  He goes for top connections, and he is likely facing easier competition than he saw in Kentucky in his first two starts, but he has done little running to this point.  I could use him as a backup, but will focus my play on others.  Gio Whiz (#6) makes his third career start in this spot, but his first routing on turf, and that could prove to be the key.  By Gio Ponti, he is out of a dam who was graded stakes-pla

Keying our Pix last week paid off, even though one of those races was a total mess in the stretch.  That would be the one at Gulfstream where our preferred key, Gimlet, got hung up nine wide, barreled through the lane strongly but spent too much effort to get up in time and finished fourth.  However, the other key, his stablemate Kismet’s Heels, went seven wide but managed to avoid traffic to complete a $168 exacta while Gimlet mopped up with a $184 for 10 cents superfecta.  Meanwhile in New Orleans, One Last Cigarette came from ou