FLASHAWAY
Trainer: Mark Casse
Last race: May 29, 8th
Finish: 3rd by 1 1/2
Beyer: 81
After getting away slowly, he was blocked behind rivals in the stretch before closing to just miss second in his turf debut. It was the expensive 3-year-olds first try against older opposition and his first start since Nov. 29, and he seems poised to clear the first allowance condition.

YANA
Trainer: Bill Spawr
Last race: May 30, 3rd
Finish: 8th by 9
Beyer: 65
Turf route is not this filly’s preference; she faded. But her dirt form is outstanding. Her up-front style suits the track profile. She is worth following vs. N1X foes, dirt route only.

IL MULINO
Trainer: Bill Mott
Last race: May 28, 3rd
Finish: 3rd by 1 1/4
Beyer: 72
This 3-year-old filly stretched out to 1 1/16 miles for her second start, and showed vast improvement from her sprint debut last November, setting the pace to deep stretch in a maiden special weight.

Saturday, May 30

Churchill - Aristides (race 8)

COMMENT: Alsvid ran the best race of his life (105 Beyer) winning the Grade 3 Count Fleet at Oaklawn last time out on April 9, and he showed that run no fluke as he came back to upend champion sprinter Work All Week. Alsvid bided his time early as Googleado set the early pace. Alsvid moved closer going to the far turn as 3-5 favorite Work All Week took over. Alsvid continued a wide run to move past that rival into the lane and edged clear in the final half-furlong.

There are some shaky morning-line favorites early on the program, and I may be tempted to make some token plays against the likes of BRENDAN G in the opener and PRIMA STORM in the second race.

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DRF Bets GamePlan

Let’s talk 3-year-olds.

No, not those 3-year-olds. Instead, let’s discuss for a moment a different group of 3-year-olds: this year’s crop of 3-year-old male turf specialists.

Taking a look at the last $1  pick three of the weekend:

RACE 7: MCKENZIES WAY (#6) has some of the best Beyers in the field, and on the drop by trainer David Jacobson, he's an easy gelding to include, but I'll also include two of the speeds, OLTRE' ORO (#2) and PETROCELLI (#3). The former adds blinkers while the latter comes off a game loss (3).

ARCADIA, Calif. – A common mistake horseplayers make is betting too many races. That will not happen on a bland card Sunday at Santa Anita, with small fields and legitimate favorites. It’s the type of card that might justify passing entirely.

For the sake of action, I plan a small double that links races 2-3, followed by a pair of “action” win bets. It begins with a maiden-claiming standout and ends with five turf sprinters in the $75,000 Siren Lure Stakes.

Some small fields and a 2-year-old maiden race chockfull of first-timers smack in the middle of the card make it tricky to put together some multirace plays on the Sunday card.

I’ve settled for an end-of-the-day pick three, though the favorites hold strong hands in those races, so unless you can topple them, it’s not likely to be a “wow!” hit for you. And the small fields make your options as far as trying to beat those favorites limited.