Below is the late Pick 4 ticket at Santa Anita Park on February 17th, 2018. As always the ticket is $20 or less.
Race 7
Madame Stripes (#4, 3-1) has an affinity for the Santa Anita Turf Course and beat a couple of her main rivals on the square last time out after breaking poorly. She gets a tepid nod in a wide-open race.
Insta Erma (#1, 7-2) disappointed as the favorite last time out, but it seems like these fillies and mares take turns beating each other. On her best day, she is squarely in the mix and she should sit a nice inside stalking trip.
Madam Dancealot (#2, 7-2) faces older for the first time, but she may have a bit of a class edge coming out of three straight Grade 1 races. She is consistent over just about any distance and should be coming late. Nakatani gets off of Insta Erma to ride here.
Sassy Little Lila (#6, 4-1) had razor sharp form against better before tailing off at the end of the year. She now enters the Richard Mandella barn and is a legitimate threat if able to reproduce her best form off a freshening.
Fault (#7, 15-1) faces older for the first time and is light on the Beyer Speed Figure department, but she makes her first turf start in Southern California, which is always a dangerous angle. She is the wildcard in a wide-open race in start one for Phil D’Amato.
Race 8
Midnight Pleasure (#9,10-1) has proven time and time again that he is much more effective as a late running sprinter than he is as a router. He removed the blinkers, worked a bullet and then ran very well routing for the first time ever last time out. Now he returns to his best game without the blinkers. He should mow them all down late as the most likely winner in the sequence.
Race 9
Royal Trump (#9, 5-2) could be the speed of the speed in a race loaded with early lick. He drops to his lowest level yet and draws on the outside after being forced to duel from the rail in his last two outings.
Shockazulu (#5, 20-1) is an interesting price play in this sequence. He has a win and a second in his two dirt starts and ran the only good synthetic race of his career last time out while adding blinkers. He is worth a gamble while returning to his preferred surface, with shades on.
Mesa Jones (#3, 3-1) returns to dirt, returns to a sprint and drops in class for Steve Sherman. He catches a field with plenty of early speed to flatter his late kick.
Builder (#6, 7-2) should display a nice late kick while racing in a sprint for the first time in his young career. He has been working extremely well for this and picks up the services of Bejarano.
Race 10
Eldritch (#6, 12-1) makes his third start in America, but his first start going 1¼ in this country. He had great form in Europe and showed big improvement in start number two in the Mark Glatt barn, while encountering an awful trip. Look for him to put it all together today while stretching out to his ideal distance.
Saltini (#3, 5-2) has been knocking on the door and should also relish stretching out in distance. He ran very well in a fast race at this level last time and is strictly the horse to beat.
$0.50 Pick 4 Ticket: 1,2,4,6,7 – 9 – 3,5,6,9 – 3,6 = $20
-Padraic Manocchio
@xbtvpadraic
