Friday's Best Bet: Ballet Dancing is light on her feet
Friday’s sixth race at Santa Anita Park is an optional claiming event for fillies and mares traveling 1 1/8 miles on the turf course. The scheduled post time is 6:05 p.m. EST.
Click here for Santa Anita Park entries and results.
No. 3 Ballet Dancing (2-1) added blinkers and showed improved positional speed under Frankie Dettori in a sharp entry level win at this course and distance on Dec. 26. Simon Callaghan’s $800k purchase should be right there in her third start after a layoff, and both of her wins were at Santa Anita.
No. 5 Buzz of New York (5-2) was part of the trifecta in nine of her last ten starts, and Juan Hernandez sticks with Phil D’Amato’s fresh mare. The biggest hurdle might be the trip. She is 0-for-2 with a distant show finish at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
No. 4 Gold for Kitten (6-1) stretches back out in her second start after a short layoff. I am concerned about her 0-for-3 local record. She was a decent sort when she campaigned for Wesley Ward and Brendan Walsh in 2021. In her two Southern California turf routes for her current trainer John Sadler, she just missed the show last February, and landed the place in her Kathryn Crosby Stakes return in November.
No. 8 Macadamia (3-1) finished a nose behind Buzz of New York last time. Pereira is enjoying a productive meet and she will probably stalk the pace from the outside post.
Get Jarrod's Santa Anita analysis.
Wagers
No. 3 to win
Exacta 3-4-8/5
Superfecta Key 3/4-5-8
Superfecta 3-5/3-5/4-8/4-8
Recent Best Bet winners
Jan. 18 – Mission of Joy ($3.80), exacta ($9.60)
Jan. 19 – Dreamster/To a T/Adios Baby/Gitana superfecta ($514)
Jan. 22 – American Lily ($4.40)
Jan. 26 – Minnesota Ready/Zippin Gigi/Twirling Roses trifecta ($167.80)
Jan. 27 – Irish Prophet/Admiralty Place/Ridley's Major trifecta ($257)
Saturday – Newgrange ($10.40), exacta ($30)
Sunday – Lane Way ($6), exacta ($11.80)
Tuesday – Beren/Smooth B exacta ($3.60), trifecta ($11.20)
Thursday - Sunday Breeze/Good Old Charlie exacta ($24.20)