February, 2021 | Horse Racing Free Tips

Santa Anita: Mandatory Payout Could Drive Saturday’s Pick 6 Jackpot Over $5 Million

With a mandatory payout in place, 100 horses entered and eligible to run, average field size for Saturday's highly anticipated 20 cent Rainbow Pick 6 Jackpot at Santa Anita stands at 10 runners per race, ensuring the possibility of $5 million Jackpot pool at the Arcadia, Calif., track.

First post time for a 10-race card Saturday is at 12 noon Pacific and assigned post time for race five, the first installment in the Rainbow 6, is set for 2:08 p.m. PT. With a Jackpot carryover of $843,235 into Friday, track officials have projected Saturday's total Jackpot pool could exceed $5 million.

(Fans are advised that Saturday's Jackpot pool projection is based upon there being no single ticket winner on Friday. First post time for an eight-race card Friday is at 12:30 p.m.).

Here is a brief race-by-race look at Saturday's 20 cent Rainbow Pick 6, with the morning line favorite in each race.

Race 5 Approximate post time 2:08 p.m. PT

CA Bred or Sired Maiden 3-year-old Fillies
Claiming $50,000-$45,000
6 ½ Furlongs
Purse $35,000

A field of 12 has been assembled, with the Steve Knapp-trained Smoothlikebuttah designated as the 7-2 morning line favorite. Most recently sixth going one mile on turf in the California Cup Oaks Jan. 16, this daughter of Mr. Big will be running for a claiming tag for the first time in what will be her ninth career start. Knapp is enjoying a high percentage meeting and Smoothlikebuttah will be ridden for the first time by Joel Rosario, who will be tasked with working out a winning trip from the rail.

Race 6
Allowance, 4-year-olds and up
1 1/8 Mile Turf
Purse $63,000

With a field of 10, Joel Rosario once again lands on the morning line favorite, as he sticks with English-bred Whisper Not, who comes off a close third place finish in the opening day Grade 2 Mathis Brothers Mile. Trained by Richard Baltas, Whisper Not, who has been installed as the 9-5 early choice, will be making his third stateside start for Baltas and will likely employ a stalking style as he stretches out a furlong from his number six post position.

Race 7
GRADE 2 SAN VICENTE STAKES
3-year-olds
Seven Furlongs
Purse $200,000

An important prep to the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 3, the San Vicente will be contested by five sophomores, including two trained by Bob Baffert. Concert Tour, who has drawn the outside with Joel Rosario, comes off a smashing 3 ½-length first-out maiden win going six furlongs on Jan. 15 and has been designated the 8-5 favorite. Baffert's Freedom Fighter, idle since breaking his maiden at first asking going five furlongs on Aug. 1 at Del Mar, is the co-second choice at 5-2 along with Eric Kruljac's California-bred The Chosen Vron, who trounced nine statebred rivals by 6 ¾ lengths on Dec. 27.

Race 8
GRADE 3 THUNDER ROAD STAKES
4-year-olds and up
One Mile Turf
Purse: $100,000

In what appears to be a wide-open affair, 5-year-old Bob and Jackie has been designated the 5-2 morning line favorite among a field of eight. Most recently second in the Grade 2 San Gabriel Stakes going a mile and one eighth on turf Jan. 2, this 5-year-old horse by Twirling Candy cuts back to a distance at which he's won on three of six occasions. Trained by Richard Baltas, he'll be ridden by Heriberto Figueroa from post seven.

Race 9
4-year-olds and up
Claiming $16,000- $12,500
6 ½ Furlongs
Purse $24,000

The Rainbow Six doesn't get any easier in leg five, which has attracted a field of 12. Trained by Vladimir Cerin, lightly raced Threearchbaymafia drew post eight, takes a notable drop in class from allowance company on Jan. 1 and is the tepid 4-1 morning line favorite. A maiden $20,000 claiming winner going 5 ½ furlongs two starts back at Del Mar Nov. 15, this 4-year-old colt by Will Take Charge finished eighth in a six furlong allowance last time out and will get the first-time services of Umberto Rispoli in what will be his fourth career start.

Race 10
Maiden 3-year-old Fillies
Claiming $50,000-$45,000
6 ½ Furlongs
Purse: $35,000

In yet another seemingly wide-open affair, the Peter Eurton-trained Agreetodisagree looms as the 7-2 morning line favorite in a field of 12. Fifth, beaten 20 ½ lengths in a one-mile maiden special weight here on Jan. 8, this 3-year-old Kentucky-bred filly by Runhappy cuts back in distance and takes a massive drop in class in what will be her fourth start. To be ridden for the third consecutive time by Mario Gutierrez, Agreetodisagree, who drew post position seven, will be running for a claiming tag for the first time.

With first post time set for 12 noon, fans are encouraged to tune into santaanita.com/live at 10:50 a.m. for an in-depth handicapping seminar hosted by Track Announcer Frank Mirahmadi and Tom Quigley.

All of Santa Anita's races are offered free of charge at santaanita.com/live and fans can watch and wager via several ADW platforms, including 1^st.com/Bet.

First post time for an eight-race card on Big Game Sunday at Santa Anita is at 11 a.m.

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Friday’s Rainbow 6 Jackpot Has $850,000 Guarantee At Gulfstream Park

The 20-cent Rainbow 6 jackpot pool will be guaranteed at $850,000 Friday at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Fla.

The popular multi-race wager went unsolved for the seventh straight racing day Thursday, when multiple tickets with all six winners were each worth $979.66.

The jackpot pool is only paid out when there is a single unique ticket sold with all six winners. On days when there is no unique ticket, 70 percent of that day's pool goes back to those bettors holding tickets with the most winners, while 30 percent is carried over to the jackpot pool.

Friday's Rainbow 6 sequence will span Races 5-10.

Thoroughbred, Steeplechase Jockey Hobales, 91, Passes Away

Jimmy Hobales, a former Thoroughbred and Steeplechase rider who worked for more than 50 years at South Florida tracks, died recently.

Hobales was 91.

Hobales rode at Saratoga, Belmont, Aqueduct and Monmouth in the 1950s. He also rode steeplechase horses and was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in October of 1954. Born in Elmira, N.Y., Hobales grew up in Darby, Pa., where he drove a milk wagon and first fell in love with horses. Many people also knew Hobales as an entertainer who played the harmonica, including the National Anthem at Gulfstream before afternoon races cards.

WHO'S HOT: Jose Ortiz tripled on Thursday's program, scoring aboard Comedy Town ($6) in Race 1, Indy Tourist ($8.80) in Race 3, and Dream Friend ($2.80) in Race 5. Trainer Mike Maker saddled Indy Tourist and Dream Friend.

Corey Lanerie doubled aboard Len Lo Lady ($5.40) in Race 2 and Favorite Sin ($4.60) in Race 4.

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Pennsylvania Governor Again Seeks to Raid Race Horse Development Fund

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf unveiled a budget plan on Wednesday that called for moving $199 million from the state's Race Horse Development Trust Fund into a program to help Pennsylvania students pay for colleges. Should Wolf succeed, purses at the Pennsylvania tracks would have to undergo dramatic cuts and to a degree that would decimate the state's racing and breeding industries.

“This proposal would result in the end of horse racing, which supports 20,000 jobs, delivers an annual $1.6-billion economic impact, and preserves hundreds of thousands of acres of open space,” said Pete Peterson, spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Equine Coalition.

The development fund receives its money from a share of slot machine revenue at state casinos. The total fund adds up to about $230 million a year that goes to purses and breeding funds.

Wolf unveiled a similar proposal last year, but it never gained needed support. It may have stalled because the focus in the state government turned almost exclusively to the coronavirus. It's also likely that it stalled because a number of political leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate, particularly those in the Republican Party who represent rural areas, made it clear they were not on board.

“Last year, this was proposed and there was, basically, no traction at all,” said Brian Sanfratello, the executive secretary of the Pennsylvania Horse Breeders Association. “It was not only the Republicans. There was a lot of bipartisan agreement not to do this. We feel confident that the Race Horse Development Trust Fund language will hold up again. We're going to do everything we can to spread the word in the legislature.”

Wolf is looking to develop a scholarship program, which he has dubbed the Nellie Bly Scholarship Program, that would allow Pennsylvania residents to attend state colleges at a reduced price. Annual scholarships would cover as many as 20,000 students with as much as $5,700 going toward their tuition.

“Let's bet on our kids instead of bankrolling racehorse owners,” Wolf said when announcing his budget proposal in 2020.

“While the racing industry is important to Pennsylvania, it is time for the industry to support itself and continue to build upon the unprecedented generous economic investment made by the commonwealth to this single industry,” Elizabeth Rementer, a spokesperson for Wolf, told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “The industry survived long before the subsidy began and it has had 16 years and $3 billion to develop what, by now, should be a self-sustaining industry.”

Sanfratello said the focus should be on the number of jobs that would be lost if Wolf succeeds in emptying the fund.

“We understand that education is important, but you don't fund education by putting 20,000 of their parents out of work,” he said. “Why Governor Wolf thinks this is a good idea is beyond me.”

While confident that the money will not leave the fund, Sanfratello pointed out that Wolf's proposal will affect the state's breeders this year. It may be difficult to convince people to breed in Pennsylvania when a possibility exists that the industry might soon have to deal with what would be a devastating blow.

“The breeding farms will be the ones hurt the most by this.” he said. “Whether this goes through or not, and we don't think that it will, the people who are getting ready to breed want to make sure that the money will be there when it's time to run. I am very, very confident that we are up for the task and will beat this. But it's a shame that the breeders have to go through this again.”

The Pennsylvania Equine Coalition and others will also be making the argument that taking the money away from racing would be illegal. In 2017, the General Assembly voted to put the development fund money into a trust. Wolf signed the measure into law. Placing the money into a trust appeared to guarantee that the money did not belong to the state and could not be used for anything other than programs that supported racing and breeding in the state.