Santa Anita February12, 2009

Santa Anita February12, 2009

Race 2 Pick: Tommy's Luck / Bad Big Al straight Exacta These two are pretty evenly matched based on prior GHR Speed Figures. But after watching their last matchup both from the regular view and the backstretch view, Tommy's Luck was going better than him even nearing the quarter pole, but Bad Big Al just got first run on him and made the lead, but as soon as Tommy's Luck got room, he bolted through and simply outran Bad Big Al. Based on their prior two or three races, I put them pretty evenly matched, but the last combined with the fact that Tommy's Luck gets Bejarano and Mullins is the tiebreaker. GHR Speed Figures show that Professnl Courtesy is a couple to three lengths slower than Tommy's Luck and Doc on the Roc lost to Professnl Courtesy last time with no apparent excuse, although his race two back is actually competitive. Still the Mulhall-Sutherland connection doesn't inspire confidence.

Race 4 Pick: Silent Western If you just take it that the last was an inexplicably dull effort, and wager that she will run to the form of her 12/7/08 race, she is the winner. No other horse comes close to her in terms of Speed Figures. I will take that chance on her at 3-1 odds.