Santa Anita Park Picks – Friday, March 5, 2021

Santa Anita Park brings us an eight-race card of maiden, starter, allowance, and claiming races to kick off our weekend of thoroughbred racing, wagering, and winning.

I review the three richest races here, but you can find Santa Anita’s full eight-race card for Friday — including horses, jockeys, trainers, M/L odds, and wagering options — at one of our recommended online racebooks.

Read on for my Santa Anita Park picks and betting tips for Friday, March 5, 2021.

This is a maiden special weight race for three-year-olds running a distance of one mile for a purse of $61,000.

Plenty of talent in the irons as well as on the ground for this run, and I like the third-favored (3/1) entry — Star Sailor, with Juan J. Hernandez aboard — for the win. This colt moneyed three of his four career starts while establishing some very competitive speed figures.

 I don’t see any longer-odds entries that warrant the risk of a show bet, so let’s save our long money for later.

This is an allowance optional claiming race for California-bred or -sired fillies and mares four years old and upward running a distance of six furlongs for a purse of $63,000.

While the morning line favorite has a slightly better record, I’m going with the second-favored (5/2) Sing in the Wind, ridden by Abell Cedillo. This six-year-old mare moneyed 18 of her 23 career starts, winning six. More importantly, her wins are more recent than those of the favorite.

And at 12/1, I have to like Lovely Finish, with Eswan Flores in the irons, for a value show wager. This six-year-old mare has moneyed every one of her seven career starts.

This is claiming race for four-year-olds and upward running a distance of 1-1/8 miles on turf for a purse of $36,000.

I like the 5/2 morning line favorite for this race — Nobel Thought, ridden by Umberto Rispoli. This eight-year-old gelding had 26 money finishes in his 38 career starts and won 12 of them. His most recent wins were at Belmont Park last October and Aqueduct in November.

At 15/1, Worthy Turk, with Mario Gutierrez aboard, looks good for a value show wager. This six-year-old gelding moneyed ten of his 19 career starts, winning three.

Don’t forget the other two tracks I reviewed for Friday: