Santa Anita Park Picks – Friday, October 16, 2020

Unusual for Santa Anita Park, two of the three races I chose for today’s picks I had to give to the heavy favorites, finding a single second-favored underdog in race 5. Worse, I found only one longer-odds entry (also in race 5) for a bargain show wager. Still, I’d rather win short money on a favorite that wins than lose out on an underdog that loses. But maybe that’s just me.

Be that as it may, let’s move on to my Santa Anita Park picks and betting tips for Friday, October 16, 2020.

This is a maiden special weight race for California-sired fillies and mares three years old and upward running a distance of 5-1/2 furlongs on turf for a purse of $55,000.

A lot of major-league talent aboard the top three-morning line choices in this race, and I’m sticking with the 6/5 favorite, Cassie Belle, with Flavien Prat in the irons. This four-year-old filly moneyed six of her 11 career starts–and her 2020 stats are better than the full record suggests.

None of the longer-odds entries in this maiden race have records that suggest they will do anything but chase the other horses.

This is an allowance optional claiming race for fillies and mares three years old and upward running a distance of one mile on turf for a purse of $59,000.

I’m going with the second-favored (5/2) entry in this six-horse race—Quick, ridden by Umberto Rispoli. This four-year-old filly moneyed nine of her 13 career starts, winning three. Most notably, she placed second in the CTT and TOC Stakes at Del Mar back in August.

The only long-odds entry here is the 15/1 Out of Balance, with veteran jockey Abel Cedillo aboard. This four-year-old filly finished in the money nine of her 17 starts, winning two. Show bet only.

This is an allowance optional claiming race for three-year-olds and upward running a distance of six furlongs for a purse of $59,000.

The top four-morning line choices have all-star jockeys aboard, but I don’t think even that will interfere with a winning run from the heavily favored (6/5) Microrithms, ridden by Drayden Van Dyke. This six-year-old gelding moneyed seven of his eight career starts, winning five of them.

If this were a different field, I might choose one of the three 8/1 entries for a show ticket, but I don’t see anything good happening for any of the three in this race.

Discover more moneymaking opportunities in my reviews of the other two tracks I assessed today: