Saturday at Santa Anita Bombs Away

The Grade 3 Santa Ana at a mile and a quarter on the grass drew a nice field of 8.

A fair rule to watch in horse racing is when you think one of the longest shots in the field has a chance to win, you almost have to make a wager. That doesn’t happen daily but when I looked at the race at hand, although I saw a few that could easily win, one was the second longest shot on the morning line at 20-1.

Lady Claypole drew the rail and comes in off two wins against lesser in allowance races over the course. Both were at a mile and an eighth and she will go a mile and a quarter here, but I think that will be fine. She has failed at this distance. Twice before but she looks like a much better mare now than she was then.

Lady Claypole should sit a nice trip along the fence biding her time until the real racing starts. She’s coming in confident, and she should at least be in the right spot to make some noise when they kick down the lane. When you take swings at this price you can afford to be wrong more than you will be right which we all will be anyway but at these numbers you can erase deficits quickly.

Tiago is back on and he quietly delivers smart and heady rides while staying under the radar. He knows this mare and she runs for him. I’m hoping she can rally against these tougher horses and give us at least some hope when it counts.