HORSE RACING

Santa Anita Horse Racing Picks for Saturday 6/6/20

With most of the sports world on pause, it's a great time to dive into horse racing, and FanDuel Racing gives you the chance to do just that.

Starting at 3:30 p.m. EST, we have eight races at Santa Anita. Using our numberFire projections as a guide, here are some of the best bets.

As always, keep an eye out for scratches and changes.

I will reference Equibase's Speed Figure in selected races, which tells you how fast a horse has been running in each of its races -- adjusted for track, distances, and conditions.

Cordiality, Race 1

FD Odds: 6/1

The Great Race Place opens with the $100,000 Fran’s Valentine Stakes for state-bred older fillies and mares going 1-mile on the turf. The favorite is Super Patriot (2/1), who has been freshened and found much greater success going from the Baffert barn to EPO ‘conditioner’ Baltas.

Horse Racing Picks has Cordiality (5/2) third, but despite coming into this race off a long layoff, she’s well-meant and a front runner that can settle into an easy pace with little speed up front and force others to chase. Cordiality won this race last year and can get to the winner’s circle again for rolling double players.

Authentic, Race 8

FD Odds: 4/5

The $400K Santa Anita Derby (G2) is not the strongest field, but the two favorites -- Authentic (4/5) and Honor A.P. (9/5) -- are both likely to make it to the Kentucky Derby on September 5.

There's no value in betting these two in a field of seven, but an exacta box and adding this pair to your Late Pick 4 and rolling double tickets can provide a better return. numberFire gives the edge to Authentic over Honor A.P. in a rematch of the San Felipe won wire-to-wire by free-wheeling Authentic, who is three-for-three and improved each race. The Santa Anita surface is kind to front runners now, and Authentic will be tough to pass. Honor A.P. finished a non-threatening second but not fully healthy in his return off a layoff. He’s talented with plenty of room to improve and will relish added distance.

Trainer Bob Baffert goes for his record 10th Santa Anita Derby win with Authentic, and FanDuel Racing gives Authentic a strong 56% chance to win.

TenFold, Race 10

FD Odds: 6/1

The $300K Hollywood Gold Cup (G1) has a compact field of six runners going 1 1/4 miles. Midcourt (2/1) looks to be the horse to beat over the favorite Higher Power (9/5), who is vulnerable as the numberFire preferred pick. Higher Power was the beaten favorite in the Pegasus World Cup in January. Midcourt won four in a row last year and posted a career-best speed figure of 104 two races ago in early February, winning the San Pasqual Stakes.

There are plenty of pressure types with long shot Brown Storm (12/1) to run on the lead along with Improbable (2/1), whose current form is best in here. But an interesting one is Tenfold (6/1) -- a son of Curlin who has hinted at top class but has not won in the past 12 months. Trainer Steve Asmussen has always been a believer, and race fans won’t buy in with a chance at slightly higher odds in Tenfold’s first run at Santa Anita.