Analysis & Selections By: Dean Keppler @Keppskorner
BEST BET: 3-No More Ding Dongs (Race 2)
Race #1: Selections: 3-4-5
3-French Moonlight gets the tepid vote in the Saturday afternoon opener to kick off the early pick five. The 4-year-old filly rallied for the place spot when finishing in front of several of these on Jan. 8, co-tops the field’s best last-out grass Beyer (57), and goes second off the bench for Powell. 4-Suntory Time just missed the place spot, exiting the same race as the top choice when breaking a step slow, but could offer the most upside, making only career try number four. 5-Jennys Wine Girl moves back to the turf, stepping up to face Maiden Special Weight competition, but her lone grass try two-back to close out 2025 was a sharp third-place effort that matches up well here figure-wise.
Race #2: Selections: 3-2-6
3-No More Ding Dongs holds a rare triple Beyer advantage over the rest of this field and exits a game second-place finish on Jan. 10, facing similar. The 5-year-old gelding goes first off the claim today for conditioner Charlie Treece and has worked twice since that last effort. 2-Magic Connection drops from $25k claimers down to today’s $10,000 level for trainer Hector Palma and shortens back up to his preferred 5 ½-furlong trip. A recent maiden winner under the lights at Los Al, going 1,000 yards, 6-Make It a Large returns to the Santa Anita main track off a relatively quick turnaround. The gelding projects to clear this field with today’s outside draw for his first crack against winners.
Race #3: Selections: 3-5-4
3-She’s Limitless (by Caracaro) goes turf to dirt in start number two for Team Baffert after a subpar last-place finish when debuting on grass Jan. 31. This lucrative jockey-trainer combo scored last Sunday with Forced Entry, who drew off to an impressive 7 ¼-length win with the same surface switch maneuver in start number two. 5-Brooklyn Blonde (a $510k Keeneland purchase by Gun Runner) was a disappointing last and seventh when last seen debuting at Del Mar over the summer, but has trained steadily in recent weeks for McCarthy and adds Lasix for career try number two. Kimura sticks. 4-Feisty Red Head rallied nicely for the place spot on debut Jan. 26, earning a field’s best (62) main track Beyer. The $650k son of Curlin is likely to move forward off that sharp try, for a barn that has strong second-out dirt sprint stats.
Race #4: Selections: 5-2-4
5-Parnelli Jones returns as a first-time gelding in start number two for trainer Mark Glatt, exiting a third-place finish on Nov. 29. The 3-year-old adds Lasix today, and this barn is 18 for 73 (25%) with a $2.47 ROI the past five years with second-time main track sprint starts. 2-Positive Times flashed speed and tired to finish an even fifth on debut for conditioner Ryan Hanson on Jan. 8, but is eligible to move forward off that effort in career try number two. The sophomore colt gets a key rider change to Kazushi Kimura. 4-Tommy Norris makes career try number eight today, as the most experienced 3-year-old in the field. The speedy son of Stanford makes the third start of the form cycle this afternoon after battling through some spirited early splits before fading to fourth in the aforementioned Jan. 8 event.
Race #5: Selections: 4-1-5
Last year’s victor, 4-El Potente, appears poised for the repeat for trainer Dan Blacker in the 2026 Thunder Road (G3). The veteran 7-year-old is 6-for-16 lifetime and gets some class relief today, dropping out of back-to-back Grade 2 events. He’s never been off the board, going this one-mile trip (5-3-1-1), and should prove tough to reel in late with an alert break on the stretch out. 1-Gas Me Up defeated the top choice as the 13-1 upset winner of the G2 Joe Hernandez back on Dec. 29 with an impressive last-to-first wide flourishing finish over the downhill layout. The Hard Spun 6-year-old sports the field’s best last-out Beyer (100) and has already proven he handles this trip. An odds-on beaten favorite in the last, 5-Namaron (Ger) has now run third in all three Stateside tries for trainer John Sadler, still looking for his first win on American soil.
Race #6: Selections: 5-7-4
BC Filly & Mare Sprint (G1) winner 5-Splendora makes her 2026 unveiling as the heavy chalk to take her fourth straight win for Baffert. This talented daughter of Audible has been first or second in 9 of 10 lifetime starts. She has trained splendidly for today’s return to action off the three-month mini-freshening, including an eye-catching bullet five furlongs in :58.1 on Jan. 24. The lightly raced Garde-1 placed 7-Formula Rossa has run first or second in four career tries for Glatt, exiting a sharp second in the La Brea (G1) on Dec. 28 behind runaway winner Usha. 4-Irina’s Charm is aggressively placed by D’Amato off his Jan. 11 allowance optional claiming win, but that was this mare’s first try off a year’s layoff, and this Justify 5-year-old should be closing strongly through the lane if things heat up on the frontend.
Race #7: Selections: 4-7-2
The lightly raced and recent grass maiden route winner, 4-Strait Up Country, looks to move forward again, making his first crack against winners for trainer Brendan Galvin. The 4-year-old gelded son of Smiling Tiger switches to Hernandez this afternoon and is a gate-to-wire threat again despite the class hike. 7-Warm Sun and Brew has improved Beyer-wise with each subsequent start for conditioner Mark Glatt and stretches back out today off a recent runner-up sprint try on Jan. 15. The son of Clubhouse Ride was a one-mile maiden winner at Del Mar two back, and sports the field’s best last-out turf Beyer (81). 2-Sir Percival moves inside today off a solid runner-up finish on Jan. 10 for his first try around two turns and projects to get another favorable upfront-pressing trip.
Race #8: Selections: 1-4-2
Trainer Bob Baffert has won the Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis 13 times. He sends out three sophomore colts this afternoon, led by Del Mar Futurity (G1) and American Pharoah (G1) runner-up 1-Desert Gate. The son of Omaha Beach returns off a four-month freshening off a steady worktab and has been first or second in all four lifetime starts. He draws the rail, has good positional speed, and retains Hernandez. 4-Intrepido lost all realistic chance in the BC Juvenile (G1) when breaking about two lengths behind from the rail draw when facing the likes of 2-year-old male Eclipse award winner and recently sidelined early Derby favorite Ted Noffey. A winner of the aforementioned Del Mar Futurity prior to that BC try, the Maximus Mischief colt is fully capable of a rebound effort for Mullins, shortening up to a mile. A second Baffert colt, 2-Plutarch, returns to dirt off an impressive 4 ½-length maiden grass win back on Nov. 30 and finished behind the top pair in the DMF three back. The Into Mischief colt exits a pair of bullet six-furlong stamina drills since that last winning try.
Race #9: Selections: 10-6-2-5
Never worse than first or second in four lifetime starts, 10-Mohaven makes his grass debut off an October stakes score in the 7-furlong Golden State Juvenile Fillies S. She’s by Yaupon, who gets an ordinary 12% with grass sprint starters, but this talented filly is nicely drawn outside with good positional speed for Sadler and can win the nightcap at likely overlaid odds. Baffert’s 6-Himika is unproven on turf but is a multiple stakes winner (including the G3 Sorrento) and has enough grass pedigree to suggest she will handle the downhill course just fine with the return of the winning barn’s go-to rider, Juan Hernandez. 2-La Ville Lumiere has never tried the SA downhill layout, but is 2-for-2 over the regular grass course here and exits a game win in the Dec. 29 Blue Norther S. over a pair of today’s returning rivals. 5-Light Won Up is one of two fillies from the Doug O’Neill barn. The daughter of City of Light flashed speed and tired in Churchill’s Debutante S. when last seen eight months ago and now returns to Southern California for start number three off some strong a.m. drills. She defeated La Ville Lumiere in a well-backed debut last May over this course—albeit over dirt.
