Santa Barbara 'Cap And More At Santa Anita

Just before 3 today the parking attendant waved me in. I was more than willing to cough up the $1 general parking fee (fan appreciation day) but the guy was either busy with something or word had come down to just let the people in.

I arrived 5 minutes before the 6th race. I had no time to handicap the race so I just picked up a discarded sports page, flipped to the back and went to the window to box the horses that were the consensus 1-2 in the paper. I bet a 9-2 exacta. 9-1 came in. No great loss.

I was really interested in the 7th race. The Grade II Santa Barbara, 1 1/4 miles on the grass. Fillies and Mares, 4 and up.

So, I went back out front and got a hold of a program and form. Papers in hand, I went back up to the Pavillion, across from the food court, aka the semi-indoor smoking section, crowded with tables and horse-players and gamblers of every sort. My pop was in there with the other regulars and I stood next to him at his table. There were no available chairs.

The 9 - Naughty Rafaela - looked like the one to beat and was being bet accordingly. She had several good recent races and good speed ratings, so I settled on her and began looking for a price to box her with in an exacta, looking for a reason to write off the two favorites at the top, Live Life and Solva . Mabadi looked like a live one. So did another horse that I can't recall. Suffice to say, I boxed the three of them. 6-8-something.

And the 8-6 came in. It paid 36 something on $1. Hooray for me. Trainer Bobby Frankel won his fourth straight Santa Barbara. Hooray for him. David Flores rode the winner.

Races 8-11 were typical fare for me. I hit an exacta that paid $6.60 in the 8th. Lost on a bunch of other stuff and got nipped at the line in the 11th on the back-end of my exacta, by a flying 8-horse that came from the clouds with Douglas Portillo aboard. Way to go Doug! It was such a close finish for 2nd that I was hesitant to chuck my ticket. Even after the race was official. Just in case.

The 9th was 6 1/2 furlongs of insanity. It was the Grade III San Simeon Handicap, 4 year olds and up. Normally an "about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course" but not today. It rained buckets here for the first time in months yesterday and the authorities are no doubt protecting the hill for tomorrow's big one.

So, the race was moved off the hill and the grass and when all was said and done five horses scratched. All the remaining runners were experienced sprinters on dirt and it was a free for all in the betting and handicapping.

I decided to exacta-box the two longest shots on the board. A 9/2 shot and a horse at 5/2. The two favorites at the time of my bet were 7/5 and 8/5. By the time the race went off my 5/2 shot was bet down somewhere into the range of 9/5 or 8/5. He was no longer the third choice.

As far as I recall the horses finished in exact reverse order of their odds at post time. Aaron Gryder rode Bofante to victory and in a 4 horse race the 2-9 $1 winning exacta paid $39.20. The winner paid $14.20. No show wagering. My horses finished 1 and 4.

In the 10th, a horse named Unbeatable East went from 35-1 to 15-1 in one tick with about 8 minutes to post. I already had a few bucks on him because he was a big class dropper. He went off around 25-1 and ran like it.

But for the day, I broke even and that's all I can ask for.

The big one tomorrow is the Grade II San Juan Capistrano, 1 3/4 miles on the turf, starting on the hill. The longest grass race in the country. I'll be there tomorrow and will be pouring over the form tonight so I can hopefully break even again.

Sunday is closing day at Santa Anita, and the last day to watch a race there being contested on old-fashioned dirt. I'm planning to bring my camera with me to get a shot of the dirt.