Santa Anita & Arima Kinen Handicapping: Player-Friendly Wagers, Fan Votes

Key Quotes

"The late week show opens with a preview of the Opening Day action at Santa Anita Park this Sunday (Dec. 28) with PTF and JK analyzing the card alongside broadcaster Michelle Yu. The three offered best bets for the day on the show, including: Michelle Yu - Tempus Volat in Race 5 & Nysos in Race 10; JK - Her Laugh in Race 8; PTF - Suchet in Race 9."

This quote introduces the main participants of the podcast and highlights specific horse selections for Santa Anita Opening Day. It sets the stage for the detailed race analysis that follows, indicating the experts' initial picks for key races.

"The coast to coast pick five combining races from gulfstream and santa anita and also the sunset six which is easier to describe because that one's going to always be the last three from gulfstream the last three from santa anita these are player friendly wagers folks a retail only meaning the biggest computer players access is going to be limited in these pools 15 takeout dollar minimum and no consos so that means carryovers if they are not hit we're going to have pop up shows and lots of coverage for you all meet long on the in the money media network we encourage you to check it out"

This passage describes specific betting opportunities available to players, emphasizing their "player friendly" nature with a 15% takeout and no consolation payouts. The author, PTF, highlights these wagers as a key feature for the Santa Anita Opening Day coverage.

"Well, I mean, I think it's, yeah, you got to treat them like individuals. You know, with Nysos, obviously, he, he kind of had an interrupted career, right? So it's not like he ran all last year pointing to the Breeders' Cup and then this is kind of like some weird afterthought. Clearly, he's kind of working on a like on a different schedule than the rest of the horses because, you know, he ran in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and ran extremely well. This feels like a bridge to get to a race like the Pegasus or a race to to to to those races in the in the, uh, in the spring and in in, uh, in the Middle East."

JK explains his perspective on handicapping Breeders' Cup winners returning to the races, emphasizing individual assessment. He specifically discusses Nysos, noting the horse's interrupted career and positioning this race as a stepping stone to future major events.

"I mean, this race is super tough. You have a a massive field in here, you got a lot of shippers, and we got that challenging seven-furlong distance. So again, I always like horses on the turn back. I thought that George Weaver's horse was interesting, but coming off a really long layoff, and you know, California horses are really fast. This horse is not going to be anything close to the lead. Right? She's not going to be able to sniff the front. So maybe she's going to be a little over bet, and unless she can come from a little farther back, I don't know if she's going to be as, uh, effective."

Michelle Yu analyzes the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes, highlighting its difficulty due to a large field, shippers, and the seven-furlong distance. She expresses reservations about a particular horse coming off a layoff, suggesting it might be overvalued if it cannot adapt to a potentially fast pace.

"The majority of the runners, 10 out of the 16 in the field, are selected by a vote from racing fans and they must be registered within the Japanese or Japan Racing Association JRA. And so please keep in mind that there's two main racing jurisdictions in Japan, there's the JRA and the NAR, which is a National Association of Racing, and typically those those tracks are a little bit, um, smaller in scale, not not to take anything away from them. A lot of horses cross over, but they need to be registered in the JRA."

Alex Henry explains the fan-voting mechanism for the Arima Kinen, detailing how 10 of the 16 runners are chosen by registered JRA fans. He clarifies the distinction between the JRA and NAR racing jurisdictions in Japan.

"I'm going to be selfish and go in that ninth race where we all agree in the Santa Gabriel with the idea of Suchet, the seven runner, that'll be my best bet here on the Santa Anita. Is that best bet most likely winner or best payoff? It's what it's it's the horse in this in it can be either. What I'm asking is who are you personally, Michelle? If like I've just told you personally with your risk tolerance, whatever, if you could only bet one, who would it be?"

Pete Thomas, the host, designates Suchet in the ninth race as his best bet and then asks Michelle Yu to identify her single best bet, emphasizing the personal choice based on risk tolerance. This exchange highlights the segment's focus on definitive, high-conviction selections.