Xpressbet writer Jeff Siegel offers his top plays for Friday.
Santa Anita Race 1 (4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT)
#4 Flintmore (2-1)
Lost a toughie in a similar maiden-special-weight affair over this course and distance last month but earned a career top speed figure in the process and has worked extremely well since, so we’re expecting the Phil D’Amato-trained gelding to finally break through and graduate in career start number six. The switch to Umberto Rispoli won’t hurt, so in a race that projects to have soft early splits, the son of Flintshire should be on or near the lead throughout.
Santa Anita Race 9 (8:08 p.m. ET/5:08 p.m. PT)
#8 Pyeong Chang (5-2)
Has much in his favor in this extended sprint for restricted (non-winners of 2) $16,000 older claimers. Comfortably drawn outside, the lightly raced gelding set torrid fractions and paid for it late when nailed on the line in a $25,000 affair last month, but today he won’t have to go nearly as fast to be on or near the lead throughout. With a very nice training track breeze to tick him over, he should have no excuses today and represents wagering value at 5-2 on the morning line.
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