Horses to watch in Santa Anita's Rainbow Pick 6 dispersal Feb. 6

Provided there is no single winning ticket on Friday's card, expect a big pool in Saturday's Rainbow Pick 6 at Santa Anita. There will be a mandatory dispersal of the pool, which track officials estimate will exceed $5 million.

The 20-cent sequence starts in Race 5 (post time 5 p.m. ET) and includes two graded stakes. Here are a couple horses of interest worth considering on tickets.

Race 5

Although she has to contend with several dropping down from maiden special weight company, #11 HALF HOPING (8-1) turned in a useful debut against state-bred $50,000 maiden claimers on opening day of the meet. Breaking well and pressing the pace before settling a couple lengths behind around the turn, she wound up finishing second best to a blowout winner.

Post is no great shakes, but her positional speed might be good enough to overcome any potential negative effects. She also adds Lasix for a heat in which she's eligible to show natural progression.

Race 8 -- Thunder Road (G3)

#2 HIT THE ROAD (4-1) was just starting to hit his best stride in the three-year-old ranks last summer when a minor injury knocked him out for nearly all of the season's second half. The good news is that he's 4-for-6 on turf (2-of-3 on the Santa Anita lawn including a juvenile stakes), and his two setbacks on the surface perhaps could be blamed in part for lagging behind against fields more congested than this.

In a local division that's not especially strong, this son of More Than Ready has the potential to make an impact this season starting here. Also like the fact he showed last spring that he's more than capable firing fresh off an extended layoff.