Pick 3 of the Week: Santa Anita Saturday [Sept. 27]

A handful of graded races with major Breeders’ Cup implications will lead the way on a fine afternoon of racing at Santa Anita on Saturday. I’ll take aim at the closing Pick 3 on the card consisting of a trio of graded tilts. 

Race 8 Wager

• $3 Pick 3: 1,5,8 with 4,7 with 1,6,13 ($54)

Race 8 – Eddie D. S. (G2)

The boys will dash 6 1/2 furlongs on the Hillside Turf Course in a tricky opening leg. I think that #5 Yellow Card (7-2) is ready to break through with his initial stakes score for Mike McCarthy. The Lost Treasure colt ran two good ones at Del Mar to kick off 2025 and could peak third off the shelf in his first try on the unique course. 

#1 Reef Runner (3-1) crossed the wire in first prior to being ultimately placed second in the Green Flash S. (G3) at Del Mar in his California debut for David Fawkes. While he was sent postward at 18-1 odds in the dash, I don’t think that he was a fluke, and the gelding looms large with Paco Lopez coming out to retain the mount. #8 First Peace (9-2) dons a 6-3-3-0 mark at the distance and also won the contest last year as the favorite. He’s logical. 

Race 9 – Goodwood S. (G1)

Despite the presence of a trio of runners from the Baffert barn, all of which are three-year-olds, I expect this to be a two-horse tilt at the end of the contest. Multiple Grade 2 victor #4 First Mission (8-5) has run four very good ones from four tries in 2025, and the Godolphin homebred should handle this surface while making his local bow. The Street Sense five-year-old will never be far back with Paco in the stirrups. 

Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile (G1) hero #7 Full Serrano (2-1) toasted an overmatched allowance group at Del Mar in his initial run of the season. The Full Mast six-year-old retains Juan Hernandez and will be forcing the action from the opening bell from an advantageous outside slot. 

Race 10 – John C. Harris S. (G3)

Sophomore fillies will jaunt 6 1/2 panels down the hill to close out the card. A huge field of 13 will vie in the grassy finale and I have to include multiple runners in the closing segment. #1 Warming (7-2) has a tricky post on the cutback in distance for Graham Motion, but the chestnut exits a pair of tough assignments at Saratoga and appears to be a nice fit in the cast. Umberto Rispoli will bring this lass from off the pace in her California debut. 

Baffert’s #6 Casalu (5-1) bagged the Sweet Life S. in her lone local run down the hill and might be the one to beat beneath Kimura. I’ve long liked Leonard Powell’s #13 Miso Phansy (12-1). The Karakontie filly loves the surface and has been first or second in all three sprint races in her career.