Kentucky Oaks Prep Race Picks at Santa Anita for Saturday 1/28/23

The Santa Anita Classic Meet continues, and Saturday features 9 races with two stakes including a Kentucky Oaks points race. Post time to start the day is at 3:30 p.m. ET.

As always, check the program for scratches and changes, and monitor the weather and track conditions.

(I will reference Equibase's Speed Figure in selected races, which tells you how fast a horse has been running in each of its races after adjusting for track, distances, and conditions).

Santa Anita Betting

According to numberFire horse racing projections, these are the best bets to make at FanDuel Racing today.

1. Pride of the Nile and Faiza, Race 2

FanDuel Racing Odds: 5/2 and 4/1

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Race 2 is the $200,000 Grade 3 Las Virgenes Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 mile. This is a Kentucky Oaks prep race offering 20-8-6-4-2 points to the top-five finishers. The numberFire top picks are Pride of the Nile (3/1) and favorite Faiza (8/5) in the 6-horse field.

Pride of the Nile is ridden by the meets top jockey Juan Hernandez for leading trainer Doug O'Neill, who also trains Broadway Girls (8/1). Bob Baffert-trained Faiza is 2-for-2 after winning the Grade 1 Starlet Stakes last month by a head over Pride of the Nile.

2. Moon Ice and Spirtual Advisor, Race 7

FanDuel Racing Odds: 6/5 and 3/1

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Race 7 is a Maiden Special Weight for Cal-bred 3-year-olds sprinting 6 furlongs on the turf. The numberFire algorithm projects the heavy favorite Moon Ice (6/5) to win with top jockey Juan Hernandez riding. Spirtual Advisor (3/1) and Buck Owens (4/1) complete the across-the-board finish.

Moon Ice finished runner-up as the favorite three weeks ago when losing by a head as the favorite. Spiritual Advisor finished 3rd in that race with a bad start and clipping heels, but was also disqualified. Top turf jockey Umberbo Rispoli rides Buck Owens, who has failed to hit the board in three starts.

3. Tripoli and Hopper, Race 8

FanDuel Racing Odds: 4/1 and 5/2

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Race 8 is the $200,000 Grade 2 San Pasqual Stakes for older horses at 1 1/8 miles. Messier (6/1) is the upset winner by numberFire's data ahead of Hopper (5/2) and Newgrange (3/1).

Hopper and Messier break from the inside and outside posts (1 and 9) for controversial trainer Bob Baffert. Messier has raced poorly in three starts since finishing 15th in the Kentucky Derby. He did finish runner-up in last year's Santa Anita Derby. Hopper has been off since last June when he won a Grade 3 race with a 100 speed figure in his third start.

Tripoli (4/1) for trainer Jon Sadler is in better form and also won the 2021 Grade 1 TVG Pacific Classic.