Santa Anita Horse Racing Picks for Sunday 4/9/23

Following Saturday's Santa Anita Derby and Oaks winners, the Santa Anita Classic Meet continues Sunday at "The Great Race Place" with 9 races and post time at 3:00 p.m. ET / 1:00 p.m. local.

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 and Guaranteed Tip Sheet, these are some of the best bets to make at FanDuel Racing today.

1. Whatmakessammyrun and Respect the Code, Race 5

FanDuel Racing Odds: 5/2 and 5/1
Bet Now at TVG | Bet Now at FanDuel

Race 5 is an Allowance race for older horses at 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course. The top pick according to numberFire and Guaranteed Tip Sheet (GTS) is Whatmakessammyrun (5/2), and both like Respect the Code (5/1) to hit the board.

Whatmakessammyrun has been racing against top class horses in graded stakes races, including just missing the board last month. He won a Grade 2 race over this course last fall.

2. First Peace and Conclude, Race 7

FanDuel Racing Odds: 4/1 and 8/5
Bet Now at TVG | Bet Now at FanDuel

Race 7 is the $100,000 John Sheer Stakes for 3-year-olds at 6 1/2 furlongs on the downhill turf course. The numberFire algorithm projects First Peace (4/1) and Helladic (4/1) to decide the winner, and GTS agrees they are win contenders along with the favorite, Conclude (8/5) who is ridden by top jockey Flavien Prat for leading trainer Phil D'Amato.

First Peace makes his 2023 debut. He hit the board in four straight races to close last year including a Grade 3 race. His last outing was a minor stakes over this course going 1-mile finishing second. He'll like the slight cutback in distance running along the lead.

3. Cowboy Mike and Austonian, Race 8

FanDuel Racing Odds: 3/1 and 5/2
Bet Now at TVG | Bet Now at FanDuel


Race 8 is Maiden Special Weight for Cal-bred horse sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs. The numberFire data picks Cowboy Mike (2/1) to win followed by Austonian (5/2), who is the top pick of Guaranteed Tip Sheet.

Cowboy Mike makes his debut for controversial leading trainer Bob Baffert, and the meets top jockey Juan Hernandez rides. Baffert's horses are winning at an elite meet-best 28% clip.

Austonian finished 2nd in his debut race last month as the heavy favorite with a solid 94 speed rating.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.