The $3 Turf Pick 3 is an interesting wager that offers lots of opportunity with typically larger turf fields and a $3.00 base wager. For example, on Thursday, the Santa Anita Turf Pick 3 returned $96 on a $3 bet. The win payouts were a measly $4.00, $2.80 and $8.40, with a $3 parlay of $35.28. So the $96 payout was 272% of the parlay. 

With three California Cup races on the turf, the Santa Anita Turf Pick 3 offers some nice opportunity today with field sizes of 8, 11 and 12. At the $3 minimum wager, this Pick 3 has potential for some nice payouts. 

I’ve enlisted the help of HRN’s Power Picks and AI odds to help sort through some interesting fields and opportunities. 

Santa Anita race 7, 5:28 p.m. EST (6 1/2 furlongs on downhill turf)

This Sunshine Millions Filly and Mare Turf Sprint features a very slow projected pace score of just 10, which strongly favors frontrunners and early types. Stay and Scam is the deserving 6-5 morning line favorite and Power Picks top choice with a score of 40, showing clear separation from second choice Moment’s Pleasure (70). The projected slow pace scenario particularly benefits Stay and Scam who has good early speed. I’d also give a look to Andiamo Ragazza, a 10-1 shot on the morning line trainer by Peter Miller and ridden by Juan Hernandez. She finished just a neck behind Stay and Scam in a similar stakes race in October which also featured a slower pace.

Santa Anita race 9, 6:30 p.m. EDT (1 1/8 miles on turf)

The Unusual Heat Turf Classic presents a moderate pace scenario with an HRN pace score of 58. Old Pal stands out as the clear morning-line favorite at 8-5 and the HRN top power pick with a score of 48, showing significant 20-point separation from Aligato in second. That being said, the race seems to be a bit more open than that. Old Pal’s morning line could float a bit as the AI projects final odds of 2-1, with fair odds of 5-2.

Aligato at 6-1 appears fairly priced according to AI projections, while Coalinga Road at 8-1 may offer some value with AI odds of 9-2 and fair odds of 3-1. Finally, give consideration to Takes Three, who offers a juicy price at 12-1 coming in off a two-race win streak and a string of good works. 

Santa Anita race 11, 7:30 p.m. EST (one mile on turf)

The Leigh Ann Howard California Cup Oaks features a fast potential pace with a score of 95, so we may want to look for a closer. However, there aren’t many among this group of 3-year-old fillies. Interestingly, Power Picks favors Tequilaandtherapy at 6-1 over 5-2 morning line favorite Hey Jessie. To me, the best play is Hey Jessie, with Take Another Card and Miso Phansy as secondary considerations. The AI odds indicate a strong chance of value on Hey Jessie, predicting she will drift to 3-1 from a 5-2 morning line, but with fair odds of 7-5 suggesting she is be the one to beat. The AI odds also say that Miso Phansy at 8-1 could be interesting, projecting odds dropping to 5-1 off odds with fair odds of 4-1. I would also look at Take Another Card who won her debut 20 days ago.