1/ST BET Horse Racing Predictions from Santa Anita:

We are excited to announce a renewed partnership with the fine folks and handicappers at 1/ST BET. Jeremy Plonk and Jeff Siegel will be sharing their expertise on a weekly basis to pass along some ponies that they like for races at various tracks around the country, including Santa Anita.

For this Friday, December 27 article, Jeff Siegel shares everything you need to know for the racing card for opening day at Santa Anita.

Santa Anita Race 4: Post: 1:30 PT 
Main Ticket: March of Time.

Forecast: March of Time earned a powerful speed figure when a very promising second in his debut more than a year ago at Los Alamitos but then disappeared. The son of Justify returns for trainer Bob Baffert and has looked sensational in the morning, even better than last year when he left at 4/5 before just missing after a troubled trip.  He should make no mistakes today.  A recent breeze when stride-for-stride while slightly best with the stakes-quality older sprinter Pilot Commander tells us all we need to know about his present condition and his natural ability.  

Santa Anita Race 5: Post: 2:00 PT
Main Ticket: 7-Eternal Reign (Ire).

Forecast: Eternal Reign (Ire) makes her U.S. debut in this maiden special weight turf miler for fillies and mares, and based on her Irish form and her local workouts, the Philip D’Amato-trained import should be a very short price to graduate.  She’ll likely settle in the second fight and then rally when called upon under Flavien Prat before going on to bigger and better things.  None of the other entrants in the field have ever earned a Beyer figure that exceeds par for this level, which tells us that this really isn’t much of a group.  Reign, on the other hand, might be fairly decent.