Betting With, and Against, Locked in the Santa Anita Handicap

An excellent field of nine will travel 1 1/4 miles on Saturday in the feature on a huge day of racing in California in the $300,000 Santa Anita H. (G1). Grade 1 winner #7 Locked (3-2), who comes off of a second-place finish in the Pegasus World Cup (G1) in his latest endeavor, is the one to beat for conditioner Todd Pletcher. 

Locked – With

• $2 trifecta key 7 with 1,2,3,9 ($24)
• $1 superfecta key 7 with 1,2,3,9 ($24)

Locked – Against

• $2 trifecta key 3 with 1,2,7,9 ($24)
• $1 trifecta 1,3 with 1,2,3,7,9 with 1,2,3,7,9 ($24)

The lightly raced son of Gun Runner bagged the 2023 Breeders’ Futurity (G1) at Keeneland prior to closing for third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) on this surface to conclude his juvenile season. Locked went 2-for-2 in 2024, with a facile allowance win which preceded an impressive score in the Cigar Mile H. (G2), with both of those tallies coming at Aqueduct. He has posted a trio of solid morning drills in anticipation of his second run at this venue, and he will also don blinkers for the first time too. Jose Ortiz will be in the stirrups. 

#3 Hit Show (5-2) had a great prep for this contest with a rallying win in the Louisiana S. (G3) at Fair Grounds while running 1 1/16 miles in his 2025 debut. The Brad Cox pupil has won four of five coming into this event, all of the graded variety, and his running style seems ideal for handling 10 furlongs. The five-year-old son of Candy Ride has the positional speed to stay in touch early before unleashing his late kick under Flavien Prat. 

#1 Express Train (10-1) has lost a step or two since his peak in 2022 when he won this race, but I give the John Shirreffs a top-three chance, nonetheless. The eight-year-old son of Union Rags is a three-time graded stakes winner on the oval who is making a third run off the shelf, and the Kentucky-bred bay is also well-drawn on the rail for this encounter, as well. He exits a solid second-place run in the San Pasqual S. (G2) and will have Hector Berrios in the irons. 

#9 Tarantino (12-1) has turned out to be an excellent claim by trainer Peter Eurton, and the bay son of Pioneerof the Nile has some things going for him in the race as a longshot contender. The seven-year-old gelding is bred to run the distance, he has very good current form, and the bay also has a good slot on the outside to let Edwin Maldonado see how the pace plays out to his inside. He was too close to a heated early tempo most recently when third in the San Pasqual (G2) and will be dangerous with a more sensible voyage in this one. 

I’m not sure what to make of Baffert’s #2 New King (8-1) after he registered a massive 114 Brisnet Late Pace number in a recent allowance win, but if he repeats that at 1 1/4 miles, then the Into Mischief colt could be a factor at a price in his stakes debut beneath Mike Smith.