2024 Santa Anita Handicap odds, horses, field: Racing insider offers best bets for Sunday's race
SportsLine racing analyst Michelle Yu offers her best bets for the historic Big Cap at her home track, Santa Anita
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One of the country's most storied horse races takes place when seven older horses leave the starting gate in the 2024 Santa Anita Handicap on Sunday at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. San Pasqual Stakes winner Newgrange is the 5-2 favorite in the 2024 Santa Anita Handicap odds. The lightly raced Highland Falls is 3-1 in the 2024 Santa Anita Handicap field.
Post time is set for 7 p.m. ET. With several accomplished horses set to enter the starting gate on Sunday, you'll want to see what Santa Anita-based racing reporter and analyst Michelle Yu has to say before making any Santa Anita Handicap picks. Join SportsLine here to see who she's picking!
Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.
Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager two years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.
Last year she crushed the Saudi Cup, riding 15-1 winner Panthalassa, nailed Derma Sotogake to win the UAE Derby and hit the exacta in the Santa Anita Derby. She hit the exacta in the Preakness Stakes and Hollywood Gold Cup and had both the winner and exacta in the Summertime Oaks and the Prince of Wales's Stakes. She also smashed the Haskell Stakes for a $663 score, hitting 12-1 winner Geaux Rocket Ride as well as the exacta. Two months ago, she correctly called National Treasure to win the Pegasus World Cup.
Now, Yu has handicapped the 2024 Santa Anita Handicap horses, made her picks and constructed her bets. Join SportsLine here to see them.
One surprise: Yu is fading Highland Falls, even though he's the second choice in the odds, at 3-1. "Outside the Breeders' Cup, Cox is 1-for-5 shipping into Santa Anita for Grade 1 races. In addition, Highland Falls will be making a significant step up in class on Sunday facing stakes company for the first time. "He's not impossible for a piece, but there are a lot of question marks," Yu told SportsLine.
Moreover, Yu is high on a horse with a "closing kick." Also, her top pick is a horse who "has been confident, strong and resilient." She is including these horses in her 2024 Santa Anita Handicap bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY need to see her picks before locking in any of your own.
So who wins the 2024 Santa Anita Handicap? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2024 Santa Anita Handicap picks and horse-by-horse analysis, all from the Santa Anita-based insider!
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