Over the next week, there will be some major changes to this website. I believe for the better. So please bear with me as this takes place.

We will still provide our free daily selection for Betfair Hollywood Park. Which had three straight winners last week.

Not bad, considering we only gave out one horse in each of those days.

Thanks and Good Luck,

Track President Jack Liebau has officially announced that (Betfair) Hollywood Park will shut its doors to horse racing after the fall meet this year.

Hollywood Park was arguably the most innovative track in Southern California, especially when it came to wagering. Hollywood Park was responsible for launching the Pick Six (the local version of Agua Caliente’s 5-10 wager), and Superfecta betting in the area.

Many horsemen believe they possess the best (and safest ) racing surface amongst the local tracks.

The track will now give way to multipurpose land development, although the Hollywood Park Casino will remain standing.

Obviously, Santa Anita Park will benefit most when racing dates are adjusted and granted for 2014.

There will be plenty of articles covering this sad news in the coming days, here is one for now.

Have a good one,

A few changes have been made to Top Ten Turf effective today.

• A dedicated Betfair Hollywood Page, this is where you will find the free pick of the day as well as recent picks
• The feature Un-Stable Notes has been discontinued,however there will be more articles posted on a daily basis.
• More information will be made available on the fastest growing part of horse-racing which is Advanced Deposit Wagering..aka internet betting or betting from home.

More changes will be made to the site this week which will hopefully provide a better experience for all.

Thanks for visiting,

Santa Anita ended its 2012-13 Winter Meet with a mixed bag of results. Here is an excerpt from a Daily Racing Form interview with Track President George Haines.

“ARCADIA, Calif. – The Santa Anita winter-spring meeting ended Sunday with a slight gain in all-sources handle, but a sizable drop in on-track business, according to the track’s president, George Haines.

The track released limited business and handle data.

In an interview, Haines said the all-sources handle rose 4 percent. On-track handle fell 10 percent on comparative days from the 2011-12 winter-spring season, while on-track attendance was down 9 percent, he said.”

I am not sure why Santa Anita would want to release limited business and handle data. OK maybe I do know, because the news is not good. Here is the good news.

“The gain in all-sources handle was caused by an increase of approximately 40 percent in account wagering through telephone and Internet sources.”

“Our greatest strength has been in [the account wagering] side of our business,” he said. “We’re up close to 40 percent.”

So basically Internet wagering saved Santa Anita’s ass…. somewhat. That being established, I got a laugh out of their publicity release (posted on the home page of their website) of how the meet turned out.

ARCADIA, Calif. (April 21, 2013)—Santa Anita Park, which will again host the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships on Nov. 1 & 2, concluded its 76th winter/spring meeting on Sunday with overall handle up four percent. The increase was fueled, in part, by strong gains in Account Deposit Wagering (ADW) handle through its 71-day meet which began on Dec. 26.

The increase was fueled, in part? How about fueled entirely by gains in ADW. Some things never change.

Stewards get it right this time

On closing day’s 8th race at Santa Anita #5 Tiz Futurity was declared a non-starter and any bets on him were refunded in accordance with the pari-mutuel rules. The stewards decided that Tiz Futurity was denied a fair start when he lunged as the gates opened but was held by an assistant starter.

This decision was in contrast to an earlier decision that was made on a horse (Harlington Night) on January 17th, race 4. That day the stewards determined that Harlington Night lunged through the gate but caused his own problems, no refunds were given. Although Harlington Night would have been disqualified had he finished the race with the rider aboard.

Rules are still muddled a bit, but it was the right call this time.

Santa Anita Twitter Misses Again

After the stewards ruled that the #5 Tiz Futurity (see above)  is a non-starter and bets shall be refunded, there was some confusion among bettors (at the track and ONLINE) as to what happens to their wager especially regarding the Pick 3, Pick 4, Daily Doubles etc…

You would think that the Official Santa Anita Twitter Account would have some information (or at least acknowledge it) but this is all that was tweeted.

The usual congrats to everyone for winning (which is cool). But how about some usable info? Maybe someone should have put a fedora on Tiz Futurity, that would have caught  their attention, since fashion seemed to be the most important thing happening most days.

Great Choice for Employee of the Meet

Frank Garcia, who is the Head Stable Gateman at Santa Anita was named Employee of the Meet. In the few years that I worked for Santa Anita, I could say that Frank was always pleasant and professional. What more can you ask?

Have a very lucky week,

Yes, Unstable Notes was a day late this week, my apologies.

Closing Day is upon us at Santa Anita. We will continue on at Betfair Hollywood Park with some good changes. Check back with us on Wednesday with the Un-Stable Notes, and information on the upcoming Betfair Hollywood Park meet.

♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦

Race 1   # 7  Pure Blush  (J. Talamo)  5-1

Results: 2nd at 7-1

Not a strong opinion here, but #1 Swingaway will probably be over-bet so lets take a shot with this girl.

Race 2  #3  Procurement  (G. Gomez)  6-5

Results: Winner at $3.60

Virtual rerun of Pasadena Stakes. Just hope you get something above even money on this 3 year old.

Race 4  #8  Inflamed Spirit (T. Baze)  8-1

Results : Winner at $16.60

If your trying to beat the favorite Baby Blake, why not a Doug O’ Neill horse? It is a pretty evenly matched race. This should be a much better distance for him.

Race 5  #5  Circle the Moon ( E. Maldonado)  5-2

Results: Winner at $6.40

The tepid morning line favorite gets a significant rider change to Maldonado (from Quinonez) has a pace advantage here and a mile suits him perfect.

Race #7  #7  Smart Ellis  (V. Espinoza)  4-1

Results : 3rd at 4-1

If Mandella thinks he can go this far then I’m good with that. It really looks like he is coming up to a good race here. This San Juan certainly lacks star power but is a decent betting race for a seven horse field.

Race #9  #3  Indygo F M A (R.Bejarano) 9-2

        and  #8  Scooter Bird  (V.Espinoza)  6-1

Results: Indygo F M A  2nd ,  Scooter Bird 5th

Usually don’t give out two horses, but I could not separate these, I believe you may get a better price on Scooter’ .

Good Luck,

Manny Marquez