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The season concludes with a challenging 10-race program that culminates with the San Juan Capistrano being carded as the final race on the program (let’s start a new tradition!). But before diving in, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you, the readers, for your many kind words throughout the season. We didn’t pick every winner – didn’t even come close – but, hopefully, we provided enough insight to make the exercise worthwhile. We'll be back - if management asks us back - for the Oak Tree meeting this coming fall.

Good card today – lots of potential value – but we’ll pass the opener in a race that is hard to get handle on. #2 Warring Heart and #6 Smokey Beau look like stick outs on paper, but they’re not trustworthy and they’re the two favorites on the morning line, anyway. Let’s pass.

Today’s early daily double doesn’t look terribly enticing, so for the sake of action we’ll begin conservatively using #7 Lacey Leilah in the opener and #5 Lyrical Goddess in the second race. Lacey Leilah stretches out for the first time, switches to Rosario, has worked very well of late and looks semi appealing at 3-1 on the morning line. The projected pace of the race should be very soft and if she breaks cleanly she might end up being the controlling speed. As for Lyrical Goddess, she’s a fresh face in a bottom rung maiden claimer and the works indicate she has some ability.

Thursday’s program begins with a low level claiming extended sprint that should be dominated by the two morning line favorites, #1 Stella Mark (5/2) and #5 Swiss Ski (2-1). The former is taking a huge class drop after a series of dull efforts but may have found his friends today and is a solid fit on speed figures. The latter looked very sharp beating a slightly softer field from off the pace, retains Bejarano, and will be hard to handle if he can turn in two alike.

The final week of racing at Santa Anita begins with a decent Wednesday program that offers the potential for profit with various rolling exotics. The opener looks fairly competitive but we’ll zero in on #5 Megastar and #6 Royal F J in this maiden turf event. Megastar, second in his last pair, seems best when held up early and allowed to run late and should like this nine furlong trip. Royal F J keeps running second – he’s finished in the runner up slot five straight times – and while he may lack a winning punch he at least keeps trying and might get lucky eventually, maybe even today.

The Sunday program begins with three rather uninspiring events, so let’s see if we can ace the early Pick-3 with singles in the first, second, and third races. In the opener, #5 El Martillo, exiting a series of strong sprints, stretches out for Baffert following a bullet recent workout, switches to Rosario (who has won with him in the past) and will be tough to beat if he gets the kind of patient ride he seems to prefer. In the second race, #4 Euro Gal exits a fast heat and is wheeled back quickly in nine days by Sadler.

As the 2009-2010 season draws nearer to the end (a week from tomorrow) the field sizes are starting to drop and unplayable races are beginning to mount. There’s an old racetrack axiom that says, “Play the card, don’t let it play you.” Keep that in mind when picking your spots and formulating wagering strategies on programs that won’t be offering an abundance of value.

Saturday’s first race has just fine entered and #3 Saxophone is listed at 3/5 on the morning line. He just crushed a similar field and probably will do so again, but at this price, who cares?

With all eyes focused on Zenyatta’s bid for her 16th consecutive win at Oaklawn Park in the Apple Blossom Invitational today, there’s still money to be made at Santa Anita with a fairly attractive gambling program that calls for plenty of rolling exotic action. We’ll kick things off in the first race using #1 Miss Olivia K and #3 The Women’s Diva in the early daily double, Pick-3 and Pick-4. The former broke her maiden in game style recently and should be a threat on the front end right back despite the raise in class.

Well, we hit the Pick-6 again yesterday – we and anybody else who did hardly got rich – but considering how chalky the card ended up, a payoff for six winners of $1,111.00 on a $324 investment isn’t too bad. The nine consolations on the ticket (each worth $25.80) helped a bit, too.

Not much depth to the Thursday program – unless you like maiden races – so let’s try to make some sense of it all using a little skill and a lot of guesswork.

The penultimate week of racing at Santa Anita for the 2010 winter/spring meeting begins with a $139,664 Pick-6 carryover. We’ll pass the first two races – a short field opener with two logical contenders (#4 Greenwich Park; #5 Noblety; ) and a two furlong dash for two-year-olds (#3 Leslie Rules reportedly is quick). Let’s try to construct a playable ticket for a Pick-6 scheme that looks challenging but not impossible.