Santa Anita Park provides the next potentially rich, rollover setting Sunday, amassing a 20 cent Rainbow Pick Six Jackpot pool with a mandatory payout approaching $5 million.
The mandatory payout comes on the 16th and final day of Santa Anita Park’s Autumn Meet. It kicks in provided a single-ticket winner doesn’t solve the puzzle Saturday. On non-mandatory payout days, the Rainbow Pick Six pays out only to one single ticket holding all six winners.
The Rainbow Pick Six covers races five through 10 Sunday. The 10th race is the $200,000 Grade 2 Twilight Derby, featuring Santa Anita Derby winner Rock Your World returning to turf as your 5/2 morning-line favorite. Key contenders awaiting Rock Your World in the 1 1/8-mile turf test for 3-year-olds are Hudson Ridge (5/1), None Above the Law (6/1) and Flashiest (6/1).
Rock Your World cost $650,000 at the September 2019 Keeneland Sale. Sitting on $611,600 in career earnings, he would surpass his purchase price and then some with a victory.
The grass will be greener for this Rainbow Pick Six
The Twilight is one of four races in the Rainbow Pick Six contested on turf. That includes the ninth race, a $63,000 allowance 6 ½ furlongs down Santa Anita’s unique hillside turf course. This is one of the most competitive races on Sunday’s card, featuring six of the nine horses carrying morning-line odds between 3/1 and 6/1. The one’s to watch there are morning-line favorite Mac Daddy (3/1), 7/2 Vantastic and C Falls (4/1).
What stands out on this Santa Anita card is the healthy field sizes. Like virtually every track coping with declining foal numbers, the iconic track struggled last season with field sizes. But Sunday’s field averages 9.5 horses per race.