Try these horses at Hollywood Park today
Here are a few selections worth playing today:
4th -- General Dan goes from optional claimers into a claiming event and has won one of five at the distance.
5th -- The Big One has finished first or second in three of five races at the distance and retains the services of the hustling Martin Pedroza. Lockford deserves a look in the spot as well.
7th -- Dadsalittleunusual lost a photo in his last and is being stepped up in class, a formula that often results in victory. South Coast figures in this spot as well. Martin Jones and Joe Talamo click at 21 percent when they team up, and the 5-year-old gelding has been first or second in seven of 12 starts.
8th -- Stitchit and Paddlin Mud could both win here. They both deserve to be included in any late exotics, including pick threes and pick fours.
For those of us who missed fourth-race winner One Track Mind ($23), there's some consolation in knowing that horses like this still will win on a synthetic surface, even though synthetics aren't as friendly to front-runners as dirt tracks are. One Track Mind came into today's race a classic sprinter-stretching-out, trying 1 1/16 miles for the first time after experiencing mixed luck with early-speed tactics at 6 to 7 furlongs. Often a horse like this will find it easier to grab the lead in a longer, slower-paced race, and last longer. One Track Mind did just that at 10-1 odds. When synthetic surfaces came in, I feared this angle wouldn't work as well. Fear not.