Santa Anita Horse Racing Picks (Mar 8)

A high-quality afternoon of horse racing action is set for Santa Anita on Saturday, March 8, 2025, with the G1 Beholder Mile headlining the card in California. You can find our picks for the stakes action at the track here.

Santa Anita Horse Racing Picks

G1 Beholder Mile Stakes (R8- 6:43 PM ET)

A small but select field will contest the G1 Beholder Mile at Santa Anita this weekend. A mile on the dirt will be covered by the field, with legendary winners of the race including Beholder, Swiss Skydiver, and Zenyatta.

This year’s contest doesn’t boast the same world-class field, but the potentially unexposed Cavalieri could be interesting from the Bob Baffert stable. The four-year-old has won three from three career starts, and was an excellent winner at Santa Anita on her latest start when landing the G3 La Canada Stakes.

However, the more trusted contender could be Brad Cox’s Tarifa. The four-year-old mixed it at the highest level last season when finishing third in the G1 Cotillion Stakes, while she is also a Grade Two winner after landing the Mother Goose and Fair Grounds Oaks.

G3 San Simeon Stakes (R9- 7:15 PM ET)

The G3 San Simeon Stakes is the ninth race on the card at Santa Anita this weekend, with the field competing over six furlongs on the turf. Mucho Del Oro looks like the runner to beat after cruising to victory in this race 12 months ago.

However, it could be his stablemate that is best placed to throw down a challenge on Saturday. Doug O’Neill is also represented by Anarchist, who has been clocking some respectable speed figures in graded company.

He was a winner of the G2 Pat O’Brien Stakes over seven furlongs at Del Mar last year, and he returned to action with a decent enough fifth over course and distance in the G3 Palos Verdes. Likely needed that run to get back up to speed, and he is slightly overpriced based on his second in this race in 2023.

Santa Anita Park Horse Racing Picks- Mar 8