Favorites dominated in Santa Anita’s Late Pick 4 last Friday, winning the first three legs of the 50-cent wager. But the dialogue could change this Friday with large, competitive fields. Here’s a closer look:

SA 6th race (6:30 p.m. EST) -- R AWESOME KID pressed the pace until the odds-on favorite swept by him late on the final turn, but he held third on the stretch-out to today’s distance, finishing 1-1/4 lengths ahead of a rival who posted a front-end victory at this level in his next start. He makes his third start of a cycle for trainer Jeff Mullins, who is 11/4-2-2 with maiden claimers at Santa Anita in 2025. TWILIGHT TIME took the worst of a traffic jam at the break but recovered to show some interest while 6-wide in the stretch off an eight-month layoff. He gets class relief, should appreciate the added ground and is worth using at 10-1 on the morning line. PIO NONO was in tight around the first turn and weaving through early stretch traffic until he found his best stride too late under the same race conditions. He picks up 9 pounds but gets leading rider Juan Hernandez.

SA 7th race (7:03 p.m. EST) -- Morning-line favorite RASTAMAN VIBE is 14/0-0-7 on the Santa Anita lawn, but he gave a good account of himself in a Grade 2 stakes race here last month, making a move into fast middle fractions before flattening out. He won back-to-back turf marathons at Del Mar before that and remains formidable while running for the $50,000 optional claiming price today. CRAZY CAVALIER saved ground to the top of the stretch, closed with a rush while weaving through traffic and galloped out in front of RASTAMAN VIBE while earning the top speed figure of his career. He has five seconds in eight starts at Santa Anita but could be best suited at this distance. MONGOLIAN APPLE makes his first start as a gelding off a solid foundation of workouts since his last start. He can make maximum use of his speed but must handle the class upgrade.

SA 8th race (7:33 p.m. EST) -- COACH CRONIN wore down the dueling leaders and drew away in the stretch to win in his second start this year in 1:09-4/5. He’s 2-for-2 sprinting at Santa Anita and takes on Cal-breds for the first time this year for a 19-percent ‘repeat’ barn. STRONGERTHANBEFORE lived up to his fast workouts and strong debut betting attention, sprinting to a clear lead and hitting a second gear when his closest pursuers ranged up at the quarter pole. He is a must use despite starting from post 13 today. UNCLE CHILLY also draws outside, but he rallied 5-wide to finish second in a long sprint last out to improve to 5/1-3-1 in his last five dirt sprints with an average 74 Beyer. He finished 1-1/2 lengths in front of favored CATMANSUE, who posted two fast workouts at Santa Anita since that September 6 race at Del Mar.

SA 9th race (8:03 p.m. EST) -- Going four-deep in the final leg of the Pick 4. BELLY UP gets top billing. He lacked stretch kick in his last two starts, but he met six-figure grass earner SIR ROCKET last out and finished between favored Betterdaysrcoming (19/4-2-5 on turf, $105k) and two other follow-up winners at the $50,000 level with 90 and 89 Beyers, respectively, in his prior race. OUR BUCKY CHARM gets class relief and wears blinkers and is clearly the one to beat if duplicates his form on the Santa Anita lawn that produced a win and two seconds in the first half of the year with an average 87 Beyer. PLAYER B, first or second in 8 of 13 starts at the same Santa Anita venue, fits well at this level and has a solid work tab for his new barn after seven months away. BROADWAY UNIONS makes the ticket at 12-1 on the morning line. He ran second to next-out, three-peat winner Osage in his lone turf try this year, won going away at 5-1/2F when he was claimed three starts ago, rallied into photo-finish view as the favorite two back and can be excused for a rough trip most recently.

Suggested 50-Cent Ticket
SA 6th Race: 5, 6, 9
SA 7th Race: 2, 3, 9
SA 8th Race: 3, 9, 11, 14
SA 9th Race: 2, 4, 5, 8
Cost: $72