UPDATED: Thursday at the track — Garrity picks the late Pick 4 at Saratoga, which includes the $100,00 New York Stallion Series Stakes
NOTE: Garrity's picks were updated at 10:27 am to account for the turf change.
We’re going to try something a little bit different today, and that is to take a stab at the late Pick 4 at Saratoga, which comprises races 6 through 9. We like the sequence and think that it looks gettable this afternoon.
There are three grass races and one dirt race in the sequence, and we expect fast dirt and firm turf. Let’s go.
Saratoga, Race 6, 4:06 pm EDT
$16,000 Claiming, 7 furlongs, Dirt, Fillies & Mares 3 & Up
We think the even-money favorite, 2-Gesture, is legitimate, but we also think that 2-1 second choice 4-Wicked Title, is live. We will use both.
Saratoga, Race 7, 4:41 pm EDT
Allowance, 1 ⅜ miles, Turf, Fillies & Mares 3 & Up
This second-level allowance for turf runners looks wide open to us, partly because of the nature of the horses in the field, and partly because a couple of the logical contenders appear to prefer firm turf. We will be spreading wide: we will include 2-Tizahra, 3-Dyna Passer, 4-Hungry Kitten, 6-Eliade, and 8-Mighty Scarlett.
Saratoga, Race 8, 5:14 pm ET
$100,00 New York Stallion Series Stakes, 1 1/16 miles, Turf, New York-bred 3-Year-Olds
We think that 9/5 morning line favorite 6-Jolting Joe is the likeliest winner, but if he does not win, any one of the other five runners could. We will use Jolting Joe as our primary pick, and the rest as backups.
Saratoga, Race 9, 5:46 pm ET
$40,000 Claiming, 1 mile, Turf, 3 & Up
There’s another even-money favorite in here that we think is going to be tough to beat: it’s 5-Elusive Ruler. We are comfortable singling him.
We will be playing two tickets to try to hit the Pick 4. The first includes all our top picks, the A horses, and the second will include three A picks, and the backups in Race 8 and . This works out to the following:
Saratoga, Race 6, Pick 4:
● Ticket 1: 2,4 with 2,3,4,6,8 with 6 with 5.
● Ticket 2: 2,4 with 2,3,4,6,8 with 1,2,3,4,5 with 5.
We will play Ticket 1 at the $3 level ($45 total), and the backup ticket at the $1 level ($50), for a total investment of $95. At the 50-cent minimum base wager, these tickets cost $5 and $25, respectively, and players with a smaller budget can play at this level.
That’s all for today. Until tomorrow, enjoy the racing, be safe, and, as always, good luck at the windows.