Thursday Horse Racing: God's Tipster celebrates Opening Day at Saratoga with FIVE race picks
Wednesday’s Recap from Delaware Park:
(All odds US)
Race 1: 1st@ 3.20/1 🔥🔥🔥
Race 6: 2nd@ 4.00/1
Race 8: 4th@ 14.90/1
It’s always nice to start the week off with a WIN 🏆 and we did just that as Sugar Daddy stalked a quick pace and pounced when it counted running down My Beau in the final yards at generous odds of 3.20/1 (US). In Race 6, our deep closer - Perched -got rolling too late and finished 2nd without ever threatening the winner. In Race 8 I wish jockey Angel Suarez would’ve ridden our selection - Pianzi a little differently. At the 1/2 mile pole he was a full 17 lengths behind the second to last runner in a 6 furlong sprint race. He was FLYING home and still lost by 4 but closed a tremendous amount of ground on the rest of the field. With a more attentive ride early I think he would’ve garnered a better placing.
Today is OPENING DAY at Saratoga - America’s great race place since 1863. Here’s some more information on the rich history of Saratoga for the uninitiated
I go to every year for at least a weekend and I’m always amazed at how the entire town talks horses from mid July til they close in early September. It’s truly a racing mecca, and while it’s one of the more challenging places to handicap races due to the unpredictable weather in the mountains and the sheer number of horses shipping in from various parts of the country, it can also be the most profitable for those same reasons.
Let’s get started with our July 15 Opening Day selections for Saratoga. I’ve included 5 picks instead of our normal 3 during the week because….. Saratoga 😃
Thursday Opening Day Picks
Saratoga:
Race 2: Zmuda - 2 pts win (US Morning Line Odds: 6/1)
Maidens kick off our Saratoga meet and these 2yo races are one of my favorite things about this track. Speedometer is our likely favorite and she raced greenly first time out and didn’t finish with a ton of vigor for a horse who’s about to be 9/5. Zmuda will also be making her second start after a debut at Churchill Downs and one big advantage she has over this field is that she’s the only runner to have gone the distance already. While her debut speed figure wasn’t as gaudy as Speedometer, her trainer excels with 2yo runners making their second start here at Saratoga in sprint races on dirt winning with an impressive 8 of 14 runners at an average payoff of $9.80. At 6/1 odds this one is worth a long look.
Race 3: St. Joe Louis - 2 pts win - BEST BET (US Morning Line Odds: 8/5)
Trainer Chad Brown wins with 23% of his turf routers here at Saratoga and this runner had the look of a stakes runner when he broke his maiden last out. Admittedly he sat a good trip that day off the speed but his closing fraction of 28.98 is snappy and faster than most of these have shown they can run.
Race 4: Come Storming - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 15/1)
This will be our first race over the Mellon turf course and it’s a starter allowance. I like a longshot here ridden by a 16% rider for a trainer who’s only 9% on the year but who wins with a smashing 27% of his runners (3 for 11) in Saratoga turf routes over the last five years with an average payoff of $23.40. This one cuts back off a longer distance prep and looks perfectly placed to spring an upset. Her record at the distance shows 4 in-the-money finishes from 5 starts at this distance and she’s never run worse than third in her two starts over this surface.
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Race 7: Southern District - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 4/1)
Trainer Chad Brown was this meet’s leading trainer last year and he looks loaded once again. He wins with a whopping 26% of his main track routers and this one ships in off a brief layoff after breaking his maiden impressively running on the main track for the first time. Colt cost $335k so there are some expectations here and he looked awfully impressive last out.
Race 9: Saucy Lady T - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 30/1) Let’s get NUTS. Maybe we’re crazy here and maybe trainer James Chapman is biting off more than he can chew by running this $5,000 purchase in a Grade 3 race but then again, this is a field full of runners most of whom have only shown the ability to dual for the lead. Most haven’t shown much staying power. Saucy Lady T is bred for longer distances top and bottom and she could sit the garden trip here if the speeds decide to go. Her most recent work over the track was classified as “impressive”. Trainer wins with 16% of his two year old runners. At 30/1 she’s worth a flyer.
Best of luck 🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀 to everyone playing opening day at Saratoga !!