Saturday’s Recap from Saratoga:
(All odds US)
Replays for Saratoga’s races can be found here:
Race 5: 3rd@ 9.10/1
Race 8: 9th@ 44.50/1
Race 9: 4th@ 9.00/1
Race 11: 1st@ 0.90/1 💥💥💥💥
In Race 5, our first time starter- Seal Beach broke last in the field but made a nice move in the stretch, to enter contention. Had he not lugged in through the stretch I think he could’ve run them down. In Race 8, our choice - Somebody was a huge longshot we thought might have a shot if a pace duel developed but the pace wasn’t as fast as we had hoped and the favorite went coast-to-coast. In the 2yo stakes race, Wit won impressively drawing off to win by 8. In the final race of the day our day’s BEST BET - Ducale - sent off at 4/5 - shorter than his 7/2 morning line price, stalked and pounce to prove much the best.
Saturday’s Recap From Monmouth Park:
(All odds US)
Race 8: 2nd@ 4.10/1
Race 10: 3rd@ 3.80/1
Race 11: 4th@ 16.00/1
Race 12: 2nd@ 7/2
In the Monmouth Cup, we knew NY Traffic was likely to get cooked by the other speed. Our selection - Night Ops was given a solid, ground-saving ride by Florent Geroux and finished a strong second to Dr. Post. In the Molly Pitcher, Our Super Freak took the lead turning for home and battled gamely to the wire holding third. In the United Nations, Tribhuvan , the favorite scored a wire to wire win. Our 16/1 bomber - Serve the King was stuck looking for room in the stretch and probably would’ve been second with a cleaner trip. Speaking of clean trips, the Haskell was a mess. Following Sea led into the stretch until he was passed by Mandaloun and Hot Rod Charlie. Those two threw it down for a classic battle and Hot Rod Charlie came over and cut off Midnight Bourbon who was fading, causing that one to unseat his rider. It was a classic battle down to the wire and Hot Rod Charlie won the photo but was disqualified for the infraction and placed last.
Strap on your rain boots and grab that umbrella ☂ . We’ve got rain in the forecast all day Sunday at Saratoga. I’ve handicapped the turf races for dirt and we’ll go from there.
Sunday picks for Saratoga:
Race 1: Silver Samurai - 2 pts win - BEST BET (US Morning Line Odds: 3/1)
We start our day sprinting on dirt with maiden runners and trainer Kelly Breen has gotten off to a hot start here at Saratoga. It’s early but it’s best to catch trainers when you see their horses starting to heat up - before the rest of the bandwagon joins. This runner blitzed his way through the opening furlongs dueling with the eventual winner while holding on for second gamely. Nobody appears to have that kind of speed here and unless one of the first time starters puts the pedal to the metal early, this runner could be long gone in the slop.
Race 2: Mystical Man - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 6/1)
With this race likely to be rained off the grass this runner looks like an improving sort who should appreciate the main track. He’ll be moving from Miguel Mena to Joel Rosario and that looks like a favorable rider switch. Trainer Al Stall has won with 5 of 15 dirt routers here at Saratoga over the last five years and this one appears he’ll have the pace setup to set up his closing kick.
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Race 4: Suspended Campaign - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 8/1)
Trainer David Duggan doesn’t get much credit but with a 5 for 28 record this season he’s got a strong 18% win rate for a small stable. He’s the type of under the radar trainer to be completely overlooked on the odds board, especially when his runner's two most recent starts with blinkers have her form muddied up. Blinkers come off today (a move Duggan has won with twice with five runners) and this miss possesses the strongest closing kick in the field according to her Timeform US figures. With many in this field the type to like to hear their hooves rattle, this one could be the one to mow them down in the lane.
Race 5: Senbei - 1 pt win (US Morning Line Odds: 5/1)
Maidens sprint here and this is a salty group of NY bred 2yos. Senbei is by the sire Candy Ride who wins with 12% of his first time starters but his dam is where the real story is. Sweet Aloha won her debut and all four of her runners to make it to the racetrack have won in their debut. Two of them by 8 lengths! This one's workouts look fast and trainer Clement wins with 22% of his debuters. We’ll take a long look at 5/1 or better.
Best of luck 🍀🍀🍀 to everyone playing Sunday’s races from Saratogaaaaaa!