A terrific 13-race card Saturday (Aug. 28) at Saratoga is headlined by the Grade I, $1 million Travers. The Travers, carded as the twelfth race, is part of a pick six that commences with the eighth race.
These are the horses I like the most in Saturday’s pick six at Saratoga, listed in order of preference, with their program number and morning line:
Eighth Race
1 – Miss Keller 7-2
Ninth Race
9 – Katy Now 7-2
7 – Beyondallboundarys 4-1
3 – Rapport 3-1
Tenth Race
3 – Jessica Is Back 7-2
4 – Informed Decision 9-2
2 – Warbling 4-1
5 – Qualia 4-1
Eleventh Race
3 – D’Funnybone 5-2
4 – Discreetly Mine 6-5
Twelfth Race
5 – A Little Warm 7-2
2 – Trappe Shot 4-1
8 – Fly Down 8-1
3 – Admiral Alex 12-1
Thirteenth Race
5 - Pretty Cozzy 9-2
1 - Glory Chaser 3-1
COMMENTS:
If any of the turf races in the pick six are switched to the main track, I would recommend passing on this particular pick six.
Not too many pick sixes begin with an eighth race, but that is the case Saturday at the Spa. The eighth is the Grade II Ballston Spa Handicap at 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course. In a pick six in which it is extremely difficult to find a single, I’m going to go ahead and make Miss Keller in this race my single. My hope would be to nail a single in the first leg, affording the luxury of not having to come up with a single in any of the remaining pick six races. Why do I like Miss Keller so much? Just go back and take a look at the video replay of her win in the De La Rose Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 4. Seventh on the far turn, she moved with a rush (while six wide, as noted by track announcer Tom Durkin) to get the lead a furlong out. She went on to prevail by one length in 1:34.88. Based on the impressive performance on the inner turf at Saratoga, I think Miss Keller has an excellent chance to also win this race Saturday on the inner turf at the Spa.
The ninth race is the Grade III Victory Ride for 3-year-old fillies at six furlongs. My top choice is Katy Now. She ran second to the talented Devil May Care in a maiden race at the 2008 Saratoga meet, then reeled off three straight victories before finishing fourth in the Grade I Mother Goose at Belmont Park on June 26. Devil May Care won the Mother Goose before going on to also snag the Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks. Katy Now, a daughter of 2000 Horse of the Year Tiznow, set the pace in the 1 1/16-mile Mother Goose and should appreciate cutting back to the Victory Ride’s six furlongs. Beyondallboundarys bids for her third straight win on three different surfaces. Beyondallboundarys won a six-furlong allowance contest at Churchill Downs on June 18, then took the six-furlong Dearly Precious Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 23. Beyondallboundarys, a daughter of 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam, certainly is on her game going into this race. Rapport won a maiden sprint and allowance sprint at Hollywood Park before finishing fourth in the Grade III Azalea on Calder’s Summit of Speed program July 10 for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert.
The tenth race is the Grade I Ballerina for fillies and mares at 7 furlongs. It would be a big help to the cost of a pick-six ticket if Eclipse Award Informed Decision looked good enough to single. But I’m not even picking Informed Decision to win, though I think one must put her on the ticket. My pick to win this race is Jessica Is Back, who kicked home strongly to win the Grade I six-furlong Princess Rooney Handicap on Calder’s Summit of Speed card July 10. That could set Jessica Is Back up nicely for this seven-furlong affair. Informed Decision merits the utmost respect with her class, but I just don’t quite trust her enough to put her on top. While Informed Decision is known for her prowess on synthetic tracks, she is a four-time winner on the dirt. In the Grade III Chicago Handicap at Arlington Park on synthetic footing July 4, Informed Decision won by only a head. But that performance looks better now after runner-up Rinterval subsequently lost the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar on Aug. 7 by a neck to superstar Zenyatta. Warbling actually did well to rally and finish third after a poor start in Saratoga’s Grade II Honorable Miss Handicap on Aug. 8. Warbling posted a 107 Beyer Speed Figure earlier this year at Gulfstream Park at the Ballerina distance. Qualia is a very nice filly who is only a neck and a head away from being six for six.
The eleventh race is the Grade I King’s Bishop for 3-year-olds at 7 furlongs. I almost singled D’ Funnybone…again. I singled him in the Grade II Woody Stephens at Belmont Park on June 5. D’ Funnyone won by 3 1/4 lengths, with Discreetly Mine second. I also singled D’ Funnybone in the Grade II Carry Back on Calder’s Summit of Speed program on July 10. D’ Funnybone lost as a 1-10 favorite as he ran second to Coffee Boy. D’ Funnybone, who is four for four at the seven-furlong King’s Bishop distance, has defeated Discreetly Mine both times they have met. When D’ Funnybone won Belmont Park’s Grade II Futurity in 2009 by 4 3/4 lengths, Discreetly Mine finished second. But Discreetly Mine is two for two since losing to D’ Funnybone in the Woody Stephens. Discreetly Mine won Monmouth Park’s Grade III Jersey Shore on July 4, then romped to a 9 3/4-length triumph in Saratoga’s Grade II Amsterdam at 6 1/2 furlongs on Aug. 2. Discreetly Mine was assigned a 111 Beyer Speed Figure for his smashing Amsterdam performance. That’s the highest Beyer recorded by a 3-year-old at any distance this year.
The twelfth race is a wide-open renewal of the prestigious Travers, a 1 1/4-mile event for 3-year-olds. My top selection is A Little Warm, who is coming off a victory in Saratoga’s Grade II Jim Dandy on July 31. Whether or not A Little Warm wins the Travers, I expected him to run well based on the fact he has finished in the exacta in eight of nine career starts. Trappe Shot had a four-race win streak snapped when he ran second to Eclipse Award winner and Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky in Monmouth Park’s Grade I Haskell Invitational on Aug. 1. In the Haskell, Trappe Shot was boxed in on the far turn, yet still defeated Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver by three-quarters of a length. Lookin At Lucky had a number of unlucky trips prior to his victories in the Preakness and Haskell. Well, Fly Down has had more than his share of unlucky trips. His six-length win in Belmont Park’s Grade II Dwyer Stakes over subsequent Belmont Stakes winner Drosselmeyer shows that Fly Down is capable of proving a tough customer in the Travers. If Admiral Alex wins the Travers, it is believed he will be the first horse in the 141 runnings of the Travers to do so with only one previous start. But keep in mind that trainer Leon Blusiewicz managed to win a Grade I race, the Selima, at Laurel in 1981 with Snow Plow, a Washington-bred 2-year-old filly whose only previous start had been a win in a maiden race 28 days earlier at Belmont Park. Ambassador of Luck finished second to Snow Plow in the Selima. Ambassador of Luck would go on to be voted the Eclipse Award as champion older female of 1983.
The thirteenth (and hopefully lucky race for you) is a $25,000 claiming race for fillies and mares scheduled for 5 1/2 furlongs on the Mellon Turf Course. Pretty Cozzy is my choice to win this race. Pretty Cozy ran third in an allowance grass sprint for New York-breds at Belmont Park on July 18, then finished fifth in a similar race at Saratoga on Aug. 2. I think she has the Thoro-Graph figures to get the job done against these. Glory Chaser has finished first or second all three times she’s competed in a turf sprint.
