Handicapping Articles

Today is THE day – nine Breeders’ Cup races highlighted by the $4 million Breeders’ Cup Turf and the $6 million Breeders’ Cup Classic. I’ll tackle those two headline Breeders’ Cup races here. The best of the best are here for these two headlining races and you can make good cases for five or six entrants in each. This of course leads to great prices in many Breeders’ Cup races and those Breeders’ Cup exotic payouts tend to be very juicy due to the size of the fields and the way money is spread throughout the pools.

There are five Breeders’ Cup races on the card today headlined by the $2 million Juvenile Fillies and the $2 million Juvenile. I like the “themed” approach to Friday but personally I would go back to the Friday Breeders’ Cup day as an “Oaks Day” where they run all the filly and mare races. This has the benefit of giving our best fillies and mares top billing on Friday in the Distaff rather than having them buried inside the star studded Saturday card. But things evolve and it has become “Future Stars Friday” which is a perfectly fine alternative and better than just picking five races with no theme at all.

This Belmont card features three graded stakes races; the Grade III Matron, the Grade I1 Vosburgh, and the Grade I Joe Hirsch Turf Classic.

Adayar is now 5/2 joint-favourite for the Arc after it was confirmed that William Buick will be riding the Derby and King George winner at Longchamp. Tarnawa is also 5/2 after finishing a close second in the Irish Champion Stakes a week ago and is continuing to be backed as Europe’s middle-distance championship draws closer. Snowfall is 5/1 after a disappointing display in the Prix Vermeille at Longchamp, where she was sent off 1/5 favourite but could only come second to Teona, who is now a 16/1 shot. Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 2021 latest news and analysis The 2021 Arc is shaping up to be a fantastic…

Happy Woodward Day! This is an excellent card with four graded stakes including two very competitive Grade Is – the Woodward and the Champagne.

Today’s card has three stakes races headlined by the third legs of the Turf Triple – the Jockey Club Oaks for three year old fillies and Jockey Club Derby for three year old colts.

Today marks a significant change to the NYRA stakes schedule as two Grade Is – the Jockey Club Gold Cup and the Flower Bowl will be run at Saratoga after being longtime fixtures of the Belmont Fall meet.

Happy Alabama Day!
Today we have two Graded Stakes for three year old fillies. Malathaat was the consensus divisional leader of this group before losing last month in the Coaching Club American Oaks to Maracuja. Search Results was another contender, but she didn’t fire at seven panels in the Test Stakes, finishing a distant third to Bella Sofia.

If there is any one horse that symbolizes racing at Saratoga, it is Fourstardave. “The Sultan of Saratoga” won a race at the Spa for eight consecutive years from 1987 to 1994. He found the winner’s circle in twenty-one of his remarkable one hundred starts, finishing in the money fifty-five times. “Dave” was a winning horse, a blue collar horse, a New York bred – he was one of our own. Appropriately, Fourstardave is forever with us at Saratoga as he is buried on the backside at Clare Court.

Happy Whitney Day! On frigid winter days when we look out across the frozen Upstate landscape, this is the Saratoga race card we daydream about. Five stakes races - three Grade Is (the Test, the Saratoga Derby, and the Whitney), the Grade II Glens Falls, and the listed Lure Stakes. The all stakes mandatory payout Pick 5 (races 6-10) should pay nicely given the depth of these fields. Enjoy! I’ll analyze the Saratoga Derby and the Whitney Stakes. Race 9 – The Saratoga Derby Invitational – Grade I One Mile and Three Sixteenths on the Mellon Turf, For Three Year Olds August 7th, 2021 This $1 million race…