Horse Racing Picks – Saratoga Offers Outstanding Wagering Card

Saratoga offers up another outstanding wagering card on Thursday featuring a pair of stakes races, the $75,000 A. P. Smithwick Memorial Steeplechase to kick off the card, and the $70,000 Latham, a turf sprint for three-year-olds that goes off as the ninth race.

The Latham is the anchor leg of our Pick 3 play today, a wide open race that drew a field of ten three-year-olds that will go 5 ½ furlongs on the turf course, which took some rain on Tuesday night and was labeled “good” for Wednesday’s card.

[Off topic: by the way, do you want to get a 60% bonus on your first deposit here at BetOnline? So go on JOIN NOW.]

Westover Wildcat gets the call despite making her first start since January, and Flamin’ Hot and Bridgetown will make our $24 ticket.

The play of the day is a first level allowance race, with our top pick the promising and well bred colt Delano as our top pick. 

Today’s Play of the Day from Saratoga:

SAR Race 4 Alw $52,000N1X (2:41 ET)
#9 Delano   3/1
#1 Capt Obvious   6/1
#6 Moon Ala Mode   6/1
#4 Ezzy   10/1

Analysis: #9 Delano was a good looking maiden winner in his debut going six furlongs on the turf at Belmont Park. The colt had to check in traffic while down along the inside heading up the backstretch, came with a four wide run and finished strongly, drawing clear to win by 3 1/4 lengths. The runner up Fiscal Stimulus came back yesterday here to break his maiden in impressive fashion. The colt has some pedigree, by Unbridled’s Song out of the stakes winner Double Cat ($153K).

#1 Capt Obvious made a good late rally to finish in the runner up spot last out at Churchill Downs on the main track. His turf tries were solid, with a win and a second in four trips over the weeds. He as beaten just a neck at Fair Grounds back in February at today’s level. He fits well here for a capable under the radar barn.

Wagering
WIN: #9 to win at 5/2 or better.
EX: 1,9 / 1,4,6,9
TRI: 1,9 / 1,4,6,9 / 1,2,4,6,9

Today’s Pick 3 Play from Saratoga:

Starting in Race 7: $1: 4,8 / 2,5,6,7 / 3,5,8 = $24

SAR Race 7 Md $20,000 (4:23 ET)
#8 Starr West, #4 Sensationalist

#8 Starr West drops back in for a tag after fading to finish a well beaten eighth last out at Monmouth Park versus maiden special weight company. Two back this guy was a good second, drawing clear in the stretch but unable to hold off the winner late. The third place finisher in the race was Rotten to the Core, who came back to graduate in his next outing for a $35K tag. The colt is a half to a pair of stakes winners, top earner Gygistar ($1.1 million).

#4 Sensationalist debuts for the Dutrow barn that is 16% winners with first timer starters.  The gelding is by Trippi (15% winners with debut runners) out of a Moon Prospector mare that has dropped five winners, top earner Sensationalplace ($58K). There are a couple of recent bullet works on the morning tab and this does not look like a tough spot for his debut.

SAR Race 8 OClm $75,000N3X (4:57 ET)
#6 Skipadate, #5 Lemon Spice, #2 Sr. Henry, #7 No Inflation

#6 Skipadate may have been ready to bounce going into his last start after a pair of hard fought efforts two and three back. It did not help he drew the 11 post and was stepping into Grade 2 company. He got going too late after being far back early, rallying to finish sixth. He is back in the allowance ranks here and has run well over the Spa turf, breaking his maiden in his debut and missing winning the With Anticipation by a neck in his second career outing. I doubt we see the 10/1 ML, but he still appears likely to offer decent value in here and should bounce back with a better effort.

#5 Lemon Spice made a good rally to finish a close up third last out, beaten 3/4 of a length for the top spot. There is no hotter trainer than Brown, who picked up another couple of wins her on yesterday’s card. His late running style should fit well here as there appears to be plenty of early zip signed up to go here.

SAR Race 9 The Latham (5:31 ET)
#3 Westover Wildcat, #8 Flamin’ Hot, #5 Bridgetown

#3 Westover Wildcat makes his first start since January where the colt checked in third in the slop at Gulfstream Park in the Spectacular Bid. The two horses that beat home were A Little Warm, who won the Jim Dandy (G2) in his last start, and Wildcat Frankie, who beat Alw-1 foes in his next start. The fourth place finisher in that race was Discreetly Mine, who won the Jersey Shore (G3) and Amsterdam (G2) in his two most recent starts. The colt’s pedigree leans to dirt, by Forest Wildcat out of the dirt stakes winner Bronze Abe ($520K), but the colt does have a couple of good looking drills over the grass. The barn is 32% winners (with a +ROI) with horses coming back off a +180 day layoff.

#8 Flamin’ Hot was off a beat slow and made a good late rally, coming up a nose shy in the Anderson Fowler, then was put up to first thanks to the stewards. That improved his record on turf to a perfect 4 for 4. There is plenty of early speed in here to set things up for him.

#5 Bridgetown makes his first start since last November for the McPeek barn. The colt was a game second in last fall’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf (G2), beaten just 3/4 of a length for the top spot. The colt has worked quickly for his three year old debut and he broke his maiden here at the Spa last summer at today’s distance.

Price Plays From Belmont Park:
These are price plays to watch today. A small win-place wager is in order or if your pockets are deep enough, use these runners in your trifecta and Pick 3 and Pick 4 wagers. One or two of these could be the difference between a regular day at the track and hitting the IRS window with a signer.

R2: #3 Wicked Jones   8/1
R3: #5 Mor Chances   10/1
R4: #4 Ezzy   10/1
R5: #4 Deja Blu   12/1
R6: #7 Yankee Scholar   8/1
R7: #1 Candy Heart   20/1
R8: #6 Skipadate   10/1
R9: #4 Red Rally   15/1
R10: #2 Hey Babe   10/1

Good luck padding your bankroll today!