With the exception of a couple of days, weather has been a nonfactor at this Saratoga meet. But that, unfortunately, will not be the case Wednesday. At this writing Tuesday, the National Weather Service is forecasting as much as three inches of rain for Saratoga Springs, N.Y., between Tuesday night and dinnertime Wednesday. But even half that much precipitation would wreak havoc with Wednesday’s card.
Wednesday’s 12:25 p.m. steeplechase opener is the first of five scheduled turf races, but if the meteorological prognosticators are correct, the jump race, a $65,000 preliminary allowance at 2 1/16 miles, will be the only one that stays on the grass.
Much of the focus will center on the pick six carryover. There are other options, however, on the card. For instance, the early double could help you fund your pick six attack.
The good news: Clear skies are forecast all afternoon, which means few worries about racing suddenly getting taken off the turf after a pick-something sequence has started.
DRF handicapper Kenny Peck provides a late pick four play for Saratoga for Monday, Aug. 11.
Trip Notes for August 9-10: Fourstardave, Monmouth Oaks, Gardenia, Adirondack, John C. Mabee and more by Michael Hammersly.
Although the number of races is slightly off the pace of last year’s 420 in 40 days, the average number of races per day still exceeded 10 per day (202) through the first half of the six-day-per-week meet.
Planning on doing a lot of watching today, as five races for 2-year-olds are scattered all through an 11-race program that kicks off the second half of the meet.
Four of the seven 2-year-old fillies in Sunday’s Grade 2 Adirondack won their last (in most cases only) start with a Beyer Speed Figure of between 80 and 85, good enough to win the race in seven of the last 10 years. Thus the question of the race may not be one of sheer talent, as all four are good enough, but whether those good efforts were achieved under conditions likely or unlikely to be repeated today.
Two interesting and seemingly competitive 2-year-old stakes in the middle of the late pick four for Sunday really enhance the sequence. The invaluable DRF Ticketmaker screen capture below lays out A-B-C play, but if your bankroll, like mine, still is smarting from Saturday’s brutal late pick four near miss, a “caveman” all-A’s play can be had for $18.
