SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Trainer H. James Bond said he’s really excited about running Rinaldi in the $150,000 West Point Handicap and Giacosa in the $150,000 Yaddo Handicap on New York Showcase Day here Friday. And one can readily understand why, with both horses in peak form. Rinaldi is the 124-pound highweight and one to beat in the West Point off his wire-to-wire half-length victory in the Grade 3 Forbidden Apple here five weeks earlier. Giacosa comes into the Yaddo having won the last two times she raced over the Saratoga turf. Both the West Point and Yaddo are for New York-breds going 1 1/16 miles on turf. The West Point is for 3-year-olds and up, and the Yaddo for fillies and mares. Rinaldi will concede from 2 to 12 pounds to his seven rivals in defense of his title in the West Point. Last year, he led throughout to post a 1 1/2-length victory over a good track while toting just 118 pounds. Both of Rinaldi’s starts this year came against open company. He finished second behind Delaware in an overnight stakes during the spring at Aqueduct. “He’s doing great, he likes Saratoga, and two turns definitely helps this horse,” Bond said Wednesday. “The weight is a little heavy, but I understand it coming off that last win. Our strategy is simple. He’s going to the lead. He’s a fighter once he’s in front, and the quickest way around for him is being in front on the fence. We made the mistake of taking a hold of him once last year at Belmont, and we’re not going to do it again.” Rinaldi’s stiffest challenges figure to come from the Christophe Clement-trained duo of Therapist and City Man, along with Mo Ready. Graded On a Curve, Microsecond, Lord Flintshire, and Sanctuary City complete the lineup. Therapist, weighted second at 122 pounds, is winless in three starts this season, most recently finishing fifth, three lengths behind Rinaldi, in the Forbidden Apple. The 6-year-old son of Freud has finished third in the last two renewals of the West Point. “He’s better at Belmont than Saratoga, but he’s going to run there,” Clement said. “By lack of choice he’s going to run there.” City Man also is winless in three starts in 2021, each against open company. City Man began the year on a promising note, finishing second in the Grade 2 Fort Marcy, before finishing well back in the Grade 1 Manhattan and most recently a troubled seventh against open allowance company here earlier this month. “The other day he actually ran very well,” Clement said. “He had a terrible draw and had no chance, he was so wide all the way.” Mo Ready finished second, nearly two lengths in front of City Man, in that allowance race here while making just his third outing of the year. He earned a career-best 94 Beyer Speed Figure, four points higher than his previous best, which he received for finishing third in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby during the fall of 2020. Yaddo Handicap Giacosa has not finished off the board in her last four starts, defeating second-level statebred allowance competition here July 16 for her second win in three starts over the local strip. Giacosa’s only stakes start was a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Sands Point in October. Bond said she’s a better filly now than she was then. “She’s really stepped up in her last couple of works, which have been with Rinaldi, and I think she’s going to run a really big race on Friday,” he said. :: DRF Bets players get free Daily Racing Form Past Performances and up to 5% weekly cashback. Click to learn more. Giacosa will tote 119 pounds in the Yaddo, getting four pounds from top-weighted Myhartblongstodady and two from the Clement-trained Classic Lady in a field of 10. Myhartblongstodady posted a wire-to-wire one-length decision in the Yaddo last year, the second of three straight statebred victories. She won an allowance race at Saratoga before the Yaddo last year and the Ticonderoga at Belmont after. Classic Lady has started but once since finishing third in the 2020 Yaddo, 1 3/4 lengths behind Myhartblongstodady. She launched her current campaign finishing fourth against open allowance company four weeks earlier at Monmouth Park. “She came back a bit sore in her feet from Monmouth and ran a bit below form, but she looks okay now,” Clement said. – additional reporting by David Grening