Hersh: How I'd play Saratoga on Sunday, Aug. 23

Lots of claiming races on the first half of this Saratoga card. I don’t have a problem playing claiming races generally, but it’s not what I’m looking for at Saratoga. Worse than that, I can’t find a comfortable toehold in any of the early races. I’m a fan of 2-year-old maidens going long on turf, and that’s race 2, but there are too many moving parts in this race. Chad Brown has for quite some time been showing a flat-bet profit with first-time starters in turf routes, but what do you do when he has two in the same race, which is the case here? Use them both, I guess, but there are three other horses I’d give a solid win chance here, which makes the race difficult horizontally, and there’s nothing in the three pick four races following on which I could hang my hat.

Race 6 is where I find a horse to use as a linchpin to some plays. Wish this were part of a pick four, but it’s not, so I’ll get involved on the pick three level with races 6-8.

This is a New York-bred maiden special weight at two turns on turf. MOHICAN CHIEF (5) is the 7-5 favorite on the morning line, but I think it’s the second choice at 3-1, GRAND SKY (10), who deserves to be favored. Mohican Chief has a year-plus layoff in his running lines, has no positional speed, and already has lost three times in New York-bred maiden special weight races. GRAND SKY, meanwhile, has faced only open maidens in his three races and now drops into a statebred-restricted race. He has a little more pace than Mohican Chief, and the four horses drawn directly inside him all figure to run out of the gate and get involved in what should be a good early and middle pace, paving the way for Grand Sky to drop in and work out a decent trip. He’s a first-time gelding with a solid work pattern and plenty of upside, and I’ll use him as a lone A, throwing Mohican Chief in as a backup, mainly out of respect for the trainer.

Mark Casse trains Grand Sky and could be set up for his best day so far at this meet because in race 7, he has the two horses I think look best in this N1X turf-sprint allowance. Really like offspring of Speightstown switching to turf, and BEDFORD LAND (8), who probably needed a last-out, long-layoff comeback start, has the best speed in what looks on paper like a paceless race. Casse’s second horse, DIVA EXPRESS (4) steps up after a maiden win, but what makes it seem like she can repeat that win is the fact that it came in her first try at a turf sprint, and she won by more than two lengths despite a difficult journey. Throwing perpetual also-ran ORIENT HARBOR (7) in as a B, but much more interested in the chance of getting a second backup, MAGNIFICENT MARGO (3), home at a price if the Casse pair fails.

Going 1, 3, 7, 8, two first-timers and two second-timers, as As in race 8, a 2-year-old maiden special at 5 1/2 furlongs on dirt, and would love to see 12-1 morning-line choice BLUSHING HUMOR (7) get home. Figures to be overlaid despite apparently being suited to winning first out in a short sprint.

The “All As” ticket being just $8 per $1 increment, I’ll punch it three times. The total investment is $54.

Here’s a link to the play on DRF Ticketmaker Mobile: http://bit.ly/1V2fpLD. And here’s how it looks on the basic DRF Ticketmaker: