Hersh: How I'll play Saratoga on Saturday, Aug. 18, 2018

Slop, soft turf, scratches galore – not a great day for making precard plays at Saratoga. I’ll limit my planned action to just the Alabama, race 9, though even there I’m pulling back because of the conditions.

I have two major opinions on the race: She’s a Julie (#4) will be an overlay and Midnight Bisou (#3) an underlay. A slightly less major opinion is that Talk Veuve To Me (#8) is going to be a major player. And a weather-related opinion is that the slop could move up Eskimo Kisses (#2).

I thought Midnight Bisou got exposed to some extent in the Kentucky Oaks. Her Mother Goose win seemed to restore her reputation to some extent, but Road To Victory, who appeared to be her main foe and finished second, has fallen off the work tab again and might not have been such a main foe after all. Back in the CCA Oaks, Midnight Bisou once again was no match at all for Monomoy Girl.

She’s a Julie, meanwhile, disappointed over the winter but finally came to hand late this spring and was very sharp in posting an easy win in the Iowa Oaks. Because many bettors on the coasts regard Iowa racing as something akin to racing on Mars, She’s a Julie probably won’t be accorded proper appreciation for that performance. Her lone sloppy-track start was poor, but I think it was prerace behavior more than disdain for the slop that proved her undoing. That said, between the wet track and a pretty meh DRF clocker report on She’s a Julie, I can’t get too heavily invested – $60 worth of plays here.

$20 to win She’s a Julie (#4)
$10 exacta box She’s a Julie (#4) and Talk Veuve to Me (#8)
$5 exacta box She’s a Julie (#4) and Eskimo Kisses (#2)
$5 exacta box Talk Veuve to Me (#8) and Eskimo Kisses (#2)