Hersh: Saratoga pick three play for Monday, Aug. 25

In the early pick five races 4 and 5 – both fairly inscrutable maidens – cause too much trouble to play with any confidence on less than a high-roller bankroll. And I thought in the late pick four races 7,8, and 10 had the same effect, so I’m aiming small today.

Pick Three Races 2-3-4

Race 2 – The 3 is scratched, so just six remain in this New York-bred N1X dirt-sprint allowance. I suppose the No. 1 Say Mr. Sandman could bring this down in a hurry, but I’m just using the three favorites, SWELL (No. 2), GIANTINTHEMOONLITE (No. 6) and CUANTOS (No. 7). A win by Swell would easily be the best result.

Race 3 – MAGICAL MOON’s (No. 2) career record of 12-2-5-2 will make some skeptical, and perhaps I’m being too optimistic, but she’s 5-2-2-0 in short turf sprints and ran well in both her starts on the local course. She’s tactically versatile, appears to have been pointed to this spot, and really should handle this group.

Race 4 – Good luck sorting through this 2-year-old $50K maiden-claimer. The tepid 3-1 morning-line choice MR CLASSIC SENECA (No. 3) would be more palatable at 5 1/2 furlongs, but I think he’s quite vulnerable at six. Rudy Rodriguez already has sent two 2-year-old debut winners in maiden-claimers this meet. Can we get a third? BANKERS BOSS (No. 7) has the right purchase price and slow works are no deterrent. But I’m using all entrants to at least some extent. Will play for $2 with numbers 3,7,8,9 as outlined in the Ticketmaker ticket below.