Illman: Saratoga pick three play for Thursday, July 24

Let's try a pick three:

Race 2:
A speed-laden baby race at five furlongs should provide some swift early fractions. Using Ticketmaker, I'll play 2 "A" horses and a pair of backups.

A - #3 BATTLE RED
Sold for $240,000 in May after breezing a furlong in 9.30 seconds, and showed some of that high speed in his debut at Belmont earlier in the month. It's Pletcher and Velazquez and you never want them to knock you out of a multiple-race wager.

A - #5 AWOL
An intriguing first-time starter trained by John Robb, a Mid-Atlantic horseman with excellent 2-year-old numbers. Awol has some quick workouts and a precocious pedigree, and figures a square price.

B - #2 REVOLVER
Although beaten in his debut at Churchill Downs, this one showed some grit to re-rally in the stretch for the place. Trainer Steve Asmussen excels with second-time juveniles.

B - #4 BULLY PROOF
Todd-trained firster has been working heads up with Competitive Edge, a well-hyped baby that we'll see later in the week. The proverbial "could be any kind."

Race 3:

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This is a statebred maiden claimer, and it's hard to trust any of the established form. I'll use two "A" horses and a single backup.

A - #5 KEEP RIGHT
Drops into a claimer for the first time and cuts back in distance for a barn that has sent out live horses at the meeting. Might get the right setup from off the pace.

A - #8 BUILT IN A DAY
First-time starter might be the right fresh face in a field full of question marks. There are some solid works and one sibling was able to reach the 90-Beyer plateau.

B - #9 MARY'S IN UTOPIA
Beyers are going the right way, but that last fig came in the mud. She's been chasing quick fractions in her recent races and shouldn't be too far away when the real running begins.

Race 4:
We'll try to close out the ticket with one "A" and one backup in this N2X optional claimer.

A - #5 KATIE'S GARDEN
Comes off the layoff here for John Shirreffs, but looked good winning her last start, which came at Santa Anita. There is speed for her to track in this spot.

B - #1A ULTIMATE SHOPPER
Speedster draws outside some other quick ones so it will be interesting to see if she can rate a bit. She gets some class relief and has done very well at this distance.

Here are the Ticketmaker tickets: