Litfin: How I'd play Saratoga on Friday

I might wind up trying to be a bit of a wise guy on turf and dirt during the second half of Friday’s card.

Race 7 looks about as wide-open as can be, with eight of the lightly raced maiden fillies showing a Beyer Speed Figure top in the 70s. Among them is Place Card, who had some trouble at the start in both outings last fall and returned to show more early speed in a muddy off-the-turf sprint in her first time out this year.

She is stretching back out for Graham Motion and will get a long look from me in the win pool at anything near her 10-1 morning-line quote, along with an exacta saver underneath Hope Cross.

The Curlin Stakes (race 9) also is quite competitive, and there’s a considerable amount of early speed signed on. This might prove to be a beneficial setup for V.E. Day, who has improved with every start for Jimmy Jerkens and gets tested for class after beating maidens in the slop and preliminary allowance foes on the grass.

The colt has a strong finishing kick, and Jerkens is 6 for 14 with the turf-to-dirt switch since the start of 2013. He’s 20-1 on the morning line and, at double-digit odds, will be an irresistible win-place bet – provided, of course, there hasn’t been an obvious bias toward early speed in the earlier races.