Litfin's Saratoga plays for Saturday, August 12

Graham Motion busted out my pick four in the second leg when Ballast (announced as a gelding) wired the eighth race at 6-1. For good measure, the Motion-trained Sweet Science, our key single in race 9, finished a thoroughly beaten tenth as the 3-2 favorite in the Waya Stakes. So now, it's Motion AND Julien Leparoux that I can't seem to get a handle on.

We are due to hit something.

RACE 1

Knox won big second time off the claim by Gary Contessa on the next-to-last day of 2005, but something went wrong and his form took a nosedive soon afterward. Even though he has finished out of the money in all six of his starts this year, I think he has a chance to come rolling through the stretch and nail the leaders in Saturday's opener.

Knox received a freshening in early spring, and was overmatched in stakes on turf and dirt after returning in the Midwest for owner Maggi Moss' far-flung stable. First time back in New York with Contessa, Knox got a horrible setup in a paceless route on yielding turf, and finished evenly.

I think a long sprint with a fast pace up front will hit Knox right between the eyes, and he is going to get that kind of a scenario if Harmony Hall and Rockhewn hook up the way they did on a speed-favoring sloppy track on the Jim Dandy undercard.

The bet: $50 to win on Knox.

Total wagers previous day: $72
Total return previous day: $0
Total win/loss previous day: minus $72

Total wagers for meet: $672
Total return for meet: $111
Total win/loss for meet: minus $561