Saratoga internet plays for Saturday

Saturday, August 19

The post-mortems for Friday are as follows: Breezy Way was blown away in the opener, costing us $30 worth of win bets and a saver exacta.

In the fifth race, Polished Arrow was able to get up for third, but that's not what we bet him to do.

I like a horse in the Alabama.

RACE 9

Speaking as a fan, I just love Miss Shop, the Allen Jerkens-trained filly who is 8-1 on the track's morning line for the Alabama and capable of winning it based on a good third-place finish behind Wonder Lady Anne L and Pine Island in the Coaching Club American Oaks.

The racetrack has been very demanding lately, and even top-flight horses have been laboring through deep stretch, so conditioning is going to be a major factor in the last stages of the 10-furlong Alabama. Miss Shop has been running regularly since mid-winter, and really doesn't care what the footing is like. She has won on fast and wet dirt tracks, and on turf courses rated firm and soft, and is just plain racing fit.

Just to make sure Miss Shop is ready, Jerkens (a three-time Alabama winner) recently sent Miss Shop out for a pair of stamina-building mile workouts over the track. I love that.

Sure, Pine Island can win, but she's on the front page of Saturday's Daily Racing Form and is sure to be overbet. Wonder Lady Anne L, meanwhile, had a cough after the CCA Oaks, and has had only one published workout in the last four weeks. And if Adieu can win stretching out past 1 1/16 miles for the first time, we'll just tip our hat to Todd Pletcher and move on.

The bet: It's $50 on the nose of Miss Shop in the Alabama.

Total wagers previous day: $50
Total return previous day: $0
Total win/loss previous day: Do the math

Total wagers for meet: $972
Total return for meet: $682.50
Total win/loss for meet: minus $289.50