Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Foolish Ghost may never look back in John Morrissey
Saratoga | Race 9 | Post Time 5:39 p.m. (ET) | Go to the TimeformUS PPs | Not already a TimeformUS member? Sign up
I’ll be interested to see how the public handles the two Michelle Nevin runners, either of whom could go favored. My Boy Tate (#3) has the better overall résumé, but he can be a little hard to trust at times. He threw in one of his occasional clunkers at Parx last time, failing to get involved over a sloppy main track as the even-money favorite. Now he returns off a brief freshening and would obviously be formidable if able to recapture top form.
Our Last Buck (#4) is arguably more of a wild card since we haven’t seen him in over half a year. He was in the best form of his career during the winter at Aqueduct, following up an allowance score with a strong effort to win the Say Florida Sandy over My Boy Tate. However, now he has to prove that he can reach that same level off the bench.
Wudda U Think Now (#5) is probably the most reliable option despite the fact he exits a couple of defeats at the allowance level. He was facing some very talented 3-year-olds in those races and was hardly disgraced either time. He’s posted consistent speed figures and handles this distance. I consider him the horse to beat, but I’m going in a different direction.
While there is a bit of speed in this field, no one is as fast in the early going as FOOLISH GHOST (#7). I’ll be somewhat surprised if horses like Wudda U Think Now and Runningwscissors are sacrificed to go after him, so it’s possible that Foolish Ghost could be allowed to set a comfortable pace. He’s been in razor-sharp form lately, with his only poor effort coming when he missed the break at Aqueduct in April. He ran especially well last time, as he got early pressure from a foe and still ran away from the field late. Horses have come back to validate that speed figure, and I think he’s very dangerous, even stretching out an extra half-furlong.
THE PLAY
Win: 7
Exacta Key Box: 7 with 3,5,8
Trifecta: 7 with 3,5 with 3,4,5,8