Thursday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Glavine should have pace advantage in Pennine Ridge

Saratoga | Race 3 | Post Time 1:40 p.m. (ET)

West End Kid (#9) looks like the horse to beat as he makes his stakes debut in this Grade 3 Pennine Ridge. He really should be undefeated, only losing due to a poor trip in his Gulfstream debut. He has been utterly dominant in two starts since, a maiden win at Keeneland and an allowance triumph at Churchill. The latter was accomplished without an ideal trip, as he got hung wide from post 10 and had to advance in the three- to four-path without cover. He still pulled clear late despite losing ground on the turns. A repeat of that effort makes him tough to beat here, but he does have another outside draw to overcome, and his tendency to get keen in the early stages could hinder Tyler Gaffalione's attempts to cross over.

Bottas (#1) showed such talent in his debut at this venue last year, making a last-to-first blitz to victory. He confirmed that promise in a hard-fought Pilgrim score. However, he disappointed at the end of the season in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf after getting a wide trip. He's now returning from a layoff, but his lack of early speed could be an issue in a race that features a murky pace scenario.

Without much speed signed on, Glavine (#8) should find himself in an advantageous position. He's light on experience but showed quite a bit of professionalism in both prior starts. He got a tough post position in his debut at Saratoga last summer but stayed on well to just miss after a wide trip. He appeared to return from the layoff as a more physically mature individual when he resurfaced last month at Aqueduct. He showed the ability to sit just off the pace early before sustaining an early move to take over, drawing clear late with massive strides. It's a big step up from maiden to stakes company, but he has an aggressive rider on board in a race that lacks true contenders with early speed.