Watchmaker: How I'd play Saratoga on Saturday, July 26

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N. Y. – The late part of Saturday’s Saratoga card seems like it could break obvious. With Rock Fall scratching from the Amsterdam, the eighth race, the price on my longshot play, Tiznowforamerica, is gone. Captain Serious will now be the Amsterdam favorite and will be a handful as the potential controlling speed.

Lady’s Lunar Luck looks formidable off the class drop in the ninth race, with Miz Owell and The Lady Says Yes looking like the main threats, and none of them will be prices. And I think the Jim Dandy, the 10th race, is a two-horse affair between the two favorites, Tonalist and Wicked Strong (I narrowly prefer Wicked Strong with blinkers on).

This means that I don’t see today’s late pick four being an especially lucrative one, so I’ll focus more on the early part of the card.

Rapid Repair will be hard to beat in the opener at a short price, but I might single her in pick fives since you can still get good payoffs in that wager with a few chalks in the sequence. And I might also use Rapid Repair in vertical wagers over La Majestique, a fast-closing third at 67-1 in her recent debut. That was a maiden claimer, but the strength of that race was confirmed when runner-up Angel Choir ran well in the last race here Thursday.

Another reason why the pick five today appeals to me is that I think the fifth race is interesting. Rocket Time and Bay of Biscay are the two favorites on the morning line, but they might get involved in a contested early pace. That has me looking at closers like Rankhasprivileges, Matuszak, and Forever Thing. No, no Golden Soul for me there.