Wednesday TimeformUS Highlight Horse: Eminent Victor due for some racing luck
Saratoga | Race 8 | Post Time 5:10 p.m. (ET) TimeformUS PPs are now available on DRF.com. Go to PPs
The De La Rose features a rematch of the Perfect Sting from early July at Belmont. Evvie Jets (#2) was the winner that day after securing the early lead from heavy favorite Technical Analysis (#5) and the two ran around the track in that order in a private match race. Yet this came up a deeper spot, and it seems unlikely that Chad Brown will just let Evvie Jets get away with a comfortable early lead this time, as he has entered three runners against her. Technical Analysis is certainly fast enough to get to the front if Jose Ortiz decides to get aggressive, and even Haughty (#4) has used front-running tactics in the past.
The Pace Projector depicts Regal Realm (#6) sitting just in behind that trio, but even she has been victorious in gate-to-wire fashion. It would be no surprise to see her get an aggressive ride from Florent Geroux after trouble at the start forced her to adapt to closing tactics last time.
I believe this race is open to some closing types. The most logical of those is White Frost (#1), who comes into this race with some of the highest TimeformUS Speed Figures, earning a field-best 125 for her third-place finish behind In Italian in the Jenny Wiley. However, her last couple of efforts have been disappointing. I can excuse her lackluster effort over a yielding course last time, since she got away to a poor start. Yet she was supposed to win against seemingly overmatched rivals two back.
I prefer another late-running type. Eminent Victor (#3) will be the biggest price of the Chad Brown trio, since she is slower than her main rivals based purely on speed figures. However, she has had a series of excuses for her disappointing recent results. Going all the way back to last year’s Lake Placid, she got the wrong trip over a speed-favoring course in a race dominated on the front end. This year she was unlucky coming off a layoff in the Gallorette, getting completely sawed off in traffic when trying to make a move up the rail at the top of the stretch. Then last time she caught a rain-soaked turf course at Woodbine, making a middle move before flattening out. She should appreciate getting back on firm ground this time and catches a field that might not be as tough as it looks at first glance.