Weekend GamePlan: Picks for Haskell, Coaching Club American Oaks, Molly Pitcher

Here we go. The first summer Saturday with both Saratoga and Del Mar rolling, and it’s Haskell Day in New Jersey – a horseplayers’ bonanza.

Haskell

Is it just me, or is this the most interesting, deepest Haskell in years?

Two of the eight can’t win, but the other six all have merit. I am not a Tapit Trice guy, and he remains after seven starts a colt who must be ridden aggressively just to hold racing position. He cuts back from 12 furlongs to nine and goes from a massive track with wide, sweeping turns to a much tighter oval with a short homestretch, a move that seemingly works against him.

Salute the Stars needs more, but who’s to say he can’t produce it third time out for Brad Cox? He split horses and finished nicely in his off-the-turf win at this 1 1/8-mile trip and had no business getting up in the Pegasus from the spot he occupied at the three-sixteenths pole.

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Geaux Rocket Ride has done nothing wrong in three starts, his talent shining bright from his first time out. He fell victim to team tactics in a gallant San Felipe, and from the look of his workout video is ready to take a step forward. Love that this colt races in little more than a bit and reins – not even a nose band. That said, he is not quite the physical specimen as a couple of his rivals.

Mage ran best when second in the Florida Derby and even accounting for favorable circumstances was a worthy Kentucky Derby winner. I think in addition to a much more difficult trip at Pimlico, he came up a little flat after only two weeks’ rest. Everything points to this race being a pure prep for the Travers, but we can’t entirely dismiss the chance that Mage wins anyway.

For me, it’s down to Arabian Knight and Extra Anejo. These two, along with Loggins and Forte, were the most impressive 2-year-olds of 2022. Arabian Knight, given his work pattern, is thriving physically again after missing time over the winter and into the spring. And from all appearances in those works, he is not coming up short following a long layoff. He’s blessed with a dazzling combination of speed and stamina, but at twice the price, I have to take Extra Anejo.

During Breeders’ Cup week, Extra Anejo turned in a workout that had this observer believing he was, at the time, the most likely Kentucky Derby winner.

None of that worked out, owing to injury, but Extra Anejo, after getting a tricky trip in a comeback race he badly needed, has gotten back on track. The colt’s based at Saratoga and could have run there in the restricted Curlin Stakes; instead, he gets a shot at a Grade 1. I, along with his connections, expect him to take a major step forward.

Coaching Club American Oaks

Gambling Girl, off a strong second in the Kentucky Oaks, could be favored here. Southlawn, off a tame 10th in the Oaks, is 9-2 on the morning line. I’ll take Southlawn.

We know this filly is capable of far more than she showed in the Oaks, because at Fair Grounds she thumped Pretty Mischievous, winner of the Oaks and the Grade 1 Acorn. Southlawn has gotten back onto a great work pattern and, Oaks aside, she’s very much bred to get this nine-furlong trip. Look for a serious rebound.

Molly Pitcher

This race worked well as a bridge between Grade 1s for Search Results last year, and it may well do so again. But she’ll be a far shorter price than her 8-5 morning-line odds and I don’t mind taking on such a short favorite who is coming off a major goal and headed toward more important stops in her campaign.

Shotgun Hottie is just 4 and has made only a handful of starts for trainer Cherie DeVaux. There’s a chance her Lady’s Secret proves more than a one-race aberration. She showed improved speed and really caught the eye drawing away from decent horses through her final furlong that day, and Shotgun Hottie could sneak up on Search Results.

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