Some unfortunately short fields in New York and California and two inscrutable juvenile stakes at Tampa limit plausible plays this first Saturday of December. In the end, it’s an all long-distance edition of Weekend GamePlan – no race shorter than nine furlongs need apply. Remsen Dornoch, the 2023 winner who captured the Belmont and Haskell the next year, restored some luster to the Remsen, a 2-year-old race that had become negatively correlated to high-level 3-year-old success. This year’s Remsen is long on talent, short on stakes success. The dozen entrants have a combined stakes record of 9-3-2-1, and only Talkin, a distant second in the Champagne, has left a mark in a graded race. Danny Gargan trained Dornoch and also trains Talkin, whose debut win at Saratoga came over hot favorite Stradale, who has since been a little disappointing, and – much farther back in third – Further Ado, who emerged as a divisional leader this fall after stretching out to routes. Talkin got back to work 20 days after the Champagne, connections already eyeing this race, and has kept to a steady work pattern. I’d term his two starts more solid than spectacular. He made up no late ground on runaway Champagne winner Napoleon Solo and did not hit the line in that one-mile contest like a horse clearly looking for more ground. :: Access the most trusted data and information in horse racing! DRF Past Performances and Picks are available now. Paladin apparently is this year’s version of Sierra Leone, whom Dornoch nipped in his Remsen. Same owners, same trainer, flashy purchase price, and same race pattern, though Paladin’s lone start came two weeks earlier and produced a Beyer Speed Figure 16 points higher than Sierra Leone’s. Paladin got put up in that race after an unjust disqualification of Renegade, the best horse on that day. Renegade would’ve won clear with an easier trip, though Paladin ceded a race of experience to Renegade, one of three here for trainer Todd Pletcher. Pletchers other two are Grittiness, who I can’t support, and Courting, the pick to win. Courting, a $5 million yearling, in his debut defeat looked very much like a horse who would benefit from a second chance in the maiden ranks. A colt who looks like a true route horse, Courting traveled just okay through the early and middle stages first out, only really applying himself in the homestretch, finishing fastest while gaining on the winner, Remsen foe Igniter. Courting beat just three foes in his second-start maiden win, where the Beyer came back flat. Neither fact bothers me. Renegade ran the more advanced and faster race last time, but Courting will step forward in the Remsen. I loved the way he lengthened his stride when challenged last out, and Courting will relish 1 1/8 miles. He’ll be comfortable now, too, with any kind of decent trip – pressing, stalking, closing. The morning line has him at 9-2. I’d take that. Boone County The Boone County butts up against the Valedictory, 10 furlongs on Tapeta at Turfway versus 12 furlongs on Tapeta at Woodbine. Safe Trip Home could win either race. The addition of blinkers three starts ago pushed Safe Trip Home to a far higher level than he’d hit, and I suspect he holds form. Safe Trip Home already has handled Turfway’s racing surface but hasn’t started on a synthetic track since blinkers went on and connections discovered that this horse wanted long distances. He makes the third start of his form cycle and will get a solid to fast pace at which to run. Safe Trip Home’s run is more steady than electric, but it can get the job done Saturday night. Valedictory Development isn’t linear. Cool Kiss on June 22, in his second start after a long layoff and second after a claim, turned in one of the better races of his career. Mind you, that performance didn’t materialize out of thin air. Cool Kiss showed something as a younger horse. :: Access morning workout reports straight from the tracks and get an edge with DRF Clocker Reports Then came two steps back, his August runs, before Cool Kiss came far forward to win the Sept. 20 Durham Cup at 17-1. Cool Kiss regressed last out in the Autumn, but that regression still led to a performance better than anything other than his Durham Cup. He came off the bridle past the three-furlong marker while racing in traffic and looked cooked, but Cool Kiss sparked to life again late, posting the race’s fastest final quarter-mile. I’m looking for further development in the Valedictory, but even getting back to his peak, can Cool Kiss stay 1 1/2 miles? He’s 10-1 on the morning line, a price that makes it worth betting he can. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.