Saratoga and Del Mar are done. How much of an in-between, late-summer racing weekend is this? We’re going to rural Kentucky and rural Alberta, Canada to find stakes worth playing. Obviously, Kentucky Downs takes center stage Saturday; The card there is strong and interesting, top to bottom. I like price horses Catch a Bid in the Ladies Sprint and Summer in Saratoga in the Ladies Turf, but neither quite made the cut. Calumet Turf Cup Arklow is 3-1 on the morning line as he tries to win his third Turf Cup at Kentucky Downs. That’s a reasonable guess at his price (though the rest of this line is bonkers, such as Tide of the Sea) and were Arklow something like twice that price I might rather support than oppose him. Sure, he’s 7, but his first 2021 start, a win in the Louisville, looked strong, and in the United Nations he was lucky not to go down on the far turn after clipping heels. And Arklow at age 5 might well have run the same race last out in the paceless Del Mar Handicap as Arklow at age 7 did. I’m not strongly anti-Arklow but do think he’s worth trying to beat. Imperador got strong consideration after finishing so well for second in the U.N. behind Tribhuvan, who walked on the lead. :: Get DRF Betting Strategies for exclusive analysis and wager recommendations from our expert handicappers. That was the first time in the North American portion of his career Imperador approached his South American best, but even when the horse was on top of his game in Argentina, he appeared to not quite stay 1 1/2 miles in the Carlos Pelligrini. Imperador’s only other 1 1/2-mile start, the Louisville, did little to dispel distance concerns, and while he’s a very usable horse, the distance might get him in the end. Here’s another longer price to consider: Glynn County, a 4-year-old seemingly on the rise. He followed a decent U.N. fifth, where he had to run through some traffic, with a solid third in the paceless Mister D. last out. But I like Channel Cat to win. There’s very little on-paper speed entered, and I see Tide of the Sea making the front, setting a modest tempo, and Channel Cat getting a cozy pressing trip right outside and behind him. Channel Cat chased and faded while regressing in the Manhattan after his good win over Gufo a month earlier. He took a step back toward his peak last out in the Bowling Green while never seeming entirely comfortable on a mildly pressured inside pace. Channel Cat clearly came out of that race in good form since trainer Jack Sisterson, who is having an excellent year, worked him back just 13 days later. Proven Kentucky Downs form goes a long way on this tricky racecourse and Channel Cat won the Dueling Grounds Derby in his lone try over the course. He can make it 2 for 2 in the Turf Cup. Kentucky Downs Turf Sprint This is nearly a Breeders’ Cup-level field – not surprising for a $1 million purse. Casa Creed and Got Stormy are the favorites and it’s not easy to knock either of them. Got Stormy comes off an easy Grade 1 tally and won sprinting over this course last year, while Casa Creed was reinvented earlier this season as a turf sprinter. I’ll side with Gear Jockey, who might have found his best niche moving from middle-distance, two-turn races to sprints. One of the better 2-year-old grass horses of 2019, Gear Jockey made just two starts at age 3 and just seemed to be going through the motions running in routes earlier this year. But trainer Rusty Arnold, who won this race two seasons ago with Totally Boss, cut Gear Jockey back to sprints at Saratoga and uncovered a new horse. His slow start in the Troy cost him a real chance to win, and I really liked the way Gear Jockey finished that race off while going a distance likely short of ideal. He’s unexposed and overpriced coming into the Turf Sprint. Canadian Derby Uncharacteristic was claimed for just $8,000 as a 2-year-old but has proven to be a much stronger horse than that. He was hung wide on both turns two starts ago in a Hastings allowance race, and while he did get a good ground-saving trip beating odds-on favorite Myopic in his most recent start, Uncharacteristic was into the bridle and traveling like a winner a long way out that night. All signs point to him staying this 1 1/4-mile trip at Century Mile and he should get a fine trip stalking a strong, contested pace.