Weekend Warrior for Saturday, May 26: Picks for the Charles Whittingham Stakes, Gamely Stakes, Monmouth Stakes

Santa Anita has the most prestigious races on Saturday, the first day of Memorial Day weekend. The Grade 1, $500,000 The Gold Cup at Santa Anita, the Grade 1, $300,000 Gamely, and the Grade 2, $200,000 Charles Whittingham are the features on the Santa Anita card.

Monmouth Park also makes an attempt to celebrate the holiday weekend, with the Grade 2, $200,000 Monmouth Stakes, and the Grade 3, $100,000 Salvator Mile heading a card that includes two other supporting stakes.

Memorial Day weekend, the symbolic beginning of summer, used to be a huge racing weekend, but it has become less important in recent years. And the stakes offerings on the first day of this Memorial Day weekend – still a major holiday weekend for the general public – disappoints this racing fan, and not just because only Santa Anita and Monmouth constructed their stakes schedules with a real sense of the occasion.

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Here’s what I mean:

The Arlington Classic drew a field of eight. The Paradise Creek at Belmont lured a field of six, one of which is a main-track-only entrant. The Keertana and Winning Colors at Churchill Downs attracted fields of only seven and six, respectively. The Salvator Mile and Monmouth Stakes went with seven entrants each. The Eclipse at Woodbine also drew only seven entrants.

By comparison, there was a glut of stakes horses at Santa Anita, where the Gamely and Whittingham lured eight each, and the Gold Cup went with seven. Okay, not really a lot.

And if you want to look ahead to Sunday, the big stakes race on the middle day of this big holiday weekend – the Grade 3, $200,000 Lone Star Park Handicap – drew a field of only five.

I note this because the purpose of the Weekend Warrior column is to find value plays in competitive Saturday stakes races which have general interest from a national perspective. But that’s tough to do if races that meet these qualifications don’t exist.

Of course, betting value is obviously in the eye of the beholder. What I see as a race with terrific betting opportunities might be one you see as a pass. And field size alone does not guarantee betting value, either. We’ve all seen races with 10 entrants in which seven look on paper to be absolutely unbettable, making it, in effect, a three-horse race. And we have also seen six-horse races that are actually more appealing because the top four entrants look very well matched.

As for Saturday’s stakes events - those with widespread general interest – I unfortunately found almost all of them lacking in terms of competitive depth and betting value.

But the Warrior must go on, and here is my attempt to make chicken salad out of, well, you know:

Charles Whittingham Stakes

After finishing third most recently as the favorite in Keeneland’s Elkhorn Stakes, Itsinthepost returns to his stomping grounds of Santa Anita, where he won stakes in his last four starts on that turf course. Itsinthepost will be tough to beat, but Syntax is an intriguing alternative.

Syntax returned in March from a 10-month absence and finished fourth in two stakes going one mile, a distance shorter than what he prefers. He now suitably stretches out to 1 1/4 miles, and was, in fact, a sharp third in this race in his final start of 2017 despite a less-than-perfect trip.

Gamely Stakes

Hawksmoor failed at 1-5 in the Dahlia Stakes in her recent 2018 bow. My hope is the fact that she had absolutely no excuse in that loss, combined with that she’s meeting a tougher group Saturday, throws enough of the betting public off her trail, because I’m willing to give her another chance.

There is no serious early speed in this renewal of the Gamely, meaning Hawksmoor, if ridden properly, can be in control of things from the start, like she did when she posted a strong win in the New York Stakes almost one year ago.

Monmouth Stakes

The Chad Brown-trained Projected and Money Multiplier are obvious win threats. Both, however, have also showed a reluctance to actually win on more than just one occasion, and I’m going with Frostmourne.

Frostmourne showed ability winning the Penn Mile and Kent last year, and his 2018 bow at Gulfstream, but had little chance after he sat off a slow pace last time in the Maker’s 46, and finished fifth. A lack of pace here says he’ll be close from the outset, and he can capitalize.