The Grade 1, $1.25 million Whitney is the big race of the day Saturday and tops a card at Saratoga that also includes the Grade 1, $500,000 Test Stakes and three other stakes. But Mountaineer and Del Mar have important graded stakes action, too. The Grade 2, $750,000 West Virginia Derby is the main event at Mountaineer, while Del Mar offers the Grade 2, $200,000 Sorrento and the Grade 3, $150,000 La Jolla.

West Virginia Derby

SPRINGHOUSE
Trainer: Mike Keogh
Last race: July 3, 6th
Finish: 2nd by 1 1/4
Beyer: 85
He chased the favored front-runner, Conquest Enforcer, all the way in the one-mile Charlie Barley, which has proven to be a high-quality stakes. Four runners have exited that event to score, most notably Toronto Cup Stakes winner Conquest Daddyo and Saratoga allowance winner Hammers Vision.

July 30

Saratoga

Amsterdam (race 4)

LUMINANCE
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Last race: July 27, 3rd
Finish: 1st by 1 1/2
Beyer: 97
This sprint filly scored a smashing allowance win second start back from a layoff. She was off slowly from the rail, zoomed inside to duel, gone. Better-than-looked win. Ready to return to stakes.

SUMMERTIMEMISCHIEF
Trainer: Kathy Walsh
Last race: July 27, 5th
Finish: 5th by 7 1/2

Sunday’s Haskell card at Monmouth Park is solid, and the pick four leading to the marquee race of the meet looks very playable:

Race 9: New York shipper 5-BLACKTYPE is the sole "A" in this race for me, as he has the best figures in the race and in fact comes off a career-best Beyer. But for the purposes of this ticket I'll include 3-ALMASTY, who may be the best of the speeds, and 1-CAPTAIN DIXIE who is capable of his best.

A's: 5

B's: 1, 3

DEL MAR, Calif. – A maiden speedster looks appealing in a deep maiden race for 2-year-old fillies Sunday at Del Mar, followed later by a pair of deep-closing sprinters. All three longshots are listed at 8-1.

Race 3

The filly American Cleopatra is a full sister to Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, both trained by Bob Baffert. American Pharoah lost his career debut, then won eight straight. Like brother, like sister?

“If her brother couldn’t win first out, I don’t have a problem with [American Cleopatra] not winning first out,” Baffert said.

Here are a few horses not named Beholder to consider using in exotic wagers today.

RACE 4

There are a bevy of big names on the Saturday card at Saratoga, including Flintshire and Creator, but a couple of other horses caught my eye as potential value plays. Let’s take a look:

Race 4 – Amsterdam Stakes

3 – QUIJOTE (12-1 morning line, 8-1 value line)

Both our Pix took a dive last week—Patron (Ger) went out and fried himself at Del Mar, and despite two BreezeFigs horses completing the trifecta, the ones we liked at Saratoga had no interest in doing their jobs.  So it wasn’t a total loss, the result of the Grade 3 Sanford at Saratoga on the same day produced a BreezeFigs exacta between Bitumin and Random Walk paltry though it was at $7.30.

Saratoga has four graded stakes races on its card Saturday, but the big race of the day is the Grade 1, $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch at Del Mar, where three-time Eclipse Award winner Beholder again meets last year’s champion 3-year-old filly, Stellar Wind. These two met for the first time in last month’s Vanity Mile, and Beholder defeated Stellar Wind by a decisive 1 1/2 lengths.