A week and a day after Del Mar opens in Southern California, Saratoga kicks off its meet in upstate New York. Saratoga has always been the place that top trainers take their best horses for the summer, at least on the East Coast, and in recent years the meet has been dominated by two trainers: Todd Pletcher and Chad Brown. Together, the pair has won nearly 300 races there in the past five years, with Pletcher generally excelling on dirt and Brown ruling the grass.
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DRF Past Performances
ALWAYS A CHANCE
Trainer: Adam Kitchingman
Last race: July 16, 2nd
Finish: 1st by 3
Beyer: 81
Claimed from a dominating $16,000 win by Kitchingman from Jeff Mullins, this older mare can fire right back while moving up in class for her new connections.
UNBRIDLED’S DADDY
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Last race: July 19, 5th
Finish: 4th by 3 1/4
Beyer: 69
Broke slowly and was double-digit lengths from the leaders through the opening half-mile, rallied to make up nearly 10 lengths through the last quarter in a six-furlong turf debut; likely candidate to stretch out.
BIIGON
Trainer: Ashlee Brnjas
Last race: July 17, 2nd
Finish: 3rd by 2 3/4
Beyer: 55
After getting hung out five wide on the first turn, he made a sweeping wide move to hit the front early in the lane before flattening out when debuting in a slow-paced maiden special. The 4-year-old’s trainer possesses excellent numbers with maiden second-timers.
Mon, 07/20/2015 - 00:00
Saturday, July 18
Delaware - Kent (race 7)
COMMENT: Syntax continued his ascent, winning for the third time in his last four starts and notching his first stakes win. Coming off a win over N1X foes at Belmont June 20, he stalked in fourth as My Team set a modest pace, moved closer turning for home to be just behind My Team and All I Karabout, challenged those two by midstretch, got the better of them and kept hard-charging Money Multiplier at bay. Money Multiplier lagged back, edged closer on the far turn and finished well.
DEL MAR, Calif. – A surprise July rainstorm Saturday at Del Mar creates uncertainty into the Sunday card. Will races scheduled for turf stay on turf? Will the main track be fast? Who knows?
Wagering strategy outlined here is subject to change, pending course/track conditions. In the meantime, this is the preliminary “how to play” plan for Sunday. It’s a day that will test one’s discipline. Many plays might instead become a “pass.”
The Belmont spring/summer meet comes to a close Sunday before racing shifts upstate to Saratoga on Friday. So, bear in mind that there will be mandatory payouts in pools that might otherwise have a carryover if not hit.
Three horses in particular caught my interest in handicapping the card: longshot Forma's Joy (#1, 10-1 morning line) in the opener, second favorite Magician’s Bullet (#1, 5-2) in race 8, and Lucky Leroy Brown (#6, 6-1) in the 10th and final.