With the scheduled Grade III Athenia getting cancelled on Thursday due to the heavy rains in the forecast, there’s a good chance that all of Saturday’s action will be washed off the turf. With that in mind, we’ll take a condensed look at the late Pk4 in terms of the main-track-only. Race 7: $16,000 claimer…
Familial and travel commitments mean that Brian’s Pick 4 preview is on hiatus this week, but fortunately for us, we’ve got his preview of the two-year-old stakes at Belmont. The Grade I, $440,000 Frizette for 2-year-old fillies at 1-mile.1. Annie’s Melody: Enters off just a 5 ½-furlong maiden win at Monmouth over seven weeks ago,…
My favorite day of the year. What used to be known as Breeders’ Cup preview day now has five Grade I races that always have major implications on both the Breeders’ Cup and the championship picture. If you’re anywhere near Belmont, it’s well worth making the trip over, not only to see some world-class racing…
Race 7: $22,000 claimer for 3&up at 6 furlongs on the inner turf (N2L). 1. Khan Of Khans: Toss that run in the slop in June and his form isn’t bad at all. The only problem is that this will be his first try against winners and he had to defeat cheap claimers to get…
Race 7: $23,000 claimer for 3-year-olds and up at 1 1/8 miles on the inner turf (N2L). 1. Live On The Edge: Seems like the logical next step for a runner that just broke his maiden over claimers at the Spa. Faces a much tougher group today, but several in here have shown they aren’t…
Mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. And profuse thanks to reader BrooklynSaint, who pointed out two unforgivable omissions in my wrap-up post from yesterday. Brian Nadeau: thank you! Brian started writing Derby preps last winter, and he continued handicapping through the end of the Saratoga meet, focusing on the Saturday Pick 4’s. His work…
Race 9: The Grade I, $300,000 Forego for 3&up at 7 furlongs.1. Pyro: Made a nice return earlier in the meet when his patented late rally fell just short in a minor stakes. Eligible to be much tighter today as well and that means he’s someone you need to be aware of in the lane.…
My petition to NYRA in an effort to pay out 3-out-of-4 denied, I forge on to Saturday’s $1 million guaranteed Pk4. It will have to pay half that much to get me out of the hole. Race 9: The Grade II, $200,000 Ballston Spa for filly/mares 3&up at 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon turf.…
Race 8: $55,000 MSW for 2-year-olds going 6 ½ furlongs. 1. Discreetly Mine: Somewhat alarming that Discreet Cat’s little brother is still a maiden after two starts and he gets no favor from the rail draw today. Blinkers come off in an attempt to get him to settle early, but if he breaks slowly from…
Race 8: $30,000 claimer for 3&up on the inner turf at 1-mile (claiming price $35,000). 1. Ninth Client: We saw on Thursday with Fast Draw that when Lukas drops them in for a tag, they usually run well. This guy has been running against some top competition and now makes his first start for a…
Brooklyn Backstretch 