Saratoga Selections 9-3-17 by @SaratogaScotty1
Closing Sunday – September 3, 2017
A crazy day of longshots hitting the board at the Spa, as (for the most part!) the favorites couldn’t finish! Gun Runner proved he is the one to beat heading into the BC Classic, as he was in complete control of this race, and turned for home in a hand ride from Florent Geroux to pull away by 10+ lengths! Competition wasn’t steep, but G1 wins are G1 wins, and this one wasn’t even close. VooDoo Song became an instant Saratoga Legend, winning his fourth race of this meet, and going a perfect 4 for 4 since joining the Linda Rice barn following Michael Hushion’s retirement. Kudos on a job well done to the Rice barn, and getting this one back on turf for the Saratoga meet. Four wins in 6 weeks! At Saratoga! Geez. Moving on, updated stats are below heading into the final three Graded Stakes races of the meet. I have not had the final weekend I was looking for, to close out with a flat bet profit, but there is still hope! Thanks again for reading along all meet, and hopefully you were on board for some of my winners! We just missed on some big payouts, and nice exactas throughout the meet, but at the end of the day, that is horse racing and handicapping – and close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, so we take no consolation in that! Onward and upward! Let’s cash more tickets than we rip today.
Through Friday, September 1st, 2017: Graded Stakes Races Only @ Saratoga
(*Shuvee Stakes had three (3) runners, with WIN bets only. TOP PICK ONLY)
Top Picks à 8 for 30 (27%) / 18 for 30 ITM (60%)
Top 3 Picks à 41 for 88 ITM (47%)
BETTING SEQUENCE: $2 TOP PICK Wn/Plc and $2 ExBox w/ TOP 3 PICKS = $16 total each race
TOP PICKS:
Money Spent: $134.00
Money Won: $117.00
TOP PICK ROI: $0.87
TOP 3:
Money Spent = $442.00
Money Won = $353.20
OVERALL ROI: $0.80
Only one Graded Stakes race on the Sunday card today and it’s the Grade 2 Prioress Stakes, for 3yo fillies, going 6 furlongs on the main track. All races are on the main track, as Saratoga has seen rain and will continue to see rain today. As of Sunday morning, the track is listed as Sloppy-Sealed, and there looks to be rain in the forecast pretty much all day! I’d have to imagine that by 5:40, when the Prioress is due to go off, the track will still be playing sloppy. I am not a big player when the rain comes out, as things can become too unpredictable, and that is where you lose your edge, as a handicapper. We all know this is a numbers game, and to be successful, or even profitable at all, you have to pick your spots, and know when hold onto your cash. I won’t be playing the card today, but I certainly will play my typical Graded Stakes bets in the 10th Race today, so here are my thoughts. Hopefully we can catch a price in here, and get ourselves back closer to the $1.00 ROI figure! Make sure to pay attention to how the track is playing throughout the day, to see if speed is holding, or closers are closing. Will the rail be the place to be, or is coming down the middle where it’s supposed to be? I’m going with some of the lighter races horses in here, as we have four horses in here that have run 11+ races lifetime, and four horse that have run 5, or less, lifetime. One I really like in this one is the lightest raced horse in the bunch, for Linda Rice, #8-DOWNTOWN MAMA. This filly sports a 466 Tomlinson Figure on a wet track, and won her career debut on Sealed-Muddy track this past spring. Has cranked out two more wins, in as many tries since, with a nice increasing speed figure each race. A perfect 2 for 2 at this 6f trip, Jose Ortiz keeps the mount for a 3rd straight. #4-NONNA MELA for Todd Pletcher is another lightly raced 3yo, that is making her second start of the year, and seems prepped for a big performance today. Hasn’t raced on a wet track, but pedigree suggests she’ll be fine, and having an impressive first race back off an 8-month layoff, tells me connections were eying this race all along. She won the G2-Adirondack last year at the Spa, and is now a perfect 2 for 2 on the track. Won’t be much of a price, but must include. Rounding out my Top 3 in this one is the #5-VERTICAL OAK, for Steve Asmussen. She faded to 5th in the G1-Test LTO, but that came after dueling upfront with a couple horses for the first 5 furlongs of that race, and just couldn’t hang on – finishing behind ALL GRADED STAKES WINNERS. Probably could consider this a drop in class because of that last field, and gets Johnny V. in the saddle, with some major early speed – my TOP PICK. PRIORESS TOP 3: #5 – #8 – #4.
Thank you for reading, and let’s cash more tickets than we rip this weekend!
Good Luck!
@SaratogaScotty1
