Night racing picks for post Breeders' Cup racing Saturday

With the Breeders' Cup running in eastern time this year, there's a lot more racing left after the Classic. It's a perfect time to visit some tracks you may not have played in a while (or at all), so let's pick some maiden races.

Hawthorne, Race 5

$15,000 Illinois maiden claiming, six furlongs on the dirt
Post time: 6:02 p.m. ET

This state-bred maiden claiming sprint drew a field of nine. The morning line favorite is #7 Deora Store, who drops in for a tag after a no-threat debut in special weight company at Hawthorne last month. However, the Frank Kirby barn has been ice-cold this meet, and neither second-time starters nor first-time maiden claiming are a light-on angle for him.

Instead, go for #4 War Trail (5-1), first off the Roger Brueggemann claim. Brueggemann's barn has gotten red-hot lately. And, though War Trail is in for a higher tag this time than he was in his last two starts, the Illinois-bred maiden $15,000 races tend to be softer than the open $6,250 maidens. War Trail also gets a jockey upgrade to Chris Emigh, who has been doing good work for Brueggemann lately, and he adds Lasix for the first time.

Remington Park, Race 2

Maiden special weight, two-year-olds, seven and a half furlongs on turf,
Post time: 8:35 p.m. ET

Remington's Saturday card features three grass races, including this juvenile maiden special. Though #1 Holy Vow was all guts from the inside on debut, he breaks from the rail again and will have to fight just as hard with #6 Resolve Now and #8 Declarationofspeed drawn outside of him, and he won't be 21-1 again. Among the runners from that race, third-place #9 Gold Vermilion has the most upside. He is a second-time starter who showed positional pace first out.

However, freshened up and drilling regularly for Bret Calhoun, #10 Excess Magic (6-1) has upside. His debut showed he wants turf. Even though he stretches out to two turns for the first time, he has the pedigree to relish it and his record so far suggests he can be tactical from the outside.