Pick 3 of the Week: Saratoga Saturday, August 1

Two of the three graded stakes races to be hosted by Saratoga on Saturday will be a part of the Pick 3 of the Week.

Race 8 Wager

$1 Pick 3: 1,2,3,5 with 5,6,8 with 3,5 ($24)

Race 8 – Allowance

A full field of fillies and mares will jaunt 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf to commence the wager. The ultra-competitive field lacks a true standout, and I’ll use multiple contenders to kick things off. I often prefer using runners on the outside in turf dashes, but the inside contenders are the ones I like most in this particular dash. 

#1 Big Earn (6-1), #2 Lady Jancis (3-1), #3 Only for Now (5-1), and top choice #5 Silsbee (5-2) are the ones in the opening leg. 

Race 9 – Lake George (G3)

Sophomore fillies will run 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf course in the middle piece of the play, and #6 Amberglen (5-2) looks tough to me. The Brad Cox pupil dominated allowance runners on the Churchill lawn last time and could peak in her third run of the season in the affair. The expensive Night of Thunder filly will have Irad in the silks. 

If the Chad Brown-trained #8 Deep Learning (7-2) shows improvement off of her solid juvenile campaign, then the Cairo Prince filly will be a formidable foe today. The dark bay lass was a runaway winner on debut on the course last summer and has worked well in advance of her seasonal bow. Flavien Prat has the assignment. Stakes heroine #5 Ultimate Love (10-1) gets a pass for her latest and will improve third off the shelf for Trombetta. 

Race 10 – Jim Dandy (G2)

A compact field of three-year-olds will vie in the closing leg of the play. A sound case can be made for four of the five in the field, but I will use just two of the sophomores. Arkansas Derby (G1) star #3 Renegade (7-5) ran a subpar race for his standards in the Belmont (G1) last time, but the son of Into Mischief was still clear in third, and I feel that he will appreciate the cut back to nine furlongs on Saturday. 

Florida Derby (G1) victor #5 Commandment (6-5) ran a winning race in defeat when second in the Belmont (G1) for trainer Brad Cox. Also by Into Mischief, the colt will have blinkers added for the contest, and while I’m not sure I love the equipment change, I trust the connections and surely have to include the ultra-talented colt, nonetheless. Flavien Prat will be in the saddle.