Pick 4 of the Week: Saratoga Saturday, August 22

The pair of graded stakes races on the Saturday card at Saratoga are the middle legs of the Pick 4 of the Week.  

Race 9 Wager

• 50-cent Pick 4: 4,5,6,9 with 1,2,5,6 with 4,6 with 4,6,8 ($48)

Race 9 – Allowance

A group of 10 males will travel a one-turn mile on the dirt in the first leg of the sequence. #4 Freddie B (6-1) and #9 Playa Del Mar (4-1) exit the same race, which I feel is a key one, and both will make the ticket. Recent maiden winner #5 Stimulate (5-2) and Juddmonte’s #6 Silver Talent (5-1) will also be added to kick off the wager. 

Race 10 – Ballston Spa H. (G2)

Eight fillies and mares are entered for the turf in the first graded event of the afternoon. #6 Segesta (7-5) is a two-time Grade 1 heroine who is one of three in the group for Chad Brown. The Ghostzapper mare was clearly second behind a fine winner in the Diana (G1) most recently and will be tough with even minor improvement in the affair with Prat riding. 

European invader #2 Sunlit Uplands (10-1) enticed John Velazquez to ride, and she has to be on my ticket. The imports have been especially successful in graded turf races at the meeting, and she could be next in line. Grade 1 queen #5 And One More Time (3-1) is the pace of the race and was last seen leading at every call in a stakes tilt on the course in her latest venture. #1 Ozara (8-1) has excuses for her last two outings and will be of nice value in the heat. The Clement trainee is three-for-four on the surface and will save ground from the rail with Dylan Davis aboard. 

Race 11 – Alabama (G1)

Six sophomore fillies will travel 1 1/4 miles on the main oval in the $600,000 feature. #6 Counting Stars (1-2) has dominated a pair of Grade 1 fields in succession at the meeting and looms large as the heavy choice for Mark Casse. She will be formidable with something close to her best under Irad.

I feel the only other horse in the field capable of winning the event is #4 My Gun’s Loaded (3-1), and I will include her for insurance. The Chad Brown-trained Gun Runner filly has come home fast in two runs going one turn at the meeting and might appreciate the 10 furlongs in her stakes debut with Manny Franco in the irons. 

Race 12 – Maiden Special Weight

Fillies and mares will travel 1 3/16 miles on the turf to close out the wager. #8 Osmosis (9-2) just missed at Gulfstream Park in a second career run in December and comes in fresh for Pletcher. The Siyouni filly gets Lasix for the initial time, and Tyler Gaffalione is named to ride. 

#6 Mary Lois (7-2) was clearly second best in a similar type of tilt on the course most recently and will make her third run off the shelf. Flavien Prat retains the mount. #4 Fango Creek (4-1) finished a solid third in a race at 1 1/16 miles locally in her latest performance and will be a major player with the increase in distance today. Luis Saez will take the reins.