Saratoga will host a pair of crowded graded stakes this Friday, Aug. 4. Those who pick the winners of the Grade 3 Saratoga Oaks Invitational and Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame could stake their claim to a lucrative Pick 3 payout that concludes with a wide-open New York-bred allowance. Here’s a closer look:
SAR 7th race (4:34 EST) -- AMERICAN SONJA arrives from Ireland for the $400,000 Saratoga Oaks Invitational with an 8/3-2-1 record in an average field size of 12. She won of soft, good and yielding turf courses, beat the boys for her first victory and went wire-to-wire two starts ago for her first stakes triumph. She stalked but couldn’t reach the speedy Zarinsk in a Group 3 stakes last out, but she could hold a decided pace advantage in her first start beyond one mile after Zarinsk came back with a front-end, Group 2 victory. She is a must-use in the leadoff leg of the Pick 3 at 12-1 on the morning line. Another European-based filly, ELUSIVE PRINCESS, could be the one to beat at 1-3/16 miles if some pace flow develops. She finished full of run to get beat less than a length in back-to-back Group I grass routes in France before a slow pace and extremely wide trip spelled trouble in her latest start.
SAR 8th race (5:08 EST) -- MORE THAN LOOKS, GENERAL JIM and MYSTERIOUS KNIGHT are graded winners at one mile. APPRAISE, OCEAN VISION, NAGIRROC and BEHIND ENEMY LINES are graded-placed at the distance on turf. BAT FLIP won a minor stakes at one mile for Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher when last seen as a 2-year-old. CARL SPACKLER and MISCHIEVOUS ANGEL were impressive maiden-breakers on the lawn for four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Chad Brown, who excels with turf horses. That covers the 10 entrants in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame stakes. Or, in other words, the ‘ALL’ button.
SAR 9th race (5:44 EST) -- Finger Lakes invader MISSING FORTUNE should not be taken lightly. She has a win and two seconds in allowance company for this barn, met four next-out winners and five runners-up in those short sprints and ran a full second faster than a same-day AX allowance in earning her top speed figure with a 7-length romp last out. BIG BEAN CHRISTINE overcame wide trips to win three of her last five starts at Aqueduct and will look to continue her steady improvement off a four-month layoff at a distance which no one in the field has conquered.
Suggested $1 Ticket
SAR 7th Race: 3, 8
SAR 8th Race: ALL
SAR 9th Race: 3, 5
Cost: $40
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