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Saratoga 1st Race – Post: 12:35 ET. Degree of confidence: B+
Top Selection: 7-Hands of Time
Other Contenders: none.
Forecast: Several highly regarded juveniles are debuting in this middle distance turf router, many of them with pedigrees and/or work patterns for top outfits that suggest this event is quite contentious. You can spread the race and hope to find a price – certainly a possibility with so many question marks in the field – or you can boil it down to a single and hope to be right. We’ve seen Hands of Time in the morning a few times and he absolutely trains like a runner. A strong, powerful son of Liam’s Map blessed with speed, the C. Clement-trained colt had J. Rosario up for his most recent grass drill, a breezing half mile spin around dogs when best of a team and doing it easily to appear plenty fit and ready. Yes, he’s bred primarily for dirt but clearly gets over the sod in good order, so in a wide open grab bag there’s a reasonable gamble available at or near his morning line of 6-1.
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Saratoga 9th Race – Post 5:35 ET. Degree of confidence: B
Top Selection: 6-Cash Equity.
Other Contenders: 3-Belouni (Fr); 9-Steady On.
Forecast: Let’s take a shot with a bit of a price in this third level allowance turf router for older runners. Cash Equity likes to settle early and blast home late and if he can get sufficient help up front the French-bred gelding could produce a winning late kick. From the hot S. Joseph, Jr. barn, the veteran French-bred always tries hard (first or second in 12 of 27 career starts) and has run consistently well since being claimed for $80,000 by his present connections last fall in California. He's been a close runner-up in four of his last five starts while running winning races in each, so perhaps he’s overdue for some luck. At 8-1 on the morning line (likely lower after scratches) he represents a good gamble in the win pool and in the various rolling exotics. Belouni has rising numbers and improving form, so we’ll include him on a backup ticket while Steady On, though poorly drawn, makes his second start off a long layoff, seems certain to be fitter and tighter, and has a chance to at least get a piece of it.
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