Saratoga 7/16 Pick 3 Plays
- Little Pete
- Jul 16, 2020
- 5 min read
The summer meet at Saratoga is finally upon us. Even without the thousands of people flocking to this opening day, you can still feel the buzz in the air. The track has been a staple of our family for many generations, and although we currently aren't allowed to be in attendance; we still will be very much a part of the action. Before diving too much in to the senitmental parts of the track, let us stay on track and dish out some opening day winners. We are going to attack races 5-10 in a pair of pick three plays with me focusing in on races 5-7, and Big Pete focusing in on 8-10. We are headlined today with the Grade 3 Schuylerville (Shoutout upstate NY) in the 8th, and the Grade 3 Peter Pan in the 9th. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive notification of new blog posts and receive a weekly email containing our picks. GOOD LUCK.
Little Pete's Spot Pick 3:
R5: 3, 5, 7, 8
R6: 2, 7, 9
R7: 1, 3, 9
Cost: $36.00
Big Pete's Late Pick 3:
R8: 1, 3, 8
R9: 1, 3, 6, 7
R10: 1, 4, 5, 6
Cost: $48.00
Little Pete's Spot Pick 3:
Race 5:
There is plenty of speed in here to make me lean towards finding a closer. I think that there will be an early battle for the lead between (2) Steam Engine, (5) Dark Money, and (6) Leaky Cup. I think that this sets up (8) The Caretaker to TAKE CARE of business here. Irad is going to be very aggressive on opening day to try and build an early lead in the jockey's standings, so leaving him off your ticket is risky to me. Plus, he has some tactical speed in this one where he will be able to stalk the early duel and close well. I also like (7) Thorny Tale to have a nice showing in this one. I think that this horse is exiting a key race last time out where Tale of the Union came next time out on 7/5/2020 and won convincingly at this distance/class. (3) Kazmania is looking live from last time out just losing to (8) The Caretaker and a bullet workout leading in. I think that this horse is going to be charging fast late and don't want to lose to him. My last play here is going to be including what I believe to be the strongest horse to wire this field in (5) Dark Money. I think that this horse possesses the best sustained speed in here and will be a tough catch if the fractions are not as fast as I think they will be.
$4.00 WPS 8 Cost: $12.00
$1.00 Ex Box 3,5,7,8 Cost: $12.00
Race 6:
Jose Ortiz is going to shoot (8) Spitball to the lead and try and wire this field. I think this sets up (7) Sir Chubby perfectly to have a well timed close down the stretch to win this one. (9) Propensity has shown the most against better, and the combination of Johnny V/Bill Mott was red hot at Belmont and looking to carry that momentum over to upstate NY. My last play will be (2) Mr. Everything who has Irad choosing this one over others in this field and has a bullet workout leading in.
$3.00 WPS 7 Cost: $9.00
$2.00 Ex Box 2,7,9 Cost: $12.00
Race 7:
(1) Astoria Kitten is a must play here and going to be a low number in this one. I think the inside post will allow this filly to break well to the early lead and be able to save ground throughout, which will allow a winning stretch run. For some security, I will include two others that I think possess some late speed at this 1 1/16 mile distance. (9) Summer at the Spa gets her first chance to spend the summer at the spa, and I think this horse will only improve from the third time out on grass. Castellano has a closer and knows how to get the job done. My last play is going to be (3) Pecatonica who I think likes the distance and with an aggressive ride from Jose Ortiz will be positioned well around the turn to shoot out to the outside and charge well towards the wire.
$3.00 Ex Box 1,3,9 Cost: $18.00
Big Pete's Late Pick 3:
Race 8:
The morning line looks spot on as I can’t see anyone beating the two odds on favorites. Casse has a good one with (3) BEAUTIFUL MEMORIES. Just looks faster than these and has not let up on the gas in the mornings either. He and (8) HOPEFUL PRINCESS should duke it out early and often. The difference will be Jose here. The other Casse (1) MAKE MISCHIEF will get the speed up front but her stable mate looks too good. Settles for 2nd. The other that I’ll use underneath is (7) DAYOUTOFTHEOFFICE. She should improve as she goes longer and may hang around for a piece.
$5.00 Ex 3 w/ 1,7,8 Cost: $15.00
Race 9:
I found it interesting that Castellano jumps off a Chad Brown colt in a G3 race. He shows up on the Uncle Mo (7) CARACARO. Not surprising, he improved while stretching out and does that again today. One lap around the Spa oval will be just fine. Mott has the other Uncle Mo (3) MODERNIST. He’s been facing some G2 runners and has already won at this distance. I’ll use both here. (1) MO HAWK is yet another Uncle Mo who will stalk the speeds before making a run. Rosario fits his style and could make some noise late. Jose shows up on (6) MYSTIC GUIDE. He too has run some big races as he stretched out. The farther the better for this guy. Would not be a surprised to this one getting his picture taken.
$7.00 WPS 7 Cost: $21.00
$3.00 Ex 3,7 w/ 1,3,6,7 Cost: $18.00
Race 10:
We close this first day of Saratoga with a turf sprint. I can’t leave (1) SECURE CONNECTION off. She takes the necessary drop and cuts back to 5.5F She has a few races on her resume that would beat these by lengths. I’ll get greedy though and look for a price. (5) TRADEABLE is an Exchange Rate who returned recently to run a quiet 5th, beaten only by a few lengths. Reylu had the test drive that day and and Tradeable has run well on this turf last year. We’re looking for the speeds to back up and end it with a bomb. We’ll also include (4) GRUDGE on the drop and (6) ALLEY TO CALVARY who returns to sprinting.
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