Best Horse Racing Bets Today | Saratoga, August 3

Currently the top rated horse in America, National Treasure will be in search of another important victory when he tops a dozen older males entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney Stakes. The $1 million tilt is the headliner at Saratoga, but only one of three Grade 1 races on a big afternoon of races at the Upstate New York track. Leading his opposition in the 9-furlong test will be the multiple graded stakes winner First Mission and the Grade 1 winner Bright Future.

The pair of Grade 1 races supporting the historic Whitney on Saturday will be the $500,000 Test and the $600,000 Saratoga Derby. Ways and Means looks like a legitimate favorite among the fleet fillies in the former, while Diego Velazquez will make his American debut for trainer Aiden O’Brien in the latter for sophomore turf males. Without further ado, let's get to my picks and plays on this excellent card at Saratoga.

Race #7 Saratoga Derby (Grade 1) $600,000 1 3/16-Miles Turf - 3:21pm EST

Led by a pair of colts coming from two of the strongest yards in Europe, Saturday’s Grade 1 Saratoga Derby features a deep field of eight sophomore males going 1 3/16-miles over the Saratoga turf.

Diego Velazquez will represent Aiden O’Brien here as he makes his first start in the United States. A son of the great Frankel, he was a Group 2 stakes winner in Ireland at 2. After starting this season with three defeats against top competition, he routed his competition in the Group 3 Meld Stakes at Leopardstown last time out.

Chief among his competition in this $600,000 affair is the Charlie Appleby-trained Legend of Time. The English-bred son of Sea the Stars has won 5-of-8 lifetime starts in England, Dubai, and America. Two starts back he got up late to win the Grade 2 Pennine Ridge Stakes, and last time he was blocked for much of the stretch when third in the Grade 1 Belmont Derby.

Several others in here are dangerous, including last out winners Cugino and Carson’s Run, as well as White Palomino, who was right there in both the Pennine Ridge and the Belmont Derby. The Saratoga Derby is a very solid field, but I believe Diego Velazquez will show his class here. He is my top pick.

My Plays

• $5 Exacta Box - Diego Velazquez, Legend of Time, and White Palomino = $30

• $5 Exacta Box - Diego Velazquez, Legend of Time, and Carson’s Run = $30

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Race #8 Test Stakes (Grade 1) $500,000 7-Furlongs Dirt - 3:54pm EST

Twice a romping winner over the track at Saratoga, Ways and Means will look to take things to the next level when she tops a talented field of six sophomore fillies entered in Saturday’s Grade 1 Test Stakes.

In non-stakes, both at Saratoga, the daughter of Practical Joke has won by an average of better than ten lengths. In her three attempts in graded stakes racing, however, Ways and Means has come up a little short, albeit, with excuses. After a fourth-place finish to the division leading Thorpedo Anna in the Kentucky Oaks, she ran away from allowance runners locally going a flat mile.  

Brad Cox will have a big shot to upset the favorite with his pair, Emery and Denim and Pearls. The former has won four of five races overall, including two straight stakes wins while sprinting at Churchill Downs and Aqueduct. The latter disappointed in the slop last time, but before that romped home a big winner of the Grade 2 Beaumont at Keeneland.

Of the rest, neither Brightwork nor My Mane Squeeze can be ignored. Brightwork will be making her first starts since November’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, but was a two-time graded stakes winner at Saratoga last summer. My Mane Squeeze has won four stakes races, including the Grade 2 Eight Belles two starts back. Suited for the 7-furlong trip, I am going with the New York-bred My Mane Squeeze for the upset. She is my top pick.

My Play

• $20 Win & Place - My Mane Squeeze = $40

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Race #10 Troy Stakes (Grade 2) $300,000 5 1/2-Furlongs Turf - 5:04pm EST

Riding high after two impressive stakes scores to start 2024, Cogburn is in search of another when he tops a field of eleven older turf sprinters in Saturday’s Grade 2 Troy Stakes at Saratoga.

Trained by Steve Asmussen, the 5-year-old son of Not This Time was a solid sprinter on the main track but has taken things up a level since switching to grass six starts back. He won three stakes in his four tries on turf last season and has been dominant in two starts this year. An easy victory in the Grae 2 Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs was followed by another in the Grade 1 Jaipur last time at Saratoga.

His top threat on Saturday could come from the Irish-bred Mischief Magic. A Grade 1 winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint in 2022, the Exceed and Excel gelding has lost his last four, but his strong late kick is always dangerous. A winner of 6-of-16 overall, he won the Dubai Sprint in February for trainer Charlie Appleby.

Another to contend with in the Troy will be Grooms All Bizness. A stakes winner in 2023, he looks to be in peak form this year as a 5-year-old. He has overcome different turf conditions to impressively win a pair of stakes to start the season. In Pimlico's Turf Sprint, he came with a late rush after traffic to score going away, and then in Monmouth’s Get Serious, he scooted through on the inside to win in fast time. I like him second best to the top pick Cogburn.

My Play 

• $5 Trifecta Key - Cogburn over Grooms All Bizness, Mischief Magic, and Witty = $30

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Race #11 Whitney Stakes (Grade 1) $1,000,000 1 1/8-Miles Dirt - 5:42pm EST

Looking for his third Grade 1 victory of the year, National Treasure is the one they will all have to beat on Saturday when headlines a full field of 12 entered in the $1 million Whitney Stakes at Saratoga.

Trained by Bob Baffert, the son of Quality Road scored in last year’s Preakness and just missed in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile. This year, he has been even better. A winner of the $3 million Pegasus World Cup to begin the year, he stayed on well when fourth in the $20 million Saudi Cup. In his third start of  the year, he blitzed the field in the Grade 1 Met Mile at Saratoga, going gate to wire.

The second choice on the morning line is First Mission. A 4-year-old son of Street Sense, he was an impressive winner in both the Essex Stakes at Oaklawn Park and the Grade 2 Alysheba at Churchill Downs. Those two wins made him a clear favorite in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster, but he faded late to finish fourth for trainer Brad Cox.

Undefeated in two starts at Saratoga, including a victory in the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup, Bright Future seems to like the track. He finished off last season with a decent effort in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic for trainer Todd Pletcher. In his only start this year, he rallied nicely to win the Salvator Mile at Monmouth Park. As the third choice on the morning line, I expect him to run a good race. He will be the top pick to pull off the upset here.

My Plays

• $5 Exacta Box - Bright Future, National Treasure, and Warrior Johny = $30

• $5 Exacta Box - Bright Future, National Treasure, and Post Time = $30

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