TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato will give their best bet of the day for every Friday, Saturday and Sunday card of the Saratoga meet, and bet $50 Win/Place on their selection. In the case of a scratch, an alternate pick will be posted on twitter. The handicapper who has accrued the biggest bankroll through Sept. 3 wins.
SS: Friday's Result – Singleton really got crushed at the windows at 2-1 after a couple of key scratches and held on for second after pressing the pace from the inside throughout. Total: $502.50
Saturday, Race 4, GII Amsterdam S. – Scratched out of a Thursday optional claimer at the Spa against older horses, Its All Relevant returns to graded company for the first time since posting a disappointing effort in the GII Risen Star S. at the Fair Grounds in February. With a pair of blowout wins going a one-turn mile, this 6 1/2-furlong distance should hit the speedy chestnut right between the eyes. He showed the ability to stalk and pounce in a visually impressive allowance win over older horses–good for a 97 Beyer–at Belmont two starts back. He then went too fast for his own good and faded to a well-beaten fourth after setting scorching fractions of :22.71 and :44.89 in Far From Over's comebacker in Elmont going 1 1/16 miles. With the presence of Maniacal to his inside, the well-drawn Its All Relevant should be in a perfect stalking position and ready to pounce as they turn for home. John Velazquez, aboard Its All Relevant's runaway maiden win in the slop at Gulfstream this winter, returns to ride for Dominick Schettino. Would be pretty shocked if he goes off anywhere near his morning-line quote. Selection: #5 Its All Relevant (12-1)
BD: Friday's Result – Danny's Rush took some early money–maybe by those looking to capitalize on the Bill Mott birthday angle–and seemed to have a little bit of run in the lane, but ran into a bit of traffic trouble and never really factored after that.Total: $925
Saturday, Race 3, MSW – Charles Fipke homebred Tale of Silence has a very interesting pedigree for an outfit that came alive with its 2-year-old firsters here last season. The dark bay is a full-brother to Tale of Ekati (Tale of the Cat), an 8 1/4-length debut winner for these connections in 2007 who was a Grade II winner at two and dual Grade I winner at three. This is the loaded female family of Maplejinsky, Sky Beauty, Pleasant Home, Dayjur, et al. Dam Silence Beauty (Jpn) (Sunday Silence) didn't have another foal by Tale of the Cat in between Tale of Ekati and Tale of Silence, but an unraced Perfect Soul (Ire) half-sister has visited the Coolmore stallion several times. That mare's first foal to race is Stormy Perfection (Tale of the Cat), who belied 22-1 odds to win first up at Woodbine July 2 before finishing a good second in the that venue's My Dear S. last Saturday. Tale of Silence's conditioner Barclay Tagg hadn't won with a juvenile firster in a few years going into the 2015 Saratoga stand, but scored with three such runners at the meet, including Fipke homebred Tale of S'avall (Tale of Ekati). Selection: #3 Tale of Silence (3-1)
Tune in each race day from 4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. for Saratoga Live, available on Fox Sports 2 (channel finder), MSG+ (channel finder) and Altitude (channel finder).
For the complete broadcast schedule, visit NYRA.com
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