We head back to the United States today after a couple of days north of the border, and after last night’s winning selection we are back at Saratoga for their eighth race and we are going to look at a restricted stakes race called the New York Stallion Series. Post time for this race is set for 5:10 pm Eastern time.
Note that I did delay this article some because I did see that Saratoga did receive a ton of rain last night. If you go to my X (@JoeQuills) you can see a couple of tweets that I shared. They had a massive thunderstorm that rendered the turf course unusable, even cancelling a steeplechase race which NYRA planned to start the day, so they instead will run one mile on the main track today for today’s feature race. Also unusable will be the morning line odds since the odds were based on this remaining on the turf.
Saratoga Race 8 – NY Stallion Series (Statue Of Liberty)
The 2 Sohana ran well on turf last time out at Aqueduct and does have two wins in optional claiming races at Aqueduct. She looks like she is versatile enough that she does not necessarily need the lead here, but I would not be surprised if she takes advantage of being close to the rail and tries to go gate to wire.
![](https://www.bleacherbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/saratoga-start-dirt-2-1024x576.jpg?x88155)
The 5 Cap Ferrat won her debut at Gulfstream back in May and could be challenging on the front end. She was prepping for her turf debut, but I think you can get one more race on the dirt with her before taking her to the turf for a few races.
The 4 My Shea D Lady has won twice on the dirt would be a turf to dirt move today necessitated by the weather that his Saratoga yesterday evening. She will be a couple of lengths behind the leaders and look to close as they turn for home.
The 1 Tour Jete is a maiden taking on winners here, but the fact this race is off the turf should help her today. She had been facing restricted and state bred company here as she will today, and she could make a move as well here in the stretch.
![](https://www.bleacherbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/saratogahorses.jpg?x88155)
The 6 Baroness Bourbon has shown that she can close on dirt and could be dangerous at a price. I’ll be interested in seeing what her post time odds will be with this race back on the dirt today.
This race is very interesting because of the fact that this race was taken off the turf today and I am glad that I did stall in writing today’s article knowing how the storms hit the Saratoga Springs area. You definitely should look at a filly here who has run well on dirt. The 8 Amy’s Light has been too slow in my opinion and probably won’t do much. The 11 Starlight Dance draws in from the also eligible list here and is a maiden. I think she would be better suited facing maidens on the grass that does not get moved to the main track.
![Saratoga](https://www.bleacherbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/saratoga-stretch-1.jpg?x88155)
The unknown variable is what is the 5 going to do. Cap Ferrat has had only one race in her career, winning on the front end at Gulfstream in May. If she goes for the front, which I think is going to happen, Sohana and Cap Ferrat are going to burn each other out.
I will take My Shea D Lady as she has been a consistent closer in her races on the dirt with Baroness Bourbon closing as well. Let’s call this 4-6-5-2 and my play is $20 to win on the 4. Good luck everyone!
![](https://www.bleacherbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/fanduel-small-6.jpg?x88155)
Check out my show “Also Eligible” on Saturday mornings at 10 am Eastern/7 am Pacific on the Bleacher Brothers’ Facebook, X, Twitch and YouTube accounts as AJ Johnson and I discuss the big races, the latest news in horse racing and much more!