Happy August everyone and let’s open up the month with racing from Saratoga as we will look at the ninth race on the card today. We have older fillies and mares going a mile and a half on the turf course today.
Unlike yesterday, where rain washed the races off the turf making my selections null and void, today’s race should stay on the turf course despite the inch of rain Saratoga Springs received yesterday per my weather app. If today’s race, the Glens Falls, was not a Grade 2 race and ungraded, we would have the same scenario as yesterday where the races were moved to the main track. So don’t be surprised if this race is the only turf race run today on the lawn at The Spa.
Saratoga Race 9 – Glens Falls Stakes (Grade 2)
The 7 McKulich is the 2/1 morning line favorite here in this stakes race. She had the rare race where she did not show her usual closing kick. If we do have softer than normal conditions here today, this mare should not be affected. She won the Waya at Aqueduct last October over a yielding surface that afternoon.
The 3 Chop Chop (5/2 ML) just missed last time out in a marathon stakes race at Delaware Park last month on the lead setting some very slow fractions. There should be speed up front with the 1 Alpha Bella (8/1 ML) and the 2 Royalty Interest (10/1 ML) that should set things up nicely for the rest of the field as well as Chop Chop. She will be looming as the distaffers head for home in this race today.
The 6 Atomic Blonde (6/1 ML) had a mild kick in this common Delaware Park race with the insanely slow fractions. She should be closing here at a nice price in this field of seven here today at Saratoga.
The 5 Eternal Hope (3/1 ML) is a very interesting filly here. She returns to the races after not racing since last October, winning both of her races in North America after starting her career in Europe with races in Great Britian and France. Nothing should faze this filly here at Saratoga. She can handle dry or wet turf and can run all day if she had to. Her pedigree suggests that as her pedigree per the Daily Racing Form improves at the race gets longer as her sire Teofilo’s offspring win an average distance of an eye-popping 11.5 furlongs. That is almost a mile and a half. But we know races are not run solely on pedigrees or on paper. They will be run today on the Saratoga turf course.
This race should be on the turf, especially since this is a graded stakes race. Also, if in the rare instance that this race is taken off the turf, who knows who is going to win this. But I am expecting this race to stay on the turf, which should help Eternal Hope here. You can argue the 10-month layoff and trust me, in most cases, I’d have my red flags out all over this filly.
But you have an ownership (Godolphin) and trainer (Charles Appleby) who do things differently since they are worldly connections and not just American like the others in the field. Also the fact that it suggests that the 5 can handle everything thrown at her today the best is why I am picking her to win today. I’ll call this race at Saratoga, the Grade 2 Glens Falls, 5-6-3-7 and my play is $20 to win on the 5 Eternal Hope. Good luck everyone and we will be back again tomorrow with another race from Saratoga.
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