Saturday Spa Stakes
Notes from a quick skim of past performances for the first four Breeders’ Cup Challenge races at Saratoga, which have all come up pleasingly competitive …
In the Diana, trainer Patrick Biancone starts three, with Countess Scala running as a rabbit for Mauralakana, although Danzon seems more likely to benefit. The four-year-old filly, a closer, finished third in open company in the G1 Turf Classic on Derby day at Churchill. That stakes was won by Sky Conqueror, who followed up with another score in the Northern Dancer at Woodbine this month. My Typhoon starts off back-to-back wins in the G2 Just a Game at Belmont and the G2 Jenny Wiley at Keeneland, but the Diana’s 1 1/8 mile distance isn’t her favorite.
Sprints aren’t my forte, so I’m doing little more than throwing darts making a Vanderbilt pick, but Commentator looks like a vulnerable favorite after his poor showing in the Tom Fool. I’ll go with logical second favorite Diabolical, who starts off a nine-week layoff with two recent bullet works.
In the Go For Wand, Ginger Punch is another weak favorite. Sure, she’s conditioned by Bobby Frankel and has the field’s best Beyers, but she’s stretching out to 1 1/8 mile for the first time and is 1-for-3 in routes, with the sole win earned over a muddy track in allowance company. I’ll look elsewhere, perhaps to Ermine, making her second start off a layoff for trainer Ronny Werner, or Miss Shop, whose three best performances are at the distance and who comes into the race with a sharp workout line.
The Whitney is a tough race, with a case to be made for nearly every starter. Flashy Bull has become a consistent racehorse at four, but with a one-dimensional mid-pack run. Magna Graduate is in great form, making his second start off a short layoff in which he figures to improve, if past habits are anything to go by. Then there’s Lawyer Ron, at what may be his best distance. He starts off a third place finish in the Met Mile, from which second-place finisher Political Force went on to win the Suburban, and a second in the Salvator. I may go with one of two longshots here: Either Richard Dutrow’s lightly raced Diamond Stripes, third in the Stephen Foster, or likely pacesetter Fairbanks, second in last month’s Suburban and a horse jockey Richard Migliore will fly in from Southern California to ride.
