>Saratoga | Race 9 | Thursday August 18th | Post Time 5:40 EDT | Go To The TimeformUS PPs

This race boils down to four main players. The likely favorite is Hot City Girl (#7), who returned from the layoff with a disappointing performance at Belmont last time. According to Linda Rice, she started to go the wrong way after her trip to California late last year, and it appears that she just hasn’t bounced back to the good form we saw from her as a three-year-old. I’m against her in this spot.

Quezon (#3) is the horse to beat. She showed that she was back on her game last time at Belmont, finishing less than three lengths behind Haveyougoneaway, who came right back to beat open company in the Honorable Miss. One potential wild card is Court Dancer (#4), who beat a weaker field last time but did earn a competitive 112 speed figure. She’s interesting at a price, but Hot City Girl could be a thorn in her side today. Our top pick is the new face in this field.

California shipper DR. FAGER’S GAL (#6) is making her first start against New York-bred company. She’s been facing tougher groups in open stakes races—including some graded stakes—out West and stacks up very nicely on speed figures. A late runner, she figures to get some pace to close into, with those two aforementioned speed runners potentially hooking up early. Jerry Hollendorfer knows how to win with a shipper, and I think this mare will be awfully tough to hold off.

THE PLAY

Win: 6
Exacta Key Box: 6 with 3,4,7