Mark continues to be cold, Josh continues to nickel and dime his way forward, and Caleb continues to lead with his excellent handicapping skills and good looks.

Caleb @CalebWVU

Race 3 – #2 Fontanafredda: As Josh mentioned in yesterday’s post, the turf at Saratoga continues to favor off the pace runners. This holds true for both courses. There have been zero wire-to-wire winners going 5.5 furlongs on the Saratoga turf so far this meet. This race appears to have a decent amount of early pace signed on, with the likes of Palace Gossip, Blame it on Mary, and Get the Candy all likely to vie for the lead. I like Fontanafredda in here, as she seems to fit the winning profile of the stalker/closer type that has been working on the turf so far. She also seems like more of a 5.5 furlong specialist, as she nicely won last year at this trip here at Saratoga. I think she found 5 and 7 furlongs just a touch too far, but she looms large on the drop back into New York bred company and getting back to the trip where she has been most effective.

Josh @CherryDrank

SCRATCHED Race 7 – #3 Amani’s Eagle: Amani’s Eagle looks to be controlling speed in this 7-furlong dirt sprint. I expect Ricky “Go-Go” Santana to give an aggressive ride for trainer Jason Barkley and get Amani’s Eagle out to the front and clear of the rest of the group. This is definitely a big shot on a pace play as there are many horses in this race that have run faster races and Ellis Park shippers have not done well to start the meet. All that being said, you will get a monster price on this horse as I think you will get north of the 15-1 ML.

Race 8 – #7 R Calli Kim: Race 7 looks to have a lot of speed so I’m taking a shot with the 7 here. Horse plots out as a presser and I think will get first run on the tiring speed in this race. Walsh is good off the long layoff and if she runs back to her previous form will be very dangerous here at 6-1 ML.

Mark @Two_Turns

Race 8 – #4 Tass: I’ll admit to having a soft spot for Tass, the 7 year old mare is the definition of consistent and rarely runs a poor race, even taking down a black type at Colonial last fall. In her entire 25 race career, she’s only been in for a tag three times and has never been out of the exacta in any of them, so I expect more of the same come Sunday. If Jose is healthy for the mount, I think he completely trips out with some pace up front and has a horse who can sit 3-4 lengths off while having some punch to finish at her preferred distance, which is the trip that’s been working so far this meet. With all that said, Saratoga has not been her favorite track, but this is the softest spot she’s ever been at upstate and the Antonacci barn has been phenomenal so far this meet, so I expect her to be sharp.