TDN's Steve Sherack and Brian DiDonato will give their best bet of the day for every Friday, Saturday and Sunday card of the Saratoga meet, and bet $50 Win/Place on their selection. In the case of a scratch, an alternate pick will be posted on twitter. The handicapper who has accrued the biggest bankroll through Sept. 3 wins.
SS: Race 7, Allowance – Always great to be back for another installment of Showdown at the Spa–can't thank our friends at NYRA enough for their sponsorship… I was pretty much set on selecting Try Your Luck in the GII Lake George S. once entries came out Tuesday, but with her connections instead opting for Indiana's TaWee S. Wednesday (she finished a rallying third as the even-money chalk), I landed on a race a little earlier in the card. In a race completely loaded with early speed, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin couldn't have picked a better spot for the well-drawn Takrees to make her first attempt since a disappointing run as the favorite in early May. The bay fires well fresh–she broke her maiden from just off the pace this past February off a somewhat similar layoff–and with a pair of rallying runner-up finishes behind subsequent stakes winners Appealing Maggie and Lost Raven over the Big A inner track this winter, she certainly seems to stack up quite well here for her first attempt versus older fillies and mares. Selection: #2 Takrees (4-1).
BD: Race 9, GII Lake George S. – Thanks so much to NYRA for sponsoring this year's contest–now let's see if we can pick a few winners. I really like European invader Diamond Fields (Ire) at a price here. The Tommy Stack trainee sprinted for the first seven races of her career, and ran fine against some solid competition but seemed like she needed more ground. She got it in Royal Ascot's Sandringham H., and may very well have beaten a well-regarded undefeated runner (plus another 19 foes) had she not been bottled up when the real running began, settling for second after flying home (video). Stack is extremely dangerous when he ships here–he won last year's GII New York S. at 22-1, and has had other past successes in races like the Garden City and Beverly D. Selection: #3 Diamond Fields (6-1).
Tune in each race day from 4:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. for Saratoga Live, available on Fox Sports 2 (channel finder), MSG+ (channel finder) and Altitude (channel finder).
For the complete broadcast schedule, visit NYRA.com
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