Keith's Saratoga Picks-August 6th
Yesterday was not a good day for my picks. No, I didn't do poorly with my picks. I actually did quite well. However, due to a weired computer glitch you never saw them. I had them finished. Went to post them. And they suddenly disappeared. My apologies.
Today the feature race is one of my favorites. The Whitney. On August 7th, 2010 I was at Saratoga for what I still say to this day is the greatest horse race I ever seen. Blame roared down the stretch to pass Musket Man and 1-2 favorite Quality Road to win the race by a head bob.
I will forget the call by the great Tom Durkin. "Its's Quality Road. It's Blame. Quality Road. Blame. Quality Road. At the wire it's Blammmmmme!" I still get chills.
The two favorites on the morning line are 2-1 Olympiad and 6-5 Life is Good. Olympiad is 5 for 5 this year and has won 7 of 9 lieftime.e has the best speed figures in the race. Olympiad is trained by Bill Mott and will have Junior Alvarado aboard.
Life is Good goes out for Todd Pletcher with Irad Ortiz Jr. up. That combo warrants serious consideration right there. Life is Good has two wins this year and is 7 for 8 lifetime. The only defeat was a 4th at the Dubai World Cup. He also has a win at Saratoga last August in the Allen Jerkens.
Not to be discounted is fan favorite Hot Rod Charlie. Hot Rod Charlie won the Pennsylvania Derby, was third in the 2021 Kentucky Derby, second in the Belmont, second in the Dubai World Cup and fourth in he Breeders Cup Classic. That's an incredible resume. Hot Rod Charlie was second to Mind Control in the Salvatore Mile but ran a 118 speed figure.
My heart says Hot Rod Charlie but my head says to go with Olympiad.
There are also four other stakes on this great day of racing. Race #5 is the Fasig Tipton Lure, Race #7 is the Glens Falls, Race #9 is the Longines Test and Race #1 is the Ceasars Saratoga Derby Invitational.
Keith's Picks-4-2-6-1
My picks for the rest of the card:
Race-#1-5-4-7-6
Race #2-5-4-6-1
Race #3-2-4-8-7
Race #4-2-1-8-6
Race #5-1-7-2-8
Race #6-1-2-4-7
Race #7-2-6-3-1
Race #8-7-8-5-3
Race #9-1-5-7-6
Race #11-4-6-3-9
Race #12-2-9-3-7
Best of luck. Enjoy the day at "The Spa!"
