The Juveniles at Saratoga -- August 4th, 2011

Three promising-looking maiden races for juvenile fillies are on today's card at Saratoga. They will be run in a streak as the third, fourth, and fifth races on the card. Let's see who's running!

Saratoga Race 3
Maiden Special Weight
2yo Fillies
$50,000
Five Furlongs

Entries:

Program #/Horse/Morning Line Odds
1 Spring Breeze (Scratched)
2 Reservation Blues (Scratched)
3 Mi Vida 15-1
4 Stay Composed 10-1
5 Ribbon Taffy (Scratched)
6 Flashy in Pink 8-1
7 Good Deed 4-1
8 Zunlei 5-1
9 Alydarla (Scratched)
10 Grace Like Rain 15-1
11 Composition 6-1

The scratch of morning line favorite Reservation Blues has left original 4-1 second choice Good Deed as the favorite. An unraced son of Broken Vow, trained by Steve Margolis, she has been turning in some eye-catching bullet works and looks ready to run. A victory here in her first start would not surprise me at all. Shaun Bridgmohan has the mount.

Xunlei is the second choice at 5-1. Trained by Dale Romans, the daughter of D'wildcat finished second in her only start to date, a five-furlong main track maiden special weight at Belmont Park. But that was on July 7th, and she has recorded no workouts since then, which is a bit odd. She will be ridden by Rajiv Maragh.

Then there is Composition, trained by Christophe Clement. A daughter of Malibu Moon, she is unraced but has been turning in some decent five-furlong workouts. Unlike many first-time starters, she will not be racing on Lasix today. Jose Lezcano has the mount.

Todd Pletcher has an intriguing contender here in the form of Flashy in Pink. By Flashy Bull, she has been working very consistently at Belmont Park, turning in nine workouts over the course of the last two months. None of them have been blazingly fast, but with top rider Ramon Domingiuz in the saddle I wouldn't count her out.

Stay Composed, a daughter of Bernstein, has been turning in three- and four-furlong workouts at Belmont Park and Saratoga. Trained by Bruce Brown, she will have the leading rider of the meet--Javier Castellano--aboard this afternoon in what could be a very good race for her.

This brings us to the two longest shots on the morning line at 15-1 apiece, Mi Vida and Grace Like Rain. The former, a daughter of Distorted Humor, has turned in a pair of exceptional half-mile works over the Saratoga main track and really looks ready to outrun her odds. Trained by Eric Guillot, David Cohen will ride her. Grace Like Rain's workouts haven't been anything phenomenal, but the daughter of Stormy Atlantic will have Alan Garcia aboard in what will be her debut race. D. Wayne Lukas is her trainer.

My picks are:

1 Stay Composed
2 Good Deed
3 Flashy in Pink

Saratoga Race 4
Maiden Special Weight
2yo Fillies
$40,000
5-1/2 Furlongs (Turf)

Entries:

Program #/Horse/Morning Line Odds
1 Read the Research 4-1
2 Dayatthespa 5-1
3 Mighty Reward 6-1
4 Stock Fund 15-1
5 Barrel of Joy 30-1
6 Quiet Ending 7-2
7 False Alibi 30-1
8 Ladywell Court 20-1
9 Satin Sheeks 3-1
10 Lisini 10-1
11 Darn That Trip (Scratched)

The mild morning line favorite is the Linda Rice-trained Satin Sheeks. A daughter of Elusive Quality, she has been breezing well over the Saratoga turf, and Rice is excellent at preparing horses for turf sprints. Cornelio Velasquez will be aboard this top contender.

The other favorites are Quiet Ending, Read the Research, and Dayatthespa. Quiet Ending, an unraced daughter of Langfuhr, is trained by Christophe Clement and has been training fairly well at Saratoga. John Velazquez has the mount.

Read the Research is an unraced daughter of Freud trained by William Mott. She too has been training pretty well and looks like a contender here. She will be ridden by Rajiv Maragh.

The aptly-named Dayatthespa, trained by Chad Brown, really looks good in this spot. By City Zip, she has been training very consistently at Saratoga and has Ramon Dominguez in the saddle. I believe that she will run a good race.

My selections are:

1 Satin Sheeks
2 Dayatthespa
3 Quiet Ending

Saratoga Race 5
Maiden Claiming
2yo Fillies
$29,000
5-1/2 Furlongs

Entries:

Program #/Horse/Morning Line Odds
1 Victory Island (Scratched)
1A Not Close 7-2
2 Spark Will Fly (Scratched)
3 Cat On the Island 10-1
4 Sweet Moon 8-1
5 Ripley's Gold 10-1
6 Hall of Flame 6-1
7 For Her Eyes Only 9-2
8 Winning Case 8-1
9 Why Take a Chance 12-1
10 Harbor Mist 15-1
11 Tale of Utopia 20-1

Todd Pletcher has the morning line favorite in Not Close. A daughter of 2006 Wood Memorial winner Bob and John, the filly has been turning in some decent workouts at Saratoga and will be making her debut. Owned by Repole Stable, she will be ridden by John Velazquez.

For Her Eyes Only turned in a bullet half-mile breeze at Saratoga on July 28th, turning in the fastest of 72 workouts at that distance. Trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, the son of Utopia will have Ramon Dominguez in the saddle and looks like a serious contender.

Hall of Flame could be an intriguing contender. Trained by Ramon Hernandez, she finished seventh in her only start to date, a 5-1/2 furlong main track special weight at Belmont Park. However, the daughter of Hook and Ladder finished just a half-length behind Bellacourt, who returned to win her next start impressively. Thus, Hall of Flame could prove to be a solid contender at a price. Eddie Castro has the mount.

Why Take a Chance could actually prove to be a contender here. Trained by Kenny McPeek, the filly--who is also a daughter of Hook and Ladder--has turned in three consecutive five-furlong works at Saratoga and looks fit and ready for this race. Manoel Cruz will ride her.

My picks are:

1 For Her Eyes Only
2 Not Close
3 Why Take a Chance

I shall post the results of the recent Saratoga juvenile races during tomorrow's post. Until then, enjoy the races everyone!

-Keelerman