Exotics Plays for the 2024 Sword Dancer

The mighty Godlophin operation will send out a pair of formidable foes in the six-horse, $750,000 Sword Dancer S. (G1) at Saratoga on Saturday. 

The 1 1/2-mile grassy marathon features two of the top horses currently in North America going long on the turf, and the event could evolve into a match race between the accomplished duo. 

Sword Dancer Exotics

• $30 exacta 2 with 4 ($30)
• $10 trifecta key 2 with 1,4 ($20)
• $5 superfecta 2 with 1,4 with 1,4 with 3 ($10)

I was massively impressed with #2 Measured Time (7-5) in his sublime Manhattan S. (G1) victory in June and will have a hard time going against him on any occasion. 

Trained by Charlie Appleby, the four-year-old was a very good sophomore and has gone to a new level in 2024. A fine winner of the Jebel Hatta (G1) at Meydan in January, the Frankel colt finished a strong fourth in the Dubai Turf (G1) in his second appearance of the season, which preceded his fantastic tally on this surface last time out. 

Measured Time is still a bit of a mystery at a 12-furlong trip, but everything about him indicates that it will take a huge performance by another runner to take him down. The bay has the speed to be close early on, and he is the key for me with regular pilot William Buick coming in to guide him again. 

#4 Silver Knott (1-1), also trained by Appleby, is a sterling 3-for-3 this season and has surely taken to the stretch out in distance in 2024. The son of Lope de Vega aced his local debut when posting a facile victory in the Bowling Green S. (G2) on the strip most recently, and the gelding has never been better. 

The four-year-old has proved to be versatile in winning from on or off of the pace, and he continues to train forwardly in anticipation of bagging his first Grade 1 race on U.S. soil. Flavien Prat has been aboard for his last three wins and will retain the ride. I expect the obvious win candidate to be second in the early stages of the contest. 

The chalk will quite possibly take up the top two spots, so finding value with one of the other contenders in the field will be the key to grinding out a profit in this race. 

#1 Soldier Rising (8-1) was third in the 2022 race prior to coming home a clear second in the tilt last campaign, and he will likely once again gain a share for conditioner Christophe Clement. 

The Frankel gelding has won or placed in seven of his eight attempts at the distance, and the six-year-old closed well to be second in the Bowling Green (G2) while making his season bow last time out. He doesn’t win all that often but has 18 top-three results from 22 career tries, many of which have come at the top level. He will be coming on late under Jose Ortiz.