BetAmerica’s horse racing pick of the day: Aug. 5, Saratoga

Weekday picks and plays for Thoroughbred racing.

Wednesday, Aug. 5

Saratoga, Race 4: Summer Colony S. (1 1/8 miles, 2:29 p.m. ET)

#1 Golden Award (6-5 on the morning line) won the Shuvee (G3) last year, over Grade 1 winners Wow Cat and She’s a Julie, but she was aided by setting a pedestrian early pace. The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro was most recently eased after she chased quick fractions in the June 13 Ogden Phipps (G1) and will need a rebound to win the Summer Colony.

I prefer the chances of #2 Bellera (9-5), a daughter of Bernardini with a 3-for-5 record racing 1 1/8 miles. She dominated an allowance over this track and distance last summer and enters off a decent third-place effort behind Grade 1 winner Dunbar Road in the 1 1/8-mile Delaware H. (G2), so the drop in class for the Summer Colony should help her chances. Her trainer, Todd Pletcher, has been hot at Saratoga (28% win rate), and Bellera has the tactical speed to be involved from the outset under jockey John Velazquez.

Let’s bet Bellera on top of the exacta and trifecta, with her stablemate #4 Nonna Madeline (2-1) and Golden Award underneath.

$10 exacta: 2 with 1,4 ($20)
$5 trifecta: 2 with 1,4 with 1,4 ($10)
Total: $30

Good luck!