BetAmerica’s horse racing pick of the day: July 23, Saratoga

Weekday picks and plays for Thoroughbred racing.

Thursday, July 23

Saratoga, Race 3: Maiden special weight (1 1/16 miles on turf, 1:54 p.m. ET)

Trainer Christophe Clement was on fire during opening week at Saratoga, where he went 5-for-13, a hefty 38% win rate. Clement has actually been hot across the board this year. He has a 20% win rate overall, has gone 12-for-44 (27%) with first-time starters, and is 2-for-5 (40%) with 2-year-olds.

All this is a roundabout way of saying I expect a sharp performance from Clement’s debuting juvenile #3 Mo Normal (5-2 on the morning line) in Thursday’s third race at Saratoga. A daughter of successful sire Uncle Mo (who counts Grade 1-winning turf stars Mo Town and Mo Forza among his top runners), Mo Normal was produced by the Forestry mare New Normal, who matured early enough to win the 1-mile Natalma (G3) on turf as a juvenile.

Mo Normal has turned in a lengthy series of workouts in preparation for her debut, including an easy half-mile over the Saratoga turf course July 13. Two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz has been named to ride, which suggests this Robert Evans homebred is ready for a big effort.

Rather than get creative with exotic wagers, let’s place a hefty win bet on Mo Normal and call it a day.

$30 to win on #3 Mo Normal

Good luck!