Exotics Plays for the 2022 Smart N Fancy Stakes

A total of 10 fillies and mares, with one of those on the main-track only list, will dash 5 1/2 furlongs on the Saratoga grass in Saturday’s $150,000 Smart N Fancy S. #3 Robin Sparkles (6-1) led in gate-to-wire fashion when annexing the Caress S. (G3) on the course last time out, and I will come right back with the Bruce Brown trainee in the competitive affair.

Robin Sparkles went off at 21-1 odds in her latest effort but didn’t look like a fluke to me. The Elusive Quality five-year-old broke best and was never headed in picking up her second local tally, and while the margin was just a head on the wire, the mare was more comfortable late than it appears to be on paper.

The New York-bred bay finished third in the contest last season and looks to be better right now. She has compiled a smart 12-7-1-3 lifetime line on the lawn and could be the one to catch once again on this occasion. Javier Castellano will be in the stirrups.

Conditioner Christophe Clement has multiple talented late runners in the cast, and I will focus on a pair of them for the vertical exotics. #8 Lady Edith (8-1) comes in fresh for her third assignment since joining this outfit and appears to be sitting on a big effort, in my opinion. The four-year-old went close in both the Intercontinental S. (G3) and Caress S. (G3) in her last two, and slight improvement will make her dangerous from off the pace beneath Trevor McCarthy.

Multiple stakes heroine #6 Miss J McKay (4-1) was a bit unlucky when enduring traffic on numerous occasions in the Caress when finishing fourth by less than a length, and she looms large with clear sailing on this day. The Clement pupil has performed well in both local tries to date, and the daughter of Hangover Kid might be moving best of all inside the final furlong with Irad Ortiz Jr. in the silks.

Smart N Fancy Wagers

• $10 win and place: #3 Robin Sparkles ($20)
• $1 trifecta: 3 with 6,8 with all ($14)
• $.50-cent trifecta: 3 with all with 6,8 ($7)