How to bet the Salvator Mile

A strong field of 10 will travel eight furlongs on the Monmouth Park dirt in Saturday’s $150,000 Salvator Mile (G3). The fantastic betting event features some hard-knocking contenders from strong barns, and I envision a quartet of runners to be in the hunt late with little separation among them.

Defending champ #10 Pirate’s Punch draws widest of all while making his seasonal debut for conditioner Grant Forster, and the son of Shanghai Bobby has trained well in preparation for his return. I will tab the five-year-old to defend his crown off the shelf with Robby Albarado taking the reins as the value play.

The dark bay gelding ran a pair of huge races on the course last campaign and is working in strong fashion leading up to this tough task. I love that the speedy Kentucky-bred is drawn outside of the other pace in the field, which will ensure a clean voyage throughout.

#2 West Will Power has never been worse than second in his five-race career and makes a lot of sense while making his stakes debut for trainer Kelly Breen. The four-year-old son of Bernardini is 2-for-2 on the strip, and he comes in with a dominant allowance victory at Keeneland most recently. Tactical colt has the right running style to track the contested pace and make his move turning for home under the guidance of Nik Juarez.

#7 Ny Traffic is the potential one to beat for Saffie Joseph, but the expected favorite faces a tough task on Saturday, and I don’t expect him to be of much value in the race, either. The highly skilled colt is an obvious contender coming off a superb allowance score at Belmont Park, however, and the four-year-old will be in the mix throughout with Paco Lopez in the stirrups.

I will also be using #3 Bal Harbour in the vertical exotics for Sacco. The consistent chestnut owns five graded placings at Monmouth Park, including third-place results in the past two runnings of this race. The six-year-old gelding will settle in midpack before offering a rally in early stretch under Sanchez.

Salvator Mile Wagers

• $5 exacta key box 10 with 2,3,7 ($30)
• 50-cent trifecta 2,10 with 2,3,7,10 with all ($24)