Juvenile Stakes Spot Plays for Saturday, September 21

A bevy of stakes action for two-year-olds will be contested on Saturday across the country. I have picked out four of the races of particular interest to me, including my top selections in each below:

Laurel Futurity (Laurel Park)

A competitive and talented field of nine juveniles will vie in the grassy $200,000 Laurel Futurity. The cast boasts a handful of fine prospects who could come out victorious, and I will look for a bit of value with my top play.

Doc Boy (#7) (6-1) is two-for-two on the green and is the lone stakes winner in the field. The Michael Stidham trainee bagged the Kitten’s Joy Stakes at Colonial Downs most recently, and he was flattered when second-place finisher Cadet Connelly came right back to finish runner-up in the deep Summer Stakes (G1) at Woodbine on Sunday.

Feargal Lynch will guide Doc Boy, and he will have the son of Into Mischief forwardly placed early on.

Smoke Glacken Stakes (Monmouth Park)

The $75,000, six-furlong sprint has a few sharp youngsters in the field led by fine first-out winner Meru (#2) (3-2). But I am tabbing second-timer All Eyes West (#3) (4-1) for the score at a fair number.

Trained by 30% juvenile conditioner Jason Servis, the $130,000 son of Street Sense missed by a nose on debut to subsequent Sapling Stakes victor Big City Bob on this oval. The Nursery Place-bred colt shows three morning drills in the interim and will be in the mix from the opening bell.

Capote Stakes (Los Alamitos)

Seven juveniles will travel 6 1/2-furlongs in the $75,000 stakes event. I think Bob Baffert’s Hydrogen (#2) (2-1) is sitting on a big performance in his third lifetime appearance. The $575,000 son of Violence ran well in both efforts at Del Mar this summer, and the colt gets the blinkers back on for his stakes bow. Joe Talamo stays in the silks atop the gray colt.

Dickie Moore Stakes (Charles Town)

The $100,000 dash at seven panels attracted a field of eight two-year-old fillies, with six in the cast coming off of wins last time out. Colby (#6) (4-1) graduated most recently in a second career outing for John Servis. The horse she finished in front of came back to win by 9 1/2 lengths in her next assignment, while the third-place finisher also made good in her next special weight appearance. $440,000 daughter of Super Saver can run from off the early tempo and should receive a healthy pace to rally into late with Jose Ortiz inheriting the mount.

PHOTO: Doc Boy (c) Jim McCue/Maryland Jockey Club