Playing the Stakes Double at Saratoga on Friday

A pair of graded stakes events will highlight the 10-race card at Saratoga on Friday. I like both races and will take a shot with the double.

Wagers:

• $8 double 1,2 with 4,7 ($32)
• $4 double 1 with 4,7 ($8)

Race 8 – Saratoga Oaks (G2)

The 1 3/16-mile affair on the turf for three-year-old fillies attracted a strong field, but two key contenders, #6 Segesta and #5 Greenfinch, scratched.

#1 Cinderella’s Dream (6-5) made good in her U.S. debut when annexing the Belmont Oaks (G1) most recently, and the once-beaten miss looms large in her second stateside appearance. The Godolphin homebred powered home while displaying a potent turn of foot in that tally, and getting the rail today seems like an advantageous thing, as well. 

#2 Dancing N Dixie (8-1) will have less to do late in the compact field and could upset the race for conditioner Mark Casse. The gray daughter of Neolithic has upped her game since moving to the sod and was game when running down a solid cast in the Tepin S. at Churchill Downs in her most recent endeavor. The Florida-bred is in the best form of her career and will be very dangerous if the morning-line choice fails to fire. Jose Ortiz will be in the stirrups. 

Race 9 – Hall of Fame S. (G2)

I’ll use a pair of contenders in the one-mile inner turf contest for sophomores. I’ve long liked #4 Neat (5-2) and consider him to be a must-use in the race. Trained by Rob Atras, the Constitution colt is 5-for-7 on the turf with two Grade 3 tallies to his credit, and the versatile three-year-old will be tough to upend if he takes to the Saratoga lawn as expected. Junior Alvarado will be in the stirrups. 

Part of the reason that I’m attacking this double is I believe that #7 Barksdale (15-1) can wire the field at a big number. The Street Sense gelding is super-fast and will clear this group early, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he takes to the grass for William Walden. I expect the dark bay to be unopposed for a long time with Ramon Vazquez taking the reins, and it’s worth noting that the course plays well to horses on the front end, in general.