Saratoga: Horses to single in the $532,907 Pick 6 carryover

When was the last time you came across a non-jackpot carryover worth over half a million dollars? Such occurrences are rare, but there’s one on the table for Saturday at Saratoga.

No one hit the $1 Pick 6 during the first two days of the meet, resulting in a massive double carryover worth $532,907.

The sequence kicks off in Race 6 (post time 3:55 p.m. ET) and contains 65 horses (averaging 10.8 per race) before scratches. That’s a lot of horses to analyze, but we have a few bits of good news. Some of those horses are also-eligible entrants, others are entered for the main track only, and others are coupled in the betting.

Even better, the Pick 6 contains a couple of logical singles to build tickets around. In Race 7, a $62,500 allowance optional claimer taking place over seven furlongs on dirt, #5 Reinvestment Risk (3-5) looks like a standout. The four-year-old Chad Brown trainee has placed four times at the Grade 1 level, including when second behind champion sprinter Jackie’s Warrior in the Churchill Downs S. (G1) last time out.

Seven furlongs is arguably Reinvestment Risk’s best distance, and descending into the allowance ranks should be a recipe for victory under three-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Irad Ortiz.

Brown and Ortiz can team up for another victory in Race 8, the $500,000 Diana S. (G1) for fillies and mares racing 1 1/8 miles on turf. Brown has won five of the last six editions of the Diana and will saddle four of the six entrants on Saturday, with #3 Bleecker Street (6-5)—the mount of Irad Ortiz—looming as the one to beat.

Bleecker Street is undefeated in seven starts dating back to last summer, handling steady jumps in class with aplomb. In the 1 1/4-mile New York S. (G1) at Belmont Park last month, Bleecker Street ran absolutely out of her skin, closing from last place in a severely slow-paced race to win by half a length. According to Trakus, Bleecker Street accelerated the final quarter-mile in a terrific :21.70.

The pace should be quicker on Saturday, setting the stage for Bleecker Street to keep her unbeaten record intact and win the Diana as a short-priced Pick 6 single.

Good luck!