Saratoga: How to bet the Perfect Sting Stakes

A small field is scheduled to face the starter in the $100,000 Perfect Sting S. on Friday at Saratoga, and most handicappers figure to favor the chances of #4 Altea (9-5) and #1 Cafe Americano (2-1).

It’s easy to understand why these capable performers are the morning-line favorites in the Perfect Sting, a 1 1/16-mile event held over the inner turf course.

Both are proven graded stakes competitors who hail from the barn of trainer Chad Brown, who excels with fillies and mares on grass. Altea was beaten just a neck in the 1 1/16-mile Endeavour (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs during the winter, while Cafe Americano cruised to victory in the 1 1/8-mile Pucker Up (G3) at Arlington last summer.

But Altea has just two wins from 20 starts and enters the Perfect Sting off five straight defeats, while Cafe Americano hasn’t run since October and will step outside her age group for the first time.

They’re also late runners who figure to be compromised by the pace dynamics of the Perfect Sting. There’s hardly any speed in the field.

This could lend an advantage to #6 Chaleur (5-1), a Juddmonte Farms homebred who will make her third start in North America for trainer Bill Mott. A British-bred daughter of Dansili, Chaleur kicked off her stateside campaign with a close, third-place finish in a 1 1/8-mile allowance at Churchill Downs. The cutback to a mile for a Belmont Park allowance produced a winning effort, when Chaleur tracked the pace and sprinted home in :22 3/5 to prevail by a head.

With jockey Javier Castellano in the saddle, Chaleur figures to sit a perfect trip setting or stalking modest fractions. Her only potential pace rival is #2 Piedi Bianchi (30-1), a stakes-winning sprinter/miler who finished sixth in her lone run on grass. If Chaleur kicks on down the lane like she did at Belmont Park, she’ll be difficult to catch.

Rather than favor Altea and Cafe Americano at short prices, let’s play Chaleur to win and key her on top of the Brown trainees in the exacta.

$20 to win on #6 Chaleur
$5 exacta: 6 with 1,4 ($10)
Total: $30

Good luck!