Spa selections 2020: Saratoga picks August 21

by Joseph Aiello | Aug 20, 2020 | Breaking, Handicapping

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Ginger N Rye won the 2017 Smart N Fancy Stakes at Saratoga. Photo by Chelsea Durand/NYRA.

by Joseph Aiello

In Spa Selections, Saratoga on-site correspondent Joseph Aiello provides Saratoga picks for a handful of key races at Saratoga, including all of the exciting stakes action!

Race 3 – Skidmore Stakes

1. #6 Golden Pal (3-5) – Seems like the best here in what will likely be a battle of Wesley Ward’s top entries to the outside

2. #5 Fauci (8-5) – Came home slow last time out but ran on a yielding surface so this colt may find more speed on a dry turf course

3. #4 Sky’s Not Falling (5-1) – Would be tough to see the others being more competitive than this first time turfer who may close into a solid pace

Race 6 – Alw 74000n1x

1. #2 Eye of a Soldier (7-2) – May get better value than this at post time, and has shown improvement plus comes off a bullet work

2. #4 Duopoly (9-2) – Getting a Klaravich and Brown entry at this price is usually a steal, but even though this filly may be a cut below the others, she may have the lead to herself

3. #6 Princesa Caroline (6-5) – The Casse entry can close into the money, but Chad Brown has been on a tear recently, so passing up his runners would be a mistake

Race 8 – Alw 64000n1x

1. #8 Noble Emotion (5-1) – First time gelding looks to be aggressive here with Luis Saez, but comes off a long layoff and needs to hold off Crack Shot early

2. #9 Crack Shot (3-1) – The other early speed here, this colt has had trouble holding onto leads, but will certainly be in the mix late as long as the pace holds up

3. #4 Freewheeler (6-5) – Another off a long layoff, but keeps Irad Ortiz and can take advantage of a pace collapse if the two outside runners go out too fast