With Midlantic breds off to a great start at Saratoga this meet, a pair of Maryland breds Mindframe and Post Time look to continue the trend as they take on the Grade I Whitney Stakes. A nine furlong dirt route for older horses, the Whitney often serves as a launching pad for top older horses who are aiming towards the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the fall. While these runners may enter here with slightly different expectations, their remarkable consistency give both a chance to win and look forward to bigger things on the horizon.

From the inside post, Mindframe starts as the third choice on the morning line with odds of 5/2. While he doesn’t have the resume of last year’s Travers winner and stablemate Fierceness who starts here at 9/5, this Pletcher trainee may be in the best form of any runner in this group. A winner of two straight grade I races, this colt by Constitution – Walk of Stars, by Street Sense most recently held off a late charging Sierra Leone in the Stephen Foster and will have to do so again as Sierra Leone enters here from post five. With plenty of tough competition for this Repole and St. Elias owned colt, this could be his biggest test as he enters a perfect three for three this year. Unfortunately, Saratoga’s leading jockey Irad Ortiz opted to jump off Mindframe in this one after guiding him in all seven of his career starts to ride the 4/1 White Abarrio. Jose Gomez will take the reins in his spot, looking for his first grade I victory in what is likely the biggest mount of his career to this point. With a sharp early break and the right set up for this surging four year old, Gomez will have as good a chance as any to pick up a signature win for himself and this dark brown colt. Mindframe was bred by R. Larry Johnson and has amassed career earnings of $1,844,580.

Opposite Mindframe on the far outside is the 12/1 morning line Post Time bred by Dr. & Mrs. Thomas Bowman, Dr. Brooke Bowman & Milton P. Higgins III. Also hailing from Maryland, this five year old shares a similar trait to Mindframe in his ability to finish in the money. In eighteen career starts, Post Time has yet to finish worse than third and has eleven trips to the winner’s circle to boot. This is more impressive given his frequent tries at the graded level including last year’s Whitney Stakes where he closed into third. By Frosted – Vielsalm, by Fairbanks this horse has run against lesser competition in two of his starts this year which both resulted in resounding wins. Trainer Brittany Russell enters him out of a stakes win at Laurel Park where he sat off a sluggish pace and easily took over in the stretch. Often finishing from mid pack with his exclusive jockey and Brittany’s husband Sheldon Russell, Post Time may hope for a quicker pace to aim at this time around as he makes his usual late charge in the stretch. Even with his top flight consistency, this Hillwood Stable owned horse faces a big challenge as he takes another swing in grade I company while also getting a third chance to win over this dirt course. Whether Post Time or Mindframe are able to capture this Whitney, there is no doubt that both will put forth strong efforts and likely find a way to keep their in-the-money streaks going.

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