This Saturday marks the arrival of summer season racing at Saratoga Race Course, featuring three noteworthy graded stakes.
The Grade 3 Kelso Stakes, a mile-long turf race, is welcoming horses aged four and above. Furthermore, the Grade 1 Diana Stakes, reserved for mares and fillies four years old and over, encompasses a turf course of 1 1/8 miles, with a hefty prize purse of $500,000. One of the top contenders in this race is In Italian, trained by Chad Brown and favored by Horse Racing Nation with a rating of 6.77.
The Grade 3 Sanford Stakes at Saratoga, a key event in the 2024 Kentucky Derby Trail, caters to two-year-old colts. This sprint of six furlongs on dirt is set to host a probable field of seven contestants. For this race, I am placing my bets on Gold Sweep, Dickens, and Call the Cavalry to fill the Win, Place, and Show spots respectively.
Saturday, July 15
Sanford Stakes – Saratoga Race Course
Win: Gold Sweep
Hailing from Kentucky, Gold Sweep is a two-year-old colt trained by Steven Asmussen and racing under the ownership of Mike McCarty at Belmont Park and Churchill Downs. With a win at the ungraded Tremont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 11, following a second-place finish at a five-furlong Maiden Special Weight race at Churchill Downs, Gold Sweep shows promise. Bred by Speightstown, he holds an HRN rating of 6.84 and an HRN Speed Figure of 101 from his latest performance. If he enters the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes on Saturday, he’s likely to be a favorite.
Place: Dickens
Florida-bred Dickens, another two-year-old colt, claimed victory at a 4 1/2-furlong Maiden Special Weight dirt race at Gulfstream Park, earning a 6.59 HRN rating. This impressive run, accomplished in 0:51.64, saw him best Catch a Tiger and Shards. Trained by Juan Alvarado, Dickens races for BC Racing, LLC. He is a progeny of Adios Charlie and Malibu Melody. Despite upping the stakes and distance for the Grade 3 Sanford Stakes, Dickens is anticipated to be among the frontrunners in the final stretch.
Show: Call the Cavalry
Call the Cavalry, another Floridian colt, is handled by trainer Kenneth McPeek. He made a triumphant debut in his two-year-old category with a win at a five-furlong Maiden Special Weight dirt sprint at Belmont Park on June 4, besting Rock Star Boy and Every Four Years, and securing an HRN rating of 5.45. Call the Cavalry, sired by Khozan with a lineage tracing back to AP Indy, is expected to make a mark at the Sanford Stakes, rounding out the top three spots.”
