SATURDAY RECAP: Essential Quality reaffirmed his position as top 3-year-old in American racing by winning the Travers Stakes at the wire over Midnight Bourbon by a long head. The prohibitive favorite, ridden by leading jockey Luis Saez and trained by Brad Cox, paid $2.90 to Win … Other impressive, short-priced winners included Viadera, Gamine, Yaupon, Jackie’s Warrior, Letruska and Gufo … Irad Ortiz Jr. (see below) and Joel Rosario led all riders with three victories each. Leading trainer Chad Brown, Christophe Clement, Cox and Steve Asmussen each had a pair of winners … Mr. Ed’s plays, including a BEST BET Race 7 winner (Gamine) and a Race 8 EXACTA EXTRA score generated a small profit … The average $2 Win ticket paid a chalky $8.50, while the $1 Pick 6 returned a disappointing $113.
IRAD INDEX: While Irad Ortiz Jr. booted home three winners, he also failed to score on his other nine mounts, resulting in a minuscule profit of $0.90 for the day. For the week, he now has 12 mostly low-paying wins equating to a deficit return of -$42.70 based on a mythical $2 Win bets on each of his mounts since we started tracking this.
SUNDAY AT SARATOGA: The feature event on the anticlimactic card is Race No. 9, the $120,000 Better Talk Now for 3-year-olds at a mile on the turf. The race is set to go at 5:39 p.m. ET/2:39 p.m. PT with #8 Shifting Sands (3-1 morning line) a slight choice. Post time for the 10-race program is 1:05 p.m. ET/10:05 a.m. PT. Here are Mr. Ed’s selections:
DAILY DOUBLE (Races Nos. 1-2, 1:05 p.m. ET/10:05 a.m. PT)
Race 1: #1 Moonachie (4-5 morning line)
Race 2: #3 Ring of Fire (8-1) & #5 Uncle Mo’s Cat (8-1)
Wager: $4 Daily Double of 1 & 3,5 ($8)
PRICE PLAY (Race No. 5, 3:21 p.m. ET/12:21 p.m. PT)
String of solid works indicates
#10 Distinctlypossible (5-1 morning line) is prepared to fire at first asking for potent Chad Brown-Irad Ortiz Jr. combo. Ready, set, GO! Wager: $10 to Win & Place on 10. ($20)
BEST BET: (Race No. 8, 5:05 p.m. ET/2:05 p.m. PT)
Speedy 3-year-old
#2 Beau Liam (4-5 morning line) goes for third straight for Steve Asmussen & barn pilot Ricardo Santana Jr. Price may be short, but Mr. Ed expects romp. Go, Beau, GO! Wager: $40 to Win on 2. ($40)
$0.50 LATE PICK 4 (Races Nos. 7-10, 4:29 p.m. ET/1:29 p.m. PT)
Race 7: 4,5,6,12
Race 8: 2
Race 9: 2,6,7,8
Race 10: 2,8,9 ($24)
TOTAL WAGERS: $92