If you believe in Saratoga Race Course’s reputation as “The Graveyard of Favorites,” then you must bet on the Late Pick 4 this Friday, June 6, as part of the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival at the Spa. The two Grade 1 stakes that leadoff the sequence feature probable odds-on favorites. If they falter, the payout on the 50-cent base wager will grow exponentially for those who pick the upset winners. If you believe form will hold, consider multiple tickets with only a handful of runners.

SAR 11th race (5:46 p.m. EST) -- GOOD CHEER will carry the Pick 4 solo hopes of many in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes. She’s 7-for-7 overall, rallied for five consecutive graded victories by a combined 19-1/4 lengths and won the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks at this distance. SHRED THE GNAR gets the class test today after she posted the field’s top Beyer speed figure (95) and hit another gear near the quarter pole to put the pursuing second favorite in the rearview mirror in an entry-level allowance route. She faces the added pace presence of LA CARA to her inside but could be this good if she avoids a front-end duel.

SAR 12th race (6:25 p.m. EST) -- SHE FEELS PRETTY, a three-time Grade 1 winner, sat a perfect trip in her seasonal debut, inhaled the dueling leaders nearing the stretch and cruised to victory in the Grade 3 Modesty at Churchill Downs. She continued strong on the gallop out and looms odds-on in the Grade 1 New York Stakes. GIMME A NOTHER, a two-time G-1 winner in South Africa, made a good first impression in the U.S. She rallied for second in a pair of Grade 2 stakes at 1-1/8 miles, closed fast against SHE FEELS PRETTY and gets an extra sixteenth of a mile today for trainer Graham Motion, who seeks his third win in this race since 2020.

SAR 13th race (7:04 p.m. EST) -- All but one of the 11 entrants in the Grade 1 Just A Game are graded stakes winners on the turf. The field is a combined 38-for-100 on grass with five $400,000-plus earners. CHOISYA won the Jenny Wiley Stakes at Keeneland in her first U.S. start to join longshot SACRED WISH as the only Grade 1 winners. CHOISYA foiled KEHOE BEACH’S quest for four consecutive wire-to-wire victories and held off troubled favorite EXCELLENT TRUTH, the favorite among trainer Chad Brown’s uncoupled trio that includes longshots DYNAMIC PRICING and SEGESTA. A LILAC ROLLA arrives for new trainer Bill Mott off a pair of G-1 placings overseas. It adds up to a deep punch in Leg C of the sequence.

SAR 14th race (7:43 p.m. EST) -- Expect a big effort from POPPY’S TICKET in this 7F Maiden Special Weight test for New York breds. He took serious money and broke sharp from the rail in his debut long sprint. He appeared to be dropping back on the turn but re-emerged with a good mid-track finish when he changed leads near the 1/8th pole and galloped out in front. HIT THE POST debuted at Saratoga at 7F last summer. He ‘tugged keenly on the bit’ as he rushed up to join the leaders after he was forced inward at the start and held well until the 16th pole. He met next-out stakes runaway Bold Fortune in his second sprint, then tired at one mile when last seen in October. He returns as a gelding, gets Lasix and gets in light-weighted at a tempting morning-line price. SPEIGHTFUL STORM is by multiple Grade I winner Goldencents ($3 million) and his dam, Speightful Lady, won at Saratoga in her first start, so use him on the ticket at a big price.

Suggested 50-cent Ticket
SAR 11th Race: 2, 4
SAR 12th Race: 3, 8
SAR 13th Race: 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
SAR 14th Race: 6, 7, 14
Cost: $54