The thoroughbred action continues in Saratoga Springs, NY on Thursday afternoon for Travers Week with a nine-race card that kicks off at the normal 1:10 PM eastern start time. The card is led by the $200k Skidmore for 2YOs traveling 5.5-furlongs over the turf. The featured event goes as Race 8 making it a key race within all late horizontals. Here are the horses I like most on the Thursday slate.


Race 5:
This MSW for 2YO fillies traveling 5.5-furlongs over the turf is comprised of mostly full-time starters and appears wide-open given the fact there is a 7-2-ML favorite. I will try one of the debut runners not expected to take too much public support #3 Brickyard Belle. The $600k OBS April ’25 purchase is bred to be quick being by Yaupon out of a More Than Ready mare that finished her career with 2 wins in 10 starts on the grass, including a third-place finish on debut over the Ellis lawn. She has been even more productive thus far as a broodmare producing six-figure turf sprint earners Joe Shiesty and Johnny Unleashed. The pedigree is there to be good early in one-turn races over the grass. Hopefully, the newest member of the family can fire bit at first asking for trainer Miguel Clement.

Play: #3 Brickyard Belle (8-1 ML)
Picks: 3-1-6


Race 8: Skidmore
#6 Titan Ready was made the 8-5-ML favorite by oddsmaker David Aragona in this $200k turf sprint for juveniles. The Title Ready colt enters his first start on the grass a maiden after a pair of runner-up efforts in races at the same 5.5-furlong distance over the Woodbine all-weather. The $12k FTK October ’25 purchase now moves into the Brad Cox barn and appears to be the speed of the speed, but his inability to win twice as the public choice in Canada, as well as his lack of experience over the lawn make him tough to endorse at his ML offering.
The field is pretty suspect for the purse to be honest, but I will try to beat the favorite with 5-2-second choice #5 River of Deceit. The Hard Spun colt makes the second start of his career after a solid runner-up effort to a 2-1-shot that got the jump on him in mid-June at Aqueduct. He was back on the work tab regularly shortly after the debut and appears to have been pointed for this spot all summer by trainer Tom Morley. Hopefully, he takes a step forward and runs by this bunch late under Junior Alvarado.

Play: #5 River of Deceit (5-2 ML)
Picks: 5-8-6


Race 9:
The finale is a state-bred $50k starter at 1 1/16-miles over the Inner Turf where I understand the appeal of 8-5-ML choice #4 Coach Case. The son of Slumber draws favorably, retains one of the best riders in the country, and is coming in off a pair of near misses over this surface and distance. That said, he has had plenty of chances to earn his second win making him tough to get excited about at his likely final price. Instead, I will try to wire the field with #6 Naguile. The Three Diamonds Farm runner makes his third start of the year going long on the grass at the Spa for trainer Keri Brion. He broke his maiden in gate-to-wire fashion at Aqueduct before a pair of off-the-board finishes against NY-bred allowance foes. Brion drops the Summer Front gelding down in class and finds a spot where he appears to have a pace advantage. Naguile will likely need things his way to spring the upset, but certainly can do so if Hall of Famer John Velazquez can back down the speed early. Brion has had a slow summer in terms of wins in upstate New York, but has had several runners finish in the money. Hopefully, she can get herself a victory to close the Thursday card.

Play: #6 Naguile (6-1 ML)
Picks: 6-4-2