After a Travers Day that saw Leading Change get the best of Napoleon Solo in the final strides to capture the Midsummer Derby, the racing week concludes in Saratoga Springs with a ten-race card headlined by the $200k Yaddo. The 1 1/16-mile event for NY-bred fillies and mares over the grass goes as Race 9 and is set to go to post at 5:44 PM eastern. Here are the horses I like most on the afternoon.


Race 3:
My first play comes in this MSW for 2YOs at two-turns over the Inner Turf where second-time starter #2 Kipros is listed as the 5-2-ML favorite after breaking erratically from his inside draw on debut. The well-bred Oscar Performance colt showed some energy late to finish fourth, but mostly just passed tiring rivals. I give him a big shot to move forward in start number two for hot-training Ray Handal, but I will take a bigger swing with #1 Warrior At Heart. The son of Mandaloun is out the Smart Strike mare Dame Marie making him a half-brother to 2023 Kentucky Jockey Club (G2) winner Honor Marie. The Whit Beckman trainee debuted going six-furlongs on the dirt on July 25 in a race where she finished a well-beaten sixth. Beckman adds blinkers, stretches her out to a route of ground, and draws favorably along the inside. All hopefully lead to much-improved performance for the 10-1-second-time starter.

Play: #1 Warrior At Heart (10-1 ML)
Picks: 1-2-3


Race 8:
This state-bred MSW event at six-furlongs over the main track offers up a field of ten led by 5-2-favorite #10 Modest Maclean. The Linda Rice runner has been well-meant in the first two starts of his career, but has let the public down both times. Rice wheels the son of Maclean’s Music back on eight days rest and cuts him back in distance. He can win, but I have lost trust in him, so I will try 7-2-second choice #2 Isthereanormalwife. Trainer David Donk has had a tough summer at the Spa, but this gelding ran huge over this surface and distance on debut in early July battling between rivals early and fighting to the wire before being nailed by a runner that took advantage of the early battle. Donk moved the son of Galilean to the grass on August 7 and it led to a disappointing stalk and fade effort. Now, he cuts back to the distance he debuted at and has every reason to find his way to the wire first if he is able to move forward just a touch off his promising first try. Johnny V will get the leg up once again.

Play: #2 Isthereanormalwife (7-2 ML)
Picks: 2-1-10


Race 9: Yaddo
The feature is a competitive one with #9 Awesome Czech entering the two-turn event for state-bred females as the 2-1-ML favorite. The Mendelssohn mare drops into NY-bred competition for the first time this year for trainer Horacio De Paz after a fourth-place run in the De La Rose in mid-July. The 5YO is 4 for 6 over the Saratoga grass and is the class of the field, but the outside draw is slightly concerning along with the fact that the De Paz barn has slowed down over the last month or so after a big end to the Aqueduct meeting and start to the summer at the Spa. I will try to beat her with another runner exiting the De La Rose on July 17 #4 Being Betty. The daughter of Weekend Hideaway was caught three-wide into the first turn and remained that way throughout in her eighth-place effort to gate-to-wire winner And One More Time. Prior to that, Being Betty rattled off two wins in a row, including a victory over this course during the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival. She should be able to avoid a wide trip throughout this time given the improved draw. Javier Castellano takes the call for the first time on the Lisa Bartkowski trainee.

Play: #4 Being Betty (6-1 ML)
Picks: 4-9-2