The final Friday of the Saratoga 2026 meeting kicks off later today at 1:10 PM eastern. The card not only is led by a pair of stakes races for 2YOs, but a Pick 6 carryover of $92,729. Here are my thoughts on the two stakes, as well as must use in the Pick 6.


Race 4: P.G. Johnson
The $200k event for 2YO fillies at 1 1/16-miles over the Inner Turf drew just a field of seven, but it is wide-open nonetheless. #1 Pros and Cons was made the 2-1-ML favorite by oddsmaker David Aragona after taking advantage of a favorable setup in his win over this course on July 10. She draws best and gets Jose Ortiz, but is a tough proposition for yours truly at the likely off odds. The lack of speed in here is quite noticeable and could dictate how things play out, which has me leaning on #7 Mel Went Home. The daughter of Life Is Good makes her second start over the turf going long and takes on stakes foes as a maiden for trainer Robbie Medina. She may have lost by a nose in that first turf try on August 14, but she was clearly best that afternoon. Luis Saez tried to get aggressive on the stretch out, but the outside draw proved too tough for him to get to the front. Instead, Mel Went Home was caught wide throughout at odds of nearly 5-1. Taking on stakes foes as a maiden is obviously a class hike, but plenty of non-winners find their way to the wire first in these early season juvenile stakes races. Hopefully, Jose Lezcano opts for similar tactics as Saez, but is more effective at getting this August Dawn Farm filly to the front. If so, she could prove tough to catch late at a solid price.

Play: #7 Mel Went Home (6-1 ML)
Picks: 7-2-1


Race 7: Seeking the Ante
The second juvenile stakes race is for state-bred fillies at six-furlongs over the main track and makes up the second leg in today’s Pick 6 carryover. I wanted to get aggressive and try to wire the field with first out winner at Canterbury last month #1 Cachorita, but in the end this seems like a lot to ask of the $5k FTK Feb ’25 purchase. She should make the lead from her inside draw, but will likely struggle in holding off 6-5-favorite #5 Velora. The $300k daughter of Yaupon was hammered down to 4-5 in her debut over this surface on August 1 and delivered in a big way pulling away late to win by nearly five lengths in the end. Trainer Linda Rice has won right back in the second start with 6 of her 24 debut winners over the last five years and brings this gal in off a bullet five-furlong drill in 1:00.3. She is a single that is unlikely to provide much value, but spreading might prove foolish to kick off the late Pick 5.

Play: #5 Velora (6-5 ML)
Picks: 5-2-1


Race 8:
This second-level allowance at 5.5-furlongs over the grass lacks an abundance of early speed types, so it could make things challenging for those who like to come from well off-the-pace. It is unclear for sure who will make the lead with longshot #1 What’s Up Bro projecting to be prominently placed from his inside draw, but that projection is based on dirt efforts, so you never know if that speed will translate to the grass. It certainly did not on April 25, but that also involved a slow break from the gate. Either way, #5 No Evidence should be in a nice spot early to take advantage of a potential moderate early tempo. The son of Vekoma clearly has soundness issues evidenced by his inability to put back-to-back races together, but ran well when we saw him last in July. He got the jump on 7-2-favorite #2 Bosun that day and was probably fortunate that one was in behind rivals before finding clear sailing late. I expect Flavien Prat to be sure to get the jump on one of his main rivals once again in this challenging handicap for horseplayers. If he does, he could be well on his way to his first winning streak as a racehorse.

Play: #5 No Evidence (9-2 ML)
Picks: 5-7-2