The Flower Bowl is carded as Race 11 and the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes is carded as Race 12 on Saturday’s 12-race program at Saratoga Race Course. The first post is 12:35 p.m. EDT.
Other notable races on Saturday at Saratoga:
- Race 5: G2 Prioress Stakes (2:47 PM ET)
- Race 8: G3 Saranac Stakes (4:27 PM ET)
Flower Bowl Stakes
Race Information:
- Track: Saratoga Race Course (Saratoga Springs, New York)
- Event Grade: Grade I
- Race: 11
- Post Time: 6:11 PM ET
- Length: 1 3/8 Miles
- Purse: $600,000
- Division: Open | 4 Years Old & Up
- Surface: Inner Turf
- Wagers: Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10), Double Wagers
Field:
| PROGRAM | PP | HORSE | MED/EQ | A/S | JOCKEY | WGT | TRAINER | ML |
| 1 | 1 | La Signare (FR) | 6/F | Ricardo Santana, Jr. | 118 | Brendan P. Walsh | 5-1 | |
| 2 | 2 | American Bridge (GB) | 4/F | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | 120 | Jean-Claude Rouget | 12-1 | |
| 3 | 3 | War Like Goddess | 4/F | Julien R. Leparoux | 122 | William I. Mott | 4-5 | |
| 4 | 4 | My Sister Nat (FR) | 6/F | Jose L. Ortiz | 118 | Chad C. Brown | 5-1 | |
| 5 | 5 | Lovely Lucky | 5/F | John R. Velazquez | 118 | Thomas Albertrani | 20-1 | |
| 6 | 6 | Great Island | 5/F | Joel Rosario | 120 | Chad C. Brown | 4-1 | |
| 7 | 7 | Coastana | 4/F | Luis Saez | 118 | Cherie Devaux | 15-1 |
Horse Preview:
LA SIGNARE enters the Flower Bowl stakes with four races under her belt this year, nineteen in her career. She’s coming off a two month layoff from her last race where she ran 3rd by a neck in the G1 Diana Stakes. She faced some pretty steep competition in that race. Prior to that race, she took 2nd in the G1 Gamely Stakes where she ran her best speed figure of the year. LA SIGNARE has run her last two races at a 1 1/8 Mile so she’ll be adding some distance here.
AMERICAN BRIDGE gets shipped in from Europe for her first ever race in the U.S. She’s coming off a three month layoff. In her last race she won the G3 Premio Del Giubileo in Milan. This four year old filly has raced four times this year, and has been in the money every race. However, she’ll face the strongest field she has gone up against in this race. We’ll see if she’s up for the challenge and takes to the American turf.
WAR LIKE GODDESS has been successful in Grade 2 and 3 Stakes, but will compete in her first Grade 1 Stakes here. In her last start, she won the G2 Glens Fall Stakes just a little under a month ago at Saratoga. She’s shown some real closing power her last three races. This four year old filly has only raced six times in her career and has won five of those. The only outlier came back in her first start of 2021 where she ran fifth in the G3 The Very One Stakes.
MY SISTER NAT will face WAR LIKE GODDESS again after losing to her in the G2 Glens Fall Stakes her last start. She raced in the G1 Flower Bowl Stakes last year (which was hosted at Belmont Park) and finished 2nd. She’s competed in three races this year, all G2 Stakes, and has finished 2nd, 3rd, and 4th respectively. She’s shown some decent speed in her three starts this year, but I’m not sure if she can find an extra gear here to compete with the favorite (WAR LIKE GODDESS).
LOVELY LUCKY shouldn’t be a factor in this race and the odds reflect that. She also raced in the G1 Flower Bowl last year and finished 7th. She’s competed in just two races this year with the most recent coming in July. In that race she was coming off a six month layoff and won an Allowance Optional Claiming. Her only other race this year was in the G3 La Prevoyante Stakes where she ran 8th.
GREAT ISLAND enters this race off a win in the G3 WinStar Matchmaker Stakes at Monmouth Park in July. Prior to that race she finished 3rd in the G3 Gallorette Stakes but was bumped at the start. She’ll take a step up in class here to run in her first G1 Stakes race. Her speed figures haven’t been great this year, so I’m interested to see how she handles going up against some tougher horses.
COASTANA will compete in her first ever graded stakes race. This four year old filly just started racing this year and has five starts under her belt. In her last out she won an Allowance race at Saratoga. The speed figures don’t really match up to some of the other competitors in this race so I don’t think she’ll be much of a factor here.
Race Preview:
Front Runner:
Stalk/ Off the Pace: Lovely Lucky, Coastana
Closer: La Signare, War Like Goddess, My Sister Nat, Great Island
Looking at this race, there’s no early speed which benefits the favorite WAR LIKE GODDESS. Even though MY SISTER NAT finished 2nd to WAR LIKE GODDESS in her last out, it was not close at all. The pace should be slow, so it should all depended on where each horse lines up into the final turn. This race should come down to LA SIGNARE and WAR LIKE GODDESS in the final few furlongs.
Picks:
WIN: (1) LA SIGNARE
If you’re looking for a horse to try and beat the 4-5 favorite, I would look at the (1) La Signare. She’s the only horse that has been competitive in G1 Stakes and has the speed to match War Like Goddess down the stretch.
Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes
Race Information:
- Track: Saratoga Race Course (Saratoga Springs, New York)
- Event Grade: Grade I
- Race: 12
- Post Time: 6:46 PM ET
- Length: 1 1/4 Miles
- Purse: $1,000,000
- Division: Open | 4 Years Old & Up
- Surface: Dirt
- Wagers: Exacta, Trifecta, Super (.10) Wagers
Field:
| PROGRAM | PP | HORSE | MED/EQ | A/S | JOCKEY | WGT | TRAINER | ML |
| 1 | 1 | Forza Di Oro | 4/C | Junior Alvarado | 126 | William I. Mott | 8-5 | |
| 2 | 2 | Max Player | 4/C | Ricardo Santana, Jr. | 126 | Steven M. Asmussen | 5-2 | |
| 3 | 3 | Chess Chief | 5/C | Luis Saez | 126 | Dallas Stewart | 15-1 | |
| 4 | 4 | Happy Saver | 4/C | Irad Ortiz, Jr. | 126 | Todd A. Pletcher | 9-5 | |
| 5 | 5 | Night Ops | 5/C | Manuel Franco | 126 | Brad H. Cox | 5-1 | |
| 6 | 6 | Forewarned | 6/C | Sonny Leon | 126 | Uriah St. Lewis | 50-1 |
Horse Preview:
FORZA DI ORO is an interesting horse when you look at his past few races. He doesn’t really run much, having only two starts in 2020 and just one in 2021. In his last race in 2020, he won the G3 Discovery Stakes. Then in his only race in 2021, ran in an Allowance Optional Claimer off an eight month layoff to win and run the best speed figure of his career. This horse has speed but his history intrigues me as to why they would run him so little given his ability. This will be his first G1 Stakes that he’s run in his career.
MAX PLAYER is coming off the best race of his career in the G2 Suburban Stakes where he won. Earlier this year he was shipped over seas to the UAE to run in the G1 Saudi Cup but finished 11th. After that race he came back to the U.S. to run in the G3 Pimlico Special Match Series Stakes only to finish 6th. In 2020, this colt ran in most of the big races (Kentucky Derby, Travers, Belmont) and competed. In his last race he seemed to have gotten his form back but, will go back to the G1 Stakes competition. He’s never won a G1 Stakes so maybe this four year old finally breaks though.
CHESS CHIEF has run five times this year with his only win coming back in March in the G2 New Orleans Classic Stakes. Since then, he’s run in two other G2 Stakes only to finish 3rd and 5th. Looking at his speed figures, he doesn’t match up to the other three favorites. I don’t this five year old Colt will hit the board in this race.
HAPPY SAVER won this race last year at Belmont. Since then, he’s only run twice in 2021 where he finished third behind MAX PLAYER in the G2 Suburban Stakes. In his six starts of his career, that was the only race that he didn’t win. Like FORZA DI ORO this horse doesn’t run much but has some incredible ability. He’ll be a factor here for sure, but we’ll see if gets a better trip out to set himself up for contention. He raced at Saratoga once before winning an Allowance race last year.
NIGHT OPS has had six starts in 2021, but just can’t seem to find the winner’s circle. In those starts, he’s finished 2nd four times and 3rd twice. He’s had some decent speed figures and will compete in this race but will face some steep competition again. I just don’t know if this is the race that he capture’s his first win of the year.
FOREWARNED is entered in this race but I have absolutely no idea why. His past performances have indicated that he has no ability to compete in this race given the other entries. He’s also the oldest horse in this race. He may try to push the pace but, his only role will be to try and throw the other horses off.
Race Preview:
Front Runner: Forza Di Oro
Stalk/ Off the Pace: Happy Saver
Closer: Max Player, Chess Chief, Night Ops, Forewarned
Picks:
WIN: (4) HAPPY SAVER
He lost to MAX PLAYER in the G2 Suburban but faced sloppy conditions. The Irad Ortiz Jr and Todd Pletcher combo has been great in the past, and I think they get it done here again. FORZA DI ORO easily won a sloppy Allowance race in his race out and will be a factor. I’m also relaying on HAPPY SAVER’S experience in his race, having won it last year. This colt should have the speed to close on the front runner down the stretch.
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.
