The second weekend of Saratoga features the GI American Oaks, GIII Caress Stakes, and the Grade III Shuvee. The GI American Oaks and GIII Caress Stakes will take place on Saturday while the GIII Shuvee runs on Sunday. In both races, we really don’t have too deep of a field. The Grade I American Oaks is headlined by morning line favorite Malathatt at 2-5. There’s only four horses in this race, so it’s not that great of a race to wager on. In the Grade III Caress stakes the field expands to six horses but, again, we have heavy favorites in Caravel and Robin Sprinkles.
Next weekend, we have one of the better slates at the Spa to look forward to which includes one GI Stakes and three GII Stakes.
G1 Coaching Club American Oaks
Inaugurated in 1917, the Coaching Club American Oaks is named in honor of the Coaching Club of America, for which a requisite for membership was the ability to handle a coach and four horses with a single group of reins. August Belmont II set the original conditions to emulate the Epsom Oaks (now the Epsom Derby) in England. From 1919-1941 and 1944-1958, the race was run at 1 3/8 miles; from 1990-1997 and 2004-2009 at 1 ¼ miles, and in 1942 and 1943, from 1971-1989 and from 1998-2003 at 1 ½ miles. Since 2010, when it was moved from Belmont Park to Saratoga Race Course, it has been run at 1 1/8 miles. Prior to 1928 it was run as a handicap.
Race Information:
- Track: Saratoga Race Course (Saratoga Springs, New York)
- Event Grade: I
- Race: 5
- Post Time: 3:23 PM ET
- Length: 1 1/8 Miles
- Purse: $500,000
- Division: Fillies | 3 Year Olds
- Surface: Dirt
- Wagers: Double Wagers, NO SHOW WAGERING
Field:
- Malathaat (John Velazquez), 2-5
- Maracuja (Ricardo Santana Jr.), 6-1
- Rockpaperscissors (Luis Saez), 15-1
- Clairiere (Irad Ortiz Jr.), 9-5
Horse Preview:
MALATHATT, the unbeaten filly will be the star of the show on Saturday at Saratoga. She’ll go off as the heavy favorite in the GI American Oaks. I mean, this horse is absolutely incredible. As mentioned before she’s unbeaten in her five career starts, capturing two Grade I victories. She’s enters this race off a bit of a lay off with her last race coming back in April. In that race at Churchill she struggled a bit out of the gate but, ended up edging out SEARCH RESULTS down the stretch to win the GI Kentucky Oaks.
CLAIRIERE, enters this race with just one career stakes win under her belt. Earlier this year, she captured the Grade II Rachael Alexandra Stakes at Fair Grounds. She lost to MALATHATT two races prior in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks where she finished 4th. In that race she broke well, settled into the middle of the pack but, didn’t have enough of a kick to catch MALATHATT. More recently she raced in the Grade II Mother Goose at Belmont and finished third. She’s finished in the money every one of her six career starts besides, the Kentucky Oaks. CLAIRIERE and MALATHATT have similar pedigree as they were both fathered by CURLIN. CLAIRIERE is trained by S. Asmussen who trained CURLIN, while Todd Pletcher trains MALATHATT.
MARACUJA, has a familiar foe in MALATHATT where they faced off in the GI Kentucky Oaks. In that race, she wound up finishing seventh being a complete non factor. In the GII Gazelle, she had finished second to SEARCH RESULTS.
ROCKPAPERSCISSORS, has only raced in three races in her career. She broke her maiden just last race in a MSW at Churchill Downs on September 19th of 2020. This three year old filly is came off a massive layoff of nearly a year and in her last year where she came out victorious. In those three races, she didn’t display the speed needed to compete with the favorites but maybe she’s up for the challenge.
Race Preview:
We’ll this is a tough race to find value, due to a small field and a heavy favorite in MALATHAAT. She’s undefeated in her career and seems to be improving in every race. MALATHAAT likes to run off the off the pace and will be joined by the other favorite CLAIRIERE. Make no mistake CLAIRIERE has the closing speed to challenge MALATHAAT in this race. MARACUJA has seen both of these favorites in the GIII Gazelle and was outclassed. ROCKPAPERSCISSORS is some what of a wild card here, having only three career starts. We’ll see if she can handle the step up in class and push the pace.
Front Runners: ROCKPAPERSCISSORS
Off the Pace: MALATHAAT, CLAIRIERE
Closers: MARACUJA
Picks:
BEST BET – WIN: (1) MALATHATT
If you’re looking for any value in this race, single the (1) horse here when playing a multi race exotic ticket. With only four horses in this race, every entry will continue to get bet down limiting the value on even the long shots.
VALUE BET – WIN: (2) MARACUJA
If you’re not looking to back the favorites, look at the MARACUJA. In the Oaks she broke flat footed and never really found her groove. She skipped the Mother Goose but, is said to be doing much better now. With the shorter field, she should get a better start out of the gate and has the ability to run a better race.
Named after the multiple-graded stakes winning mare trained by Hall of Famer H. Allen Jerkens, the Caress was first run in 2008 at seven furlongs on the turf and in 2009 it was contested at six furlongs. Not run in 2010 and 2011; in 2012, it was run at 5 ½ furlongs on the turf. Caress, a daughter of Storm Cat, retired in 1996 with a record of 13-4-2 from 29 career starts, including victories in the Grade 3 Poker at Belmont Park as well as the Beaugay and Athenia, both Grade 3 events at Aqueduct Racetrack.
Race Information:
- Track: Saratoga Race Course (Saratoga Springs, New York)
- Event Grade: III
- Race: 10
- Post Time: 6:13 PM ET
- Length: 5.5 Furlongs
- Purse: $200,000
- Division: Open | 4 Year Olds & Up
- Surface: Turf
- Wagers: Exacta, Trifecta (.50), Super (.10), Double Wagers
Field:
- Caravel (Irad Ortiz Jr.), 7-5
- Robin Sparkles (Jose Ortiz), 6-5
- Tass (Eric Cancel), 30-1
- In Good Spirits (John Velazquez), 8-1
- Flower Point (Joel Rosario), 8-1
- Jakarta (Luis Saez), 6-1
Horse Preview:
CARAVEL is a four year old mare who enters he first Stakes Race in her career. She’s had eight starts in career, taking home first in six of them and third twice. CARAVEL is coming off back to back victories in 5 Furlong Sprints.
JAKARTA is a six year old mare who has yet to find the winner’s circle in 2021. So far, he has raced in five starts this year finishing (4-4-3-8-4). He won twice in his first two starts back in 2020 then jumped up to Grade III Stakes races where he was outmatched. In his second race, where he won, he ran a distance of a mile. During his struggles, earlier this year, they moved him back to a mile but failed to find any success finishing fourth in that race. In April of this year, he bested IN GOOD SPIRITS in the Giant’s Causeway Stakes where he ran third. Last year she ran in the Caress and finished second running one of the best races of her career.
ROBIN SPARKLES a four year old mare, has not finished worse than second since her first career race. She has some pedigree as the daughter of ELUSIVE QUALITY. In her last eight races, she has won six of them and finished second in the other two. Back in April of 2021, she bested CARAVEL in a 6F Sprint at Belmont where she took second and CARAVEL took third. She has alternated between the turf and dirt during her career but returns to a turf sprint race here where she’s had the most success.
FLOWER POINT, is a five year old mare who is a three time starter in 2021. In his three starts this year he has two fifth place finishes and one win. He won his last time out in an 7F Allowance Race at Belmont. He actually faced ROBIN SPARKLES in a 6F Sprint at Belmont on April 30, 2021. In that race, ROBIN SPARLES would run second and FLOWER POINT would finish fifth as previously mentioned. So far in 2021, he hasn’t run as well as he previously has. His speed figures are not what they used to be and have dropped off. In that last race he won, he ran one of the speed figures in his career so we’ll see if he can follow it up here with an equally impressive performance. He does come from some solid pedigree as the son of POINT OF ENTRY.
TASS, is coming off a bad race where he/she broke late and was never in it. She’s a five year old mare that doesn’t have the class to compete in this race. This will also be her first race this year with her last race coming on September 3rd, 2020.
IN GOOD SPIRITS, a four year old mare who has eleven starts in her career. She’s coming off a bit of a layoff with her last race coming back in April. In that race she stalked the pace but never really kicked down the stretch. Prior to that race, she won an AOC at Fair Grounds. She has some pedigree as the daughter of GHOSTZAPPER who earned over $3,000,000 plus in his career.
Race Preview:
This is a two horse races, as indicated by the odds. ROBIN SPARKLES is a front runner coming off the best race in her career, running an Equibase speed figure of 108. CARAVEL likes to run off the pace a bit, then pull away down the stretch. She doesn’t have the speed as ROBIN SPARKLES and may not be able to close on her if the pace is right. JAKARTA is going to a horse that challenges ROBIN SPARKELS for the lead, and has the speed to do so. If both these horses, go out too fast trying to establish the lead, it may open the race up for some late speed. One of those horses that may take advantage of this is FLOWER POINT. In her last race she came rallied from 8 back to win. IN GOOD SPIRITS will try to hang with CARAVEL off the pace but, I don’t know if she has the ability to win this race given the class of horses here. A year ago, she had the speed needed to compete in this race, but we haven’t seen that speed this year. TASS’s role in this race could be summed up as a potential agent of chaos. She is a front runner that could press the pace with the horses mentioned prior, opening it up for closers/off the pace horses.
Front Runners: ROBIN SPARKLES, JAKARTA, TASS
Off the Pace: CARAVEL, IN GOOD SPIRITS
Closers: FLOWER POINT
Picks:
WIN: (1) CARAVEL
EXACTA: 1/ 2, 4, 6
Again not much value in this race but I think it sets up well for CARAVEL. She’ll be able to sit off the pace and let the front runner’s battle it out. She has the closing speed to chase down everyone of those horses, and should do it here. Hopefully JAKARTA who has run well at Saratoga before has a similar performance and can grab second. IN GOOD SPIRITS should also benefit from the fast pace and close well with CARAVEL.
It’s looking like a chalky day at the Spa on Saturday given the gap in talent.
Best of luck, and as always you can find me on Twitter @GatorBetting and Instagram @Gator_Sports_Betting.
