The second week of the 2018 Saratoga Race Course meeting starts Wednesday with a 10-race card that features the Grade 2 Honorable Miss Handicap and $70,000 Jonathan Kiser Novice Hurdle.
The handicappers from The Saratoga Special are ready to roll and looking to add some winners to their tallies for the season. John Shapazian leads the quartet at a 35 percent clip the first four days of the meet, correctly tabbing 14 from 40 races. Tom Law is next with a dozen winners from 40 races, a 30 percent strike rate. Newcomer Donald Phillips is next with seven and Charles Bedard trails with six.
Wednesday’s card starts with the Kiser at 1 p.m. and the 2 1/16-mile hurdle event attracted a field of seven. Mutasaawy is the 5-2 choice on the morning line off a win two starts back at Fair Hill in late May and a fourth in a training flat at Suffolk Downs July 8.
The 6-furlong Honorable Miss drew six entrants, including last year’s runner-up and Grade 1 winner Finley’sluckycharm from the outside post. The 5-year-old Twirling Candy mare is 8-5 on the morning line for trainer Bret Calhoun and jockey Brian Hernandez Jr.
Others in the field for the $200,000 stakes are Kirby’s Penny and Chalon, 1-2 in the Grade 3 Vagrancy Stakes at Belmont in May; last year’s Grade 2 Prioress winner Vertical Oak; Faypien, winner of last year’s Grade 2 Summertime Oaks and runner-up in the Grade 1 Test at Saratoga; and Thirteen Songs, a winner in an allowance-optional last time out at Ellis Park.
Here are the handicapper’s picks for Wednesday, July 25. Good luck.
JOHN SHAPAZIAN (14/40):
1-Lord Justice, Mutasaawy, Officer Sydney.
2-North End, Raging Town, Hexameter.
3-Consensus Thinking, Ding Dong Ditch, Wisely.
4-Summer Bourbon, Rectify, Mr. Buff.
5-Time Warp, Evan’s Nice Now, Empress Sophia.
6-Pray For Leslie, Come Dancing, Purrfect Miss.
7-English Dancer, Sweet Connie Girl, Hollywood Cat.
8-Fox Rules, Morrison, Mo Diddley.
9-Finley’sluckycharm, Kirby’s Penny, Faypien.
10-Four Knights, Moneigh Moproblems, Novus.
CHARLES BEDARD (6/40):
1-Mutasaawy, New Member, Officer Sydney.
2-Hexameter, Tayler’s The Boss, Raging Town.
3-Consensus Thinking, Electro, Sport.
4-Candid Desire, Summer Bourbon, Riff Raff.
5-Chillinwithfriends, Bull Feathers, Empress Sophia.
6-Pray For Leslie, Purrfect Miss, Heartspoke.
7-Stay Fond, English Dancer, Hollywood Cat.
8-Ivery Sisters entry, Mascarello, Mo Diddley.
9-Finley’sluckycharm, Faypien, Chalon.
10-Rucksack, Moneigh Moproblems, Four Knights.
TOM LAW (12/40):
1-Lord Justice, Mutasaawy, No Wunder.
2-North End, Hexameter, Raging Town.
3-Consensus Thinking, Sport, Ding Dong Ditch.
4-Rectify, Summer Bourbon, Riff Raff.
5-Evan’s Nice Now, Chillinwithfriends, Time Warp.
6-Pray For Leslie, Purrfect Miss, Play Unified.
7-Hollywood Cat, English Dancer, Sweet Connie Girl.
8-Mo Diddley, Mascarello, Royal Blessing.
9-Finley’sluckycharm, Chalon, Kirby’s Penny.
10-Moneigh Moproblems, Union Ranks, Spring On Curlin.
DONALD PHILLIPS (7/40):
1-Lord Justice, Mutasaawy, No Wunder.
2-North End, Hexameter, Raging Town.
3-Consensus Thinking, Curlin’s New Moon, Czech Rate.
4-Riff Raff, Summer Bourbon, Candid Desire.
5-Time Warp, Aquariva, Damselfly.
6-Play Unified, Come Dancing, Pray For Leslie.
7-English Dancer, Hope’s Roar, Codrington.
8-Mo Diddley, Mascarello, Converge.
9-Vertical Oak, Kirby’s Penny, Finley’sluckycharm.
10-Spring On Curlin, Moneigh Moproblems, Novus.
