Looking at Haskell, Opening Saturdays at Del Mar, Spa

It's opening weekend at Del Mar and Saratoga Race Course. What's more, Saturday, July 17, also is the biggest day of the season at the Jersey Shore, as the TVG.com Haskell (G1) caps a card sprinkled with four other graded stakes: the United Nations (G1T), WinStar Matchmaker (G3T), Monmouth Cup (G3), and Molly Pitcher (G3).

The Haskell is a Breeders' Cup Challenge Race that provides the winner a fees-paid berth in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) Nov. 6 at Del Mar. It will be televised on NBC from 5-6 p.m. EDT.

Out where the surf meets the turf, Royal Ship  shoulders top weight in the San Diego Handicap (G2), a 1 1/16-mile route that serves as the traditional local prep for the Aug. 21 TVG Pacific Classic (G1). The latter race is another win-and-in for the Classic.

A stakes doubleheader at Saratoga is comprised of the Sanford (G3) for 2-year-olds and the Diana Stakes (G1T). The Diana is the first of 20 grade 1 events at the 40-day meet.

Trainer Chad Brown naturally will be a factor in the day's grass races. The four-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer shoots for his sixth straight win in the Diana (and seventh overall) with the European imports Pocket Square  and Lemista . Brown also sends out four runners in the Matchmaker, and three more in the United Nations.

Let's go spanning the resort tracks for potential plays in chronological order, all times Eastern:

WinStar Matchmaker (Mth, race 5, 1:52): Juliet Foxtrot  (5) will be heavily favored against six foes, but she may be worth trying to beat after surrendering a clear lead in the Old Forester Mint Julep (G3T) as the 1-2 choice. It also seems like probable second choice Always Shopping  (1) has tailed off since running three sharp races at Gulfstream Park over the winter.

The keys are Nay Lady Nay  (6) and Kalifornia Queen  (7).

Nay Lady Nay was tugging early in the recent Eatontown (G3T) and now gets a rider change back to Paco Lopez, which is noteworthy because they are 3-for-3 together, including a win in last year's Matchmaker.

Kalifornia Queen responded with a win over second-level allowance optional claiming company at Belmont Park when blinkers and Lasix were added, kicking in strongly through the stretch. I'll take my chances with a good-finishing Chad Brown runner as fourth choice, thank you very much.

A - 6, 7

B - 1, 5

Sanford (Sar, race 9, 5:40): A gate of 12 juveniles includes 10 last-out winners and the second/third finishers from the Tremont. They last raced at seven different racetracks in shorter sprints than Saturday's six furlongs.

We have to feature Wit  (1) prominently, as the $575,000 colt by promising first-crop sire Practical Joke overcame a slow start to win going away at 2-5 first out June 5 at Belmont Park. Moreover, Todd Pletcher already has won this race seven times.

But Man o' War got left at the post and suffered his only defeat in the 1919 Sanford to Upset ... what might happen to Wit from the rail if he misses the break once again?

We're also interested in the four debut maiden graduates from Kentucky: Candy Landing  (2), Ottoman Empire  (7), Headline Report  (9), and Seize the Night  (11).

Candy Landing and Headline Report are co-featured keys along with Wit. Candy Landing drew off after dueling through a half-mile in :44.57, a full second faster (or more) than anyone else in the field has run. Headline Report was a step slow at the start but quickly recovered to win under confident handling.

A - 1, 2, 9

B - 7, 11

Haskell (Mth, race 12, 5:47): The second-place finishers from each leg of the Triple Crown races, Mandaloun  (2), Midnight Bourbon  (6), and Hot Rod Charlie  (4), take on up-and-coming Following Sea  (1) in a solid edition of this $1 million race at 1 1/8 miles. 

This will be the fifth meeting between Mandaloun and Midnight Bourbon, who both won graded stakes at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, but were then unable to catch Hot Rod Charlie in the Twinspires.com Louisiana Derby (G2).

Hot Rod Charlie ran a close third in the Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1), and followed with an exceptional effort in the Belmont Stakes Presented by NYRA Bets (G1), in which he set a wickedly fast early pace and yielded grudgingly to division leader Essential Quality  while better than 11 lengths ahead of Preakness (G1) winner Rombauer in third.

Midnight Bourbon was never put into the race in the Derby, then rebounded two weeks later with a bang-up second to Rombauer in the Preakness. He has a Monmouth-oriented pedigree: half brother Girvin   captured the 2017 Haskell, and another half brother, Pirate's Punch , was disqualified from first in last year's Philip H. Iselin (G3) before coming back to take the Salvator Mile (G3).

After finishing second in the Derby, Mandaloun overcame some early trouble to win the June 13 Pegasus Stakes on this track. However, speed-figure analysts may be wary because he exhibits a potential O-2-X pattern, which is a peak effort (O), followed by a near-peak (2) points lower, followed by a bounce (X). The pattern is evident on Beyer Speed Figures as well as Thoro-Graph. By the way, the Haskell is the "Race Of the Week" at Thoro-Graph.com, so you can get their figures for the race free of charge.

Following Sea figures to bounce off a supersonic allowance win as he stretches out from sprints for his stakes debut. Then again, perhaps the son of 2015 sprint champion Runhappy is a freak of nature.

A - 4, 6

B - 1, 3

Diana (Sar, race 10, 6:16): The Saratoga Springs, N.Y., area has been inundated with rain lately, and unfortunately the forecast calls for more of the same Saturday.

The Godolphin duo of Summer Romance  (6) and Althiqa  (8) have traded decisions through three meetings this year in Dubai and downstate at Belmont, and we're going right back with the one-two finishers from the Just a Game (G1T). Summer Romance couldn't hold off Althiqa in deep stretch of the Just a Game, but can again control matters up front, and she handled nine furlongs taking the Balanchine (G2T) over her stablemate two back.

As of Friday morning the plan is to use the first two finishers from the Beaugay (G3T), Harvey's Lil Goil  (5) and Lemista  (7) as the B team. Significant rain could alter that strategy though, as the former prefers firm going, while the latter's four wins overseas came on yielding, soft, and heavy ground. I might move Lemista to the A team if the heavens open up.

A - 6, 8

B - 5, 7

San Diego 'Cap (Dmr, race 10, 9:30): The top three morning-line choices, Royal Ship (4), Express Train  (5), and Rushie  (1), all have their merits, but I'm elevating Express Train because of his past prowess at Del Mar, which consists of a 14-length maiden win in 2019 and a win first time back from a layoff of 11 months in 2020.

The other two with back form over the surface are Kiss Today Goodbye  (2), a close third in the 2020 Shared Belief at 34-1 and an allowance winner at the fall meet; and Magic On Tap  (7), a lightly raced 5-year-old who won his Del Mar debut in 2018 then vanished for a year and returned to run second in an allowance route in 2019.

Magic On Tap is back racing regularly and he has a good shot to grab the early lead stretching out off a score in the seven-furlong Triple Bend (G2).

A - 5, 7

B - 1, 2, 4