Betting the Jim Dandy Stakes on a Budget

Competitive Edge won the Pat Day Mile Stakes on May 2 at Churchill Downs and looks like a strong contender in the Jim Dandy Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
This weekend, the public is focused on Monmouth Park for the William Hill Haskell Invitational Stakes and the return of American Pharoah. However, the Triple Crown winner’s low odds and the lack of a deep field make the Haskell a difficult race to turn a profit on. Luckily, we also have the $600,000 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course to look forward to.
The feature of Saratoga’s Saturday card is a 1 1/8-mile, Grade 2 test for 3-year-olds. The field includes 2014 Breeder’s Cup Juvenile winner Texas Red and the tested and accomplished Belmont Stakes runner-up Frosted—quite the lineup!
My pick is Competitive Edge. The colt has moved well on this sometimes-quirky Saratoga surface, having won his career debut and the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes here in his 2-year-old campaign. While his career record shows he is untested at this distance, I’m confident Todd Pletcher has him conditioned for his longest race to date. He displayed the ability to close strongly in the Grade 3 Pat Day Mile Stakes on the Kentucky Derby undercard, when he drew away to win by 4 ½ lengths. And, if he can relax behind the leader here, under the hands of the meet’s leading rider John Velazquez, I think he will be in prime position to chase down the pace, stretch out, and cross the finish line first.
Texas Red also should be tough in this race, but I believe he might be a bit overvalued with his 7-to-2 morning-line odds. After sitting out the Triple Crown trail this spring with an injury, he returned to the races with gusto in the Grade 3 Dwyer Stakes last month at Belmont Park. He finished a game second in the 1-mile race, and, by all accounts, his morning training at Saratoga has been impressive. I’ll keep him in my exotics, but I am hesitant to key him or anything of the sort.
Frosted, on the other hand, has not raced since his grueling Triple Crown trail finale in the Belmont Stakes. He’ll have a tough time getting back into gear here, following the demanding spring campaign.
If you’re looking for a price, Japan is an intriguing horse. The Medaglia d’Oro colt is riding a two-race winning streak and is worth a look if his morning-line price of 10-to-1 holds. Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott has gotten off to a hot start at the meet, winning nearly half of his starts (43%) as of Wednesday. This could be breakout race for Japan, if he builds off of the promise he showed in a 1 ¼-length victory in the Easy Goer Stakes at Belmont in June. 
Betting Strategies:
$2 exacta box: 2,3,5 ($12)
$8 Win: 5 ($8)
Total=$20
*Competitive Edge is cross-entered in the Haskell Invitational Stakes. This strategy is for if he defects from the Jim Dandy*
$2 exacta: All with 2 ($10)
$2 exacta: 2 with All  ($10)
Total=$20
Click here for this week's edition of That Handicapping Show for further analysis from the Blood-Horse
$600,000 Jim Dandy StakesSaturday, Saratoga Race Course, Race 10, 6:25 p.m. ET1 1/8 miles, dirt, 3-year-olds

PP

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

Owner

ML

1

Frammento

Jose Lezcano

Nick Zito

Mossarosa

20-1

2

Japan

Junior Alvarado

Bill Mott

Barry K. Schwartz

10-1

3

Texas Red

Kent Desormeaux

Keith Desormeaux

Brehm, Erich, Detmar, Wayne, Michaels, Lee, Desormeaux, J. Keith et al.

7-2

4

Upstart

Irad Ortiz Jr.

Rick Violette

Ralph M. Evans and WinStar Farm

3-1

5

Competitive Edge

John Velazquez

Todd Pletcher

Nancy Favreau, Kathy Psoinos and Michael B. Tabor

4-1

6

Tekton

Alex Cintron

Tony Dutrow

Shortleaf Stable

10-1

7

Frosted

Joel Rosario

Kiaran McLaughlin

Godolphin Racing

2-1