Betting the Alabama on a $20 Budget

Lovely Maria rolled to a 2 3/4-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks on May 1 and looks to get back on track on Saturday in the Grade 1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga Race Course. (Photo by Eclipse Sportswire)
The 135th running of the Alabama Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course is sure to be a great one with the top four finishers from the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks entered as well as the 2015 Kentucky Oaks winner and two other very talented fillies.
The $600,000 Alabama is the longest running stakes race for 3-year-old fillies in the country and has been run at its current distance of 1 ¼ miles since 1917.
The race is named in honor of William Cottrell of Mobile, Ala., a captain in the Confederacy and a horse breeder known for his stallion Daniel Boone, who was full-brother (same dam [mother], same sire [father]) to the first Travers Stakes winner, Kentucky. Cottrell’s modesty led to him opting to have the raced named for his home state rather than himself.
Trainer Todd Pletcher has swept the Coaching Club American (CCA) Oaks and Alabama double for two years straight (2014, Stopchargingmaria; 2013, Princess of Sylmar) and looks to continue his streak with Curalina this year. Second to cross the finish line (by a nose)  in the CCA Oaks, Curalina won via disqualification when I'm a Chatterbox was ruled to have caused interference in the stretch. The third- and fourth-place finishers in the CCA Oaks, Mother Goose Stakes winner Include Betty and Danette, respectively, also look to end Pletcher’s streak.
I'M A CHATTERBOX

Lou Hodges Photography
Despite finishing fifth in the Delaware Oaks last time out, trainer Larry Jones is shipping in Kentucky Oaks winner Lovely Maria, and let’s not forget that the last time he saddled an Oaks winner for the Alabama he won in 2008 with Proud Spell. Rounding out the seven-filly field are Grade 2 Indiana Oaks runner-up Sweetgrass and Mother Goose ninth-place finisher Embellish the Lace, who had won her previous two starts by a combined margin of 24 lengths.
Analyzing the Alabama:
Sharp-shipping trainer Jones has double trouble coming for leading trainer Pletcher and his Alabama favorite Curalina with his two top-notch fillies in Lovely Maria and I’m a Chatterbox.
Jones has a 25% win percentage for the year and #3 Lovely Maria might be the better of his two in value. After posting back-to-back Grade 1 wins in the Ashland Stakes and the Kentucky Oaks, she threw in a clunker at odds of 3-to-10 in the Delaware Oaks. Now, she seems well rested and has two outstanding bullet workouts. She may be the play!
#2 Curalina, though a must-use in exotic bets, will be overbet Saturday. With a near perfect record of four wins and one second in five starts and after back-to-back Grade 1 wins in Acorn Stakes and CCA Oaks, she once again has Hall of Famer John Velazquez in the irons for stakes-winning machine Pletcher.
CURALINA (#6) WINNING ACORN STAKES

Photo by Eclipse Sportswire
#4 I’m a Chatterbox, the other half of the Jones duo, has done no wrong this year and also is showed versatility by winning on the lead and from well off the pace. I have no doubt she will be in the picture for the Alabama.
As her name suggests, #6 Include Betty is a Grade 1 winner who has danced every dance, racing at seven different tracks to boot, and merits inclusion on betting tickets. She comes from the clouds as a big closer and the 1 ¼-mile distance figures to suit her well. The biggest question for me here is jockey Drayden Van Dyke. He’s shipping in from the West Coast, has only raced at Saratoga once and is winning at 10% for the year. Include Betty is a must-use in exactas and trifectas.
Vick’s Picks
Strategy A: $20 win on #3 Lovely Maria
Strategy B: $10 exacta — #3 Lovely Maria with #2 Curalina, #6 Include Betty
Strategy C: $10 trifecta — #3 Lovely Maria with #2 Curalina, #6 Include Betty with #2 Curalina, #6 Include Betty
$600,000 Alabama StakesSaturday, Saratoga Race Course, Race 10, 6:07 p.m. ET1 ¼ miles, dirt, 3-year-old fillies

PP

Horse

Jockey

Trainer

Owner

Odds

1

Danette

Junior Alvarado

Keith Desormeaux

 Don't Tell My Wife Stables

12-1

2

Curalina

John Velazquez

Todd Pletcher

 Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners

7-5

3 

Lovely Maria

Kerwin Clark

Larry Jones

 Brereton C. Jones

5-1

4

I'm a Chatterbox

Florent Geroux

Larry Jones

 Fletcher and Carolyn Gray

5-2

5

Embellish the Lace

Javier Castellano

Tony Dutrow

 Alex and JoAnn Lieblong

10-1

6

Include Betty

Drayden Van Dyke

Tom Proctor

 Brereton C. Jones and Timothy C. Thornton

8-1

7

Sweetgrass

Chris Landeros

Ian Wilkes

 Brad Stephens, Randall L. Bloch, John Seiler and Fred Merritt 

12-1