Betting the Forego on a $20 Budget

Big Business (above, second from inside in pink silks) has a chance to pull off an upset in the Forego Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course. (Photo by NYRA)
If you're looking for a great race to watch - and bet - this weekend, you'd be hard-pressed to find one better than the Grade 1, $500,000 Forego Stakes at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday.
The field is filled with graded stakes winners and will no doubt feature multiple horses who will wheel back for the Breeders' Cup World Championships.
The probable favorite in the race is the Linda Rice-trained Palace, who went over the $1-million mark in career earnings when he captured the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap last out.
That 6-furlong race earned him a career-top Beyer Speed Figure and was as visually impressive as any race run by any horse in this field.
PALACE WINNING VANDERBILT

Photo by NYRA
In the Forego, Palace will be stretching out to 7 furlongs, a distance at which he's winless in two tries.
Another horse who will attract a lot of attention in the wagering is Clearly Now. He's another one coming off of a career-best effort last out in the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint Championship Stakes in July. The 4-year-old could go over the million-dollar mark, himself, with a win in the Forego, which will mark his first career start at Saratoga. He's a perfect 7-for-7 in the money (finishing first, second or third) in each of his races at 7 furlongs, including three graded stakes victories.
2014 BELMONT SPRINT CHAMPIONSHIP

Courtesy of NYRA
While the two favorites are hard to knock, there are several others entered in the Forego who will offer more appealing wagering value. In a 10-horse sprint, a lot can happen to impact the outcome of a race and settling on short-priced favorites coming off of career-best efforts doesn't always work out very well.
One of the outsiders worth considering is Confrontation. The War Pass gelding will be testing the waters of graded stakes company for the first time, but that's not necessarily a bad thing when you consider the Barclay Tagg-trained sprinter has been relatively lightly raced. He's an eye-opening 3-for-3 at Saratoga and won his only race at this distance in his most recent start in an $80,000 allowance/optional-claiming race. Jockey Rajiv Maragh sticks around for the ride despite having also ridden graded-stakes-tested Forego opponent Zee Bros.
Another interesting horse is Big Business. David Jacobson, who won this race last year with Strapping Groom, trains the 6-year-old. Junior Alvarado was the winning jockey in that race and he rides Big Business here as well. Despite having mostly competed in softer New York-bred stakes races of late, Big Business is a horse with a lot of tactical speed. By that, we're suggesting that he has the ability to go with the pace - which is always tricky to predict - or he can rate off of the front-runners if it gets too fast up front. It doesn't hurt that he's also 3-for-3 at the distance.
Others to consider are Vyjack, an off-form graded stakes winner who could recapture some of his past glory if he gets the right pace setup; and Sensational Slam, a former claimer who has earned his way into elite competition with consistency and could factor in the exotics (exacta, trifecta or superfecta tickets). 
Selections
#2 Big Business
#10 Confrontation
#8 Clearly Now
#6 Palace
#3 Vyjack
Wagering Strategy on a $20 Budget
$.50 trifecta part wheel: 2 with 10 with ALL ($4.50)
$.50 trifecta part wheel: 2 with ALL with 10 ($4.50)
$1 exacta part wheel: 2,10 with 2,3,6,8,10 ($8)
$1 exacta part wheel:  3,6,8 with 2 ($3)
 

$500,000 Forego StakesSaturday, Saratoga Race Course, Race 10, 6:12 p.m. ET7 furlongs, dirt, 3-year-olds and olderTelevision: NBC Sports Network

PP

Horse

Jockey

Weight

Trainer

1

Capo Bastone

John Velazquez

124

Todd Pletcher

2

Big Business

Junior Alvarado

124

David Jacobson

3

Vyjack

Irad Ortiz Jr.

124

Rudy Rodriguez

4

Zee Bros

Joel Rosario

124

Seth Benzel

5

Sensational Slam

Jose Ortiz

124

Patrick Quick

6

Palace

Cornelio Velasquez

124

Linda Rice 

7

Falling Sky

Edgar Prado

124

George Weaver

8

Clearly Now

Jose Lezcano

124

Brian Lynch

9

Weekend Hideaway

Javier Castellano

124

Philip Serpe

10

Confrontation

Rajiv Maragh

124

Barclay Tagg