Del Mar, Saratoga Sprints Top Weekend's Graded Stakes

A low-key Saturday of stakes racing lies before us July 27, at least on this side of the Atlantic Ocean. After tuning in mid-morning to watch Enable run in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Sponsored by QIPCO (G1) at Ascot, we are left with a slate of four graded events in North America, three of which are at Saratoga Race Course and the other at Del Mar.

Both of the grade 1 races on the calendar are six-furlong sprints: the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G1) at the Spa, and the Bing Crosby (G1) at Del Mar, which is part of the Breeders' Cup Challenge Series and offers the winner a fees-paid berth to the Sprint (G1).

The "Vandy" kicks off a pick three that goes through the Bowling Green (G2T) and the Jim Dandy Presented by NYRA Bets (G2), which, with a $600,000 purse, is the richest race in the land this weekend and a key prep for the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers (G1) Aug. 24.

A.G. Vanderbilt (Sar, race 9, 5:44 ET): Mitole (1) hasn't lost in nearly a year and a half and will justifiably be favored to give Steve Asmussen his third win in this race as he totes high weight of 125 and spots two pounds to Imperial Hint (3).

Imperial Hint won this race comfortably a year ago, beating a couple of one-time grade 3 winners, but this is a much stronger renewal and the 6-year-old makes his first start since a third in the Dubai Golden Shaheen Sponsored by Gulf News (G1) four months ago. He was consistently brilliant through his 4-year-old campaign but somewhat less so at age 5, and vertical exotics players might be tempted to forsake the second choice and try to get others into the number.

Two possibilities with peak races that match up with the favorites are Firenze Fire (4) and Do Share (7).

Firenze Fire won the 2017 Sanford and was a close third in the H. Allen Jerkens Presented by Runhappy (G1) last summer, so we know he likes the track. He was a flat fifth in the Runhappy Metropolitan Handicap (G1) behind Mitole, but was only a slightly higher prince (7-2 vs. 4-1) and just four weeks removed from a peak effort to win the Runhappy Stakes.

That's a lot of Runhappys, to be sure, but the point is that he's had seven weeks since the Met and could rebound on the cutback. 

As for Do Share, he was a decent fourth to Mitole in the Churchill Downs (G1) at seven-eighths, but was also coming off a peak race taking the Tom Fool Handicap (G3). Notably, he was cutting back from seven to six furlongs in the second start of a form cycle for the Tom Fool, and repeats that pattern Saturday getting a nine-pound swing in the weights from Mitole.

A - 1

B - 4, 7

C - 3

Bowling Green (Sar, race 10, 6:18): A familiar cast of characters who take turns beating each other gathers in this three-turn race including Channel Maker (5), who dead-heated for the win in last year's edition, and Sadler's Joy (2), the 2017 Sword Dancer (G1T) winner who was third by a half-length in the past two Bowling Greens and makes his first start since a third in the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf (G1T).

Chad Brown Inc. has three representatives, but for a change they are rather lightly regarded. Ya Primo (3) and Focus Group (12) are pegged at 8-1, and Olympico (11) is a 10-1 chance.

I'm intrigued by the Chilean import Ya Primo, as Brown molded another Chilean, Robert Bruce, into the 2018 Arlington Million (G1T) winner. Ya Primo showed considerable ability sweeping his three starts early in the year, climaxed by the Longines Gran Premio Latinoamericano (G1T) in course-record time, and has compiled a solid slate of local workouts for his United States debut. 

The French-bred Olympico, meanwhile, was somehow ignored at 18-1 when he captured the Fort Marcy (G3T) first time on these shores, and now looks to rebound from an off-the-board finish in the Manhattan (G1). His Fort Marcy score came on soft turf as did two of his wins overseas, so the surprise rainstorm that hit Saratoga Thursday could help his cause.

A - 3, 11

B - 2, 5

C - 12

Jim Dandy (Sar, race 11, 6:51 ET): This is always a tricky race to handicap because the connections of the main contenders are usually eyeing the Travers down the road. That's obviously the case with the 7-5 favorite Tacitus (5), who accredited himself well through a series of difficult trips during the first half of the season, and also for War of Will (6), who ran in all three legs of the Triple Crown including a perfect-trip triumph in the Preakness (G1). Those two bumped solidly in upper stretch of the Belmont Stakes (G1) with Tacitus easily getting the best of that exchange, and if you asked me who I liked for the Travers as of right now it would undoubtedly be Tacitus.

But that's four weeks from now, and the "now" horse for the Jim Dandy shapes up as Global Campaign (4), who has battled a series of nagging hoof issues since grabbing a quarter in the Xpressbet Fountain Of Youth (G2) and suffering his only defeat. Since then the brittle-footed Curlin  colt has made it to the races only once, when he pressed a sharp pace and pulled clear in the stretch over subsequent Belmont winner Sir Winston. In terms of intent, trainer Stanley Hough can't afford to waste any races with Global Campaign. This fat purse has the look of a main objective.

A - 4, 5

B - 6

Bing Crosby (Dmr, race 8, 5:30 PT): Later in the evening Hough sends out Recruiting Ready (7) in this dash, and kudos to him for being practical with a 5-year-old son of Algorithms  who would've been double-digit odds had he stayed home for the Vanderbilt.

The Bing Crosby purse ($300K vs. $350K) is almost as much as the Vandy (the real-world winner's share is basically identical once entry fees to the BC Sprint at Santa Anita Park are factored in). Plus, Recruiting Ready is the 2-1 favorite against eight rivals, only two of which, Cistron (3) and Chief Cicatriz (6), are graded stakes winners.

Recruiting Ready has come away with just one win—the Gulfstream Park Sprint (G3)—from eight starts in graded stakes so his trust quotient is on the low side, but on the plus side he has already won on six different tracks so shipping doesn't appear to be an issue. His best effort gets the money, and he should be poised to pounce turning for home.

A - 7

B - 3, 6