Friday's Best Bet: Secret Message ready to deliver in Perfect Sting

Friday’s 4th race from Saratoga is the $100,000 Perfect Sting Stakes for fillies and mares traveling a mile and a sixteenth on the inner turf course (Post Time - 2:54 p.m. ET).

Click here for Saratoga Entries, Results

#7 SECRET MESSAGE (3-1) is capable of mowing these down for the productive John Velazquez and Graham Motion team. She captured four of her last ten turf stakes routes, and that record is even better if you draw a line through her four failed grade one attempts.

#1 Cafe Americano (2-1) makes her first start in more than ten months for strong layoff trainer Chad Brown. She went 3-for-5 on turf last year, and her only two losses were in the grade one ranks. She runs well fresh and should be finishing from the hedge in a race that should be slow early and fast late.

#4 Altea (9-5) really does not deserve to be the favorite for Chad Brown. She is 2-for-20 lifetime and 0-for-9 with six minor awards at this distance. She has raced three times at the Spa, and she hit the board each time. I like her underneath.

Wagers:

#7 to win

Exacta Box 1-7

Trifecta 1-7/1-4-7/1-4-7 

August 2020 Best Bet Winners

Aug 3 - Peaceful Feeling/Be Nimble Exacta ($43.40), Trifecta ($59.65)
Aug 6 - Thissmytime/Bimini/Time to Two Step Trifecta ($25.85)
Aug 7 - Jackie's Warrior/Therideofalifetime Exacta ($28.80)
Aug 8 - BODHICITTA ($11.20), Quinella ($34.80)
Aug 9 - SPINOFF ($8.40), Exacta ($16.60)
Aug 10 - Guildsman/So Street/Alfie Solomons Trifecta ($104.30)

Playing the horses can be a rewarding but tough game. Exacta, trifectas, superfectas, Pick 4s, Pick 5s -- there are so many wagers to play, it can get overly confusing. How do you know how much to play or which wagers to try? Unfortunately, part of the learning process can include losing money. But we would like to help you shortcut that process by learning some of the most common mistakes that horseplayers make on a daily basis. Take a look at Horse Racing Nation’s newest eBook -- “Top 10 Mistakes Horseplayers Make” -- and see if it helps you avoid some common mistakes and win more playing the races!