Thursday's Best Bet: Derrynane needs clear sailing in Galway
Thursday’s ninth race from Saratoga is the $150,000 Galway Stakes for 3-year-old fillies dashing 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf course. Post time is 5:39 p.m. EDT.
Click here for Saratoga entries and results
No. 10 Derrynane (5-1) might have made a bid for the win with a better trip in the Coronation Cup at this course/distance July 15. Christophe Clement’s filly has had more than one unlucky trip this year, and that is par for the course for late-running turf sprinters. Her winning pilot Joel Rosario strings along and she can tag these if her trip works out.
No. 7 Empress Tigress (5-2) is 2-for-2 for Jonathan Thomas. She pressed, opened up and held on by a half-length in the Coronation Cup last time. The $410k purchase still has upside and could easily score again.
No. 6 Breeze Easy (4-1) is also trained by Clement. She stalked and missed by a neck in her stateside bow at seven panels in the Soaring Softly (G3) May 28. She stretched out to one mile, set the pace, and ended up a clear third as the beaten favorite in the Wild Applause Stakes June 25. Her new rider Flavien Prat wins races with this barn and she can finish in the top three if she handles this shorter trip.
No. 3 Benbang (10-1) exits back-to-back front-running victories, including the Blue Sparkler on turf July 16. She might be the one to catch.
No. 1 Poppy Flower (5-1) is a decent late-running turf sprinter for Bill Mott. She won the Stormy Blues at Laurel July 19 and was up for the place in the Coronation Cup last time.
Get my expert Del Mar full card picks for Aug. 11 (available now).
Wagers:
No. 10 to win
Trifecta key 10/1-3-6-7
Trifecta 1-3-6-7/10/1-3-6-7
Trifecta key 7/1-6-10
Recent Best Bet winners
Friday - Ready to Purrform ($9.80), trifecta ($469.00)
Saturday - Nations Pride/Annapolis exacta ($29.20)
Sunday - With the Moonlight ($4.30), exacta ($7.50)
Monday - Loyalty ($7.00), exacta ($23.80)
Wednesday - Running Bee ($6.70)