Champagne: Kick off Sunday's Saratoga Pick 5 with an 'all'

The summer’s flown by, and the penultimate card of Saratoga’s 2019 meet is upon us. Sunday’s program boasts 12 races and is headlined by the Grade 1 Spinaway, which acts as the fourth leg of the late Pick 5.

I’m buying one leg, singling nowhere, and punching a $120 ticket (prior to scratches). There aren’t many overwhelmingly heavy favorites in this sequence, so we may not need much in order for this to return a hefty sum. Here’s how I’ll play it.

Race 8: Maiden special weight (2-year-old fillies, 7F), 4:14 p.m. ET

Remember when I said I was buying a race? This is it. Not only do we have mostly unraced 2-year-old fillies, but they’re going a tricky seven-furlong distance, which makes it doubly hard to have any confidence. To mitigate that, I’m punching the “ALL” button and hoping for a price.

Race 9: Claiming (3-year-old fillies, 1M, turf), 4:46 p.m. ET

After buying a race with a 10-horse field to start, we sort of need to go lightly the rest of the way. Thankfully, I think there are two standouts in here, so I’ll go two-deep and move on.

#5 ENJAY’S BRASS was third against a better group at this route earlier in the meet. Jose Ortiz climbs aboard, and she has the tactical style to sit a perfect stalking trip just off the speed. These connections thought enough of her to try Grade 3 company two back, and I think she gets the money today.

I’ll also use #3 CONNECTIVITY, who won for fun against a weaker group and was claimed out of that race by Linda Rice. This spot certainly presents stiffer opposition, but she’s tried stakes foes in the past and should be going well late beneath Irad Ortiz Jr.

Race 10: Starter allowance (older fillies/mares, 6F), 5:18 p.m. ET

This race attracted a pretty classy group for the level. I’m going two-deep here as well, using #6 CARRIZO and #7 SMOKEN DEB. The former has run well twice at the meet and exits a second-place finish in a swiftly run event, while the latter hasn’t run since March but goes out for Jonathan Thomas, whose horses excel first off the bench.

If you’re looking for a price, you could do far worse than #5 CATHY NAZ, who may very well be the race’s lone closer. She hasn’t won in a while, but this may be the setup she needs to break through. However, that would put me over my budget, so I opted to leave her out. At the very least, though, I thought she was worthy of an honorable mention, and I’ll have her on other multi-race exotics tickets.

Race 11: Grade 1 Spinaway (2-year-old fillies, 7F), 5:50 p.m. ET

Many of these runners come out of the Grade 2 Adirondack, a roughly run event where the best horse likely did not win. I was high on #2 FRANK’S ROCKETTE that day, but she got mugged several times and was beaten a half-length. A cleaner trip would make her the one to beat in this spot.

However, I’m also using two others, and one of them is a price. #1 MUNDAYE CALL did everything but win in her debut, where she set very fast fractions before ultimately being run down late. However, for a Grade 1 sprint, there isn’t a lot of early speed signed on, and she may get a more agreeable setup at second asking. She’s 10-1 on the morning line, and I think she’s got a shot to steal this on the front end.

I’ll also use #7 SHIPPY, who makes her third career start for her third different trainer. She was a good third in the Grade 3 Schuylerville, and she may not have been fully-cranked that day off of just one workout. She’s been working steadily ahead of this event and draws a cushy outside post, so we may see her at her best in this spot.

Race 12: Allowance (older horses, NY-bred, 1 1/16M, turf), 6:22 p.m. ET

We’ll look to finish this out by using the two likely favorites in the Sunday finale. They both exit the same similar event on August 11, but my top selection here finished behind the other one I’m using.

#2 GRADED ON A CURVE had an awful trip that day. He didn’t really get a chance to run his race, and his prior races show he’s better than that effort would indicate. A cleaner trip makes him the one to beat, especially given the powerful connections that send him out.

Having said that, I also need to use #5 OPT, who was a good second a few weeks ago. That day’s winner has since come back to win again, and this one finished less than two lengths behind him. Javier Castellano has been enticed to ride, and he may be an OK price.

The ticket:

R8: ALL

R9: 3,5

R10: 6,7

R11: 1,2,7

R12: 2,5

240 Bets = $120