Saratoga 2022: Play Thursday's card with Pro Reports
Another challenging and exciting 10-race card awaits horseplayers Thursday at Saratoga. Horse Racing Nation's Pro Reports are available for every track, every day and offer insight from a variety of handicapping angles.
In race 2, 2-year-old state-bred fillies will be sprinting 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf. The First-Time Starter Insights Report looks at which sires and trainers do well with debut runners, as well as with second-time starters. The trainer in this race with the highest HRN Impact score is Jorge Abreu at +69 percent. He trains No. 8 Moonage Daydream (6-1 morning line).
Winning at 20 percent with his debut runners, Abreu's Impact score rates so highly because these horses are outperforming their odds. The sire of Moonage Daydream, Candy Ride, has a 12 percent win rate with first-timers.
Other trainers with positive HRN Impact scores for debut runners are Jeremiah Englehart, Christophe Clement and Rudy Rodriguez.
Race 3 features the slowest projected pace of the day, according to the Pace Report. No. 2 Auburn Hills (8-1) should be alone in front early. On paper, this race sets up perfectly for this 5-year-old gelding to take this field gate to wire.
Those likely race dynamics also make Auburn Hills the top Power Pick. Lone speed is incredibly dangerous, particularly at lower levels of competition.
Heavy favorite No. 4 Price Discipline (8-5) in Race 8 will be difficult to get around, but the Sire Moves Report offers a few long shots to at least consider underneath. No. 7 Mr Breadwinner (15-1) switches from a turf route to a dirt route in here. His sire, Tonalist, has more success with dirt routers, winning at 17 percent.
No. 9 Bossmakinbossmoves (20-1) also switches surfaces from a turf route. His sire, Laoban, has had more success with dirt routers, winning at 19 percent of the time. Laoban's are being under-bet routing on dirt, resulting in a positive HRN Impact score of +29 percent. Both of these prices are worth considering, particularly if there are vulnerabilities with the favorite.