Andy Serling names his top 5 horses to watch this summer at the Spa
A major rivalry sparks excitement as we gear up for Saratoga’s (kinda) regular season.
You are reading a sneak peek version of the Dispatch: Daily News in the Spa City.
Some of them may be obvious, but it’s still exciting to stare down the start of Saratoga Race Course’s summer meet with a few Andy Serling-blessed horses to watch. The FOX Sports horse racing analyst gave his top 5 picks on a recent episode of America’s Day at the Races — including sparking excitement around a major rivalry that could heat up the Saratoga meet.
Predictions came early this year, delivered in the June 22 episode that wrapped up a live week at Aqueduct. While the regular Saratoga meet starts on Thursday, July 10, the much-anticipated special July 4th Racing Festival runs July 3-6, making for 44 days of racing at the Spa this summer. For logistical reasons, many official events have fused the start of this special festival with the traditional start of the season.
“It’s a little confusing,” Serling admitted on air with co-host Acacia Clement. He then called last year’s temporary move of the July 4 racing — normally done at Belmont, which is under renovation — to Aqueduct a “disaster.”
So Saratoga has stepped up to the plate.
Full disclosure: none of Serling’s picks are running during this special July 4 racing. But if the powers-that-be are treating it as the start of the season, we will, too. Here are the horses that the FOX Sports handicapper recommends keeping an eye on as the meet unfolds.
Coming in at number five: Truth North winner Book’em Danno. “We’re all such big fans,” Serling said of the gelding.
Next up: Sierra Leone, which has since placed at the June 28 Stephen Foster at Churchill Downs, with Flavien Prat aboard. “He and [Breeders Cup and Travers winner] Fierceness could square off in the Whitney,” he said.
A “cool” filly was ranked No. 3: “Looking forward to seeing Ways and Means, and she is pointing to the Ballerina.”
If ranked on name alone, Serling’s next pick would be ranked topped of his class (bias alert). In some years, Preakness winner Journalism “would have been a Triple Crown winner,” Serling said. “I’m really not sure he’s not as good a horse as Justify was…who won the Triple Crown. There is a lot of anticipation that [Journalism], too, could be coming back for another rematch or even two rematches with his rival Sovereignty,” Serling’s very top pick after besting Journalism at both the Kentucky Derby and Belmont to pick up an impressive two Triple Crown jewels.
“And I’m not ready to concede that Sovereignty is absolutely the better horse,” he added. “There’s evidence that he is — two wins — but I don’t want to discount Journalism…The idea that these two may meet up again as many as two times in Saratoga — as a racing fan if you’re not excited about that I don’t think you’re a racing fan.”
Stay tuned to see if this heated rivalry adds buzz to the Jim Dandy on July 26 and/or the Travers August 23.
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