Whitney Stakes Betting – Wild, Wild Whitney
They say if you build it they will come and if you offer a purse of $750,000 for a Grade 1 race they will come in bunches and that is what is in store for online horse racing enthusiasts Saturday in the Whitney at Saratoga.
Online horse betting players know that the 9-furlong fixture for older horses has one of the best fields of the year assembled and over the decades some superstars won the first 83 runnings of this stellar event.
Legends like War Admiral, Kelso, Dr. Fager and Tom Fool have heard the roars of the crowd after victory and the Whitney was the site of one of the biggest upsets ever when Onion shocked arguably the greatest horse ever in Secretariat.
Two runners won this race thrice, Kelso and Discovery. Six distaffers have shocked the boys in the Whitney while War Admiral was the only Triple Crown winner that also took this event.
Last year, sports betting players remember that Blame was coming off a win in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster at Churchill before getting a dreaming trip to post a winning 111 Beyer in the Whitney.
This season, contenders abound and value will be all over the board.
Tizway will try to parlay his success in the Met Mile to a victory Saturday. He can get the trip as he broke his maiden at this same mile and a eighth distance. Last year he was not coming to the race quite as well and he got caught up in a speed duel.
His trainer, James Bond, is trying to figure out the big picture with Tizway. Bond: “The distance is a question, but Saratoga is his home base. Personally, I believe he’ll get the mile and an eighth or he wouldn’t be in there. This will serve as a barometer and tell us whether to go to the (Jockey Club) Gold Cup and hopefully on to the BC Classic or stay at a mile.”
Rail Trip has won off the pine in the past and he was tons best of the rest when beaten a head in his 2011 opener. His best asset is his tactical speed. He has been away because he has had foot problems, as his trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. explained in the Form, Dutrow: “We had a lot of problems with his right front frog when he first arrived. You never knew what to expect day to day but I think we’ve got the problem pretty well handled. He’s in a zone right now.”
Flat Out just made it 4 for 9 career with a clever win in the Suburban when he drew off by over 6. This will be his first race at the Spa.
Mission Impazible just lost a tearjerker in the Foster but he has been expertly managed and is proven repeatedly off a vacation.
Morning Line will throw his hat into the speed brigade ring and he won here last year but is coming off a disappointing loss at Monmouth.
Rodman, named for the soon to be Hall of Fame hooper, will be out to atone for flop as the chalk in the Suburban.
Giant Oak upset in his 2011 opener but he has been dull since, will be coming from left field, but that may be the perfect style this time.
Apart will be trying to win his first Grade 1 and he’s been handled a number of times by Impazible.
Duke of Mischief may have moved too soon in his last defeat and should offer value at least while Friend or Foe is an Empire-bred and may need his own kind to show his top ability.
Headache just gave his rivals some temple throbs upsetting in the Grade 3 Cornhusker at Prairie Meadows but this is a huge jump in class for a runner that took what seemed like forever to pass the N3X condition.
When the smoke clears, look for a number of horses gunning for the lead including Tizway, Rodman, Friend or Foe, Morning Line, Mission Impazible and Rail Trip.
With this kind of heat up front, if you’re betting horses, don’t be shocked if the closers rule the roost. The longshot to think long and hard about is Giant Oak.
He should be a betting number, he was just left with too much to do late in his last couple of races and the feeling is he will run back to his best moment of the year when he won the Grade 1 Donn Handicap going away early in the year.
If he gets up, you will get paid as he opened at 5-1 on the morning line but likely will go higher.
