Ateam's Saratoga $100 play-a-day

[ateamstupid]

Well, things couldn't have gone much worse for the first half of the meet, with the only good news being that there's a second half of the meet to try to turn things around. One good ticket or 2-3 decent ones would be good enough to get me out of the hole, so I'll keep plugging away and hope my opinions get good again.

Amount Invested: $2,000
Amount Returned: $936.25
Net: -$1,063.75
$2 ROI: $0.94

Early Pick 4:

2nd: Once again, a spot with a potential Pletcher rocketship and a bunch of other horses trained by guys who don't usually have 2YOs cranked first time out. #6 Sweet Whiskey supposedly has looked the best of all the Pletcher 2YO fillies in the mornings and nothing about her says she's likely to be beaten in her debut. #8 Radiant is the only other horse who seems plausible; she's bred to be a good sprinter and had a very strong five-furlong gate breeze 8/1, but she's also trained by Mott, so she'll most likely be better next time than this time.

3rd: #3 Gritty Gal is the horse to beat off the claim for Ramsey/Maker/Rosario after setting a pressured pace last out, but it's tough to see her getting loose in here with #5 Pop Pop's Smyle and #9 Midnightinpositano to her outside and it's not as if her race two back, when afforded an easy lead, was any good. If the top two choices hook up, this becomes a wild race with an opportunity for a big price to come in. #1 Evasive Cat has trouble getting out of the gate, but makes her 2nd start off a long layoff for McLaughiln and has back races that make her competitive. #6 Rodinia makes sense, but she was a disappointment on the turf last out and was vanned off after the race, so I wouldn't take too short a price on her. #8 Southern Symphony ran two OK races going a furlong longer on the dirt before a good try on the turf last out. Midnightinpositano was in that weird race 10 days ago where Dixie Sparkle somehow got loose in a field loaded with speed and never looked back, but her race two back puts her in with a chance and she'll be a big price for Metivier, whose limited stock has run well this meet. #10 Yankeeindixieland appears to be rounding back to her 5/12 and 5/26 efforts, which would give her a shot and last time, she was just way too far back after the first 1/4 to have any say. Even #4 Lenderoflastresort, who appears to be badly off form, could win this facing the easiest field in a dirt sprint she's seen since 4/18. I'm using everyone except #2 Copper Bluff and pressing the 3 and 5.

4th: A lot of guesswork to be done in this 2YO turf MCL, but I'll use the five logicals #1 Racetrack Romance, #2 Cool Vision, #3 Greek God, #4 Lieutenant Seany O and #8 Frogman Mel in equal strength and root for the biggest price.

5th: If #3 She's Stones Sis runs back to her last race, she'll win, as she shook off a bunch of other speed and narrowly lost to Galiana, who returned to win her next start on Friday. #6 Motion Lounge is the only one competitive with the favorite on paper as her races two and three-back make her a threat, but those both came on the inner track and she hasn't been seen since she bled through Lasix 150 days ago. I'll use #1 Pennymine #7 Tina's Note and #9 My Unbridled Storm as C's.

$.50 6/1,3,4,5,6,8,9,10/1,2,3,4,8/3,6 $40
$4.50 6/3,5/1,2,3,4,8/3 $45
$.50 6/3,5/1,2,3,4,8/1,7,9 $15