Labor Day Special – The Hopeful Stakes and Del Mar Futurity

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September 3rd 2018

It’s Labor Day and time to get a nice “look-see” on potential Kentucky Derby runners for next year with two Grade 1 races: The Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga and the Del Mar FuturityBelow are the post-positions, weights, jockey assignments and morning line odds for both races:

The Hopeful Stakes  – 7 furlongs – Race #10 at Saratoga – Post-Time: 4:38 PM CST. Televised by Fox Sports 2 and TVG

Post/Horse/Weight/Jockey/Trainer/Odds
1. Sombeyay (122) – Castellano/Pletcher – 5/1 
2. Mind Control (118) – Velazquez/Sacco – 5/1  
3. Nitrous (118) – Santana Jr/Assmussen – 7/2 
4. Thatwouldbegrand (118) – Ortiz Jr/Capuno – 20/1
5. Dream Maker (118) – Leparoux/Casse – 4/1  
6. Backtohisroots (118) – Davis/Terranova – 20/1
7. Mucho (118) – Rosario/Mott – 8/5
8. Derby Date (116) – Saez/Lukas – 15/1 

My Pick:  Mucho has posted a 90 Beyer Speed Figure in a 6 furlong race at Saratoga last month. He’s the fastest horse in this field. However, I’ve got a sneaky feeling that Steve Asmussen’s Nitrous is going to win this one. He has a nice starting position on the inside. So I will probably be doing a #3/#7 Boxed Exacta.


The Del Mar Futurity  – 7 furlongs – Race #9 at Del Mar – Post-Time: 8:05 PM CST. Televised by TVG

Post/Horse/Weight/Jockey/Trainer/Odds
1. Sparky Ville (120) – Stevens/Bonde – 20/1
2. Rowayton (120) – Van Dyke/Hollendorfer – 3/1
3. Roadster (120) – Smith/Baffert – 6/5
4. Savagery (120) – Talamo/Miller- 15/1
5. Spin Lightning (120) – Prat/Mullins – 6/1
6. Sigalert (120) – Baze/Sadler – 8/1
7. Game Winner (120) – Gutierrez/Baffert – 4/1

My Pick: I think Roadster is one of the top 2-year-olds currently along with Jerry Hollendorfer’s Instagrand. Instagrand’s ownership decided to skip this race. I was really hoping, like many other race fans, for this showdown. I like Roadster for the win. I think a #3 over #2,#7 Exacta might be a good play here. But remember that 2-year-olds can be very unpredictable.

–Michael

2 comments

  1. Peter Setiawan · September 4, 2018

    I bet 2 3 7 on race 8 but futurity is race 9 dmr changed it. LOL.

    Like

    • Michael J. Cox · September 4, 2018

      Crap, I thought I had the race #’s right.

      Like

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