When do you ever get the opportunity to bet on five consecutive Grade 1 stakes? Except on Breeders’ Cup Saturday, the answer usually is never, even on Kentucky Derby day. Saturday’s Travers card at Saratoga is the rare exception, with races 9-13 all given the highest rating.
Saratoga Pick 5 Betting Guide: How to Approach Multiple-Race Wagers
If you’re in a speculative mood, you can try to string together the winners of the Sword Dancer Stakes, Ballerina Stakes, Forego, Allen Jerkens and the big one, the Travers Stakes, in a Pick 5. If you hit it, you’ll remember it, because even if three favorites win, it will pay very well. Of course, you could select four double-digit winners, lose by a nose in the finale of the sequence and get nothing.
How much should you spread to have enough coverage while not betting more than you’re willing to lose? As the old Bob Seger lyric goes, “What to leave in, what to leave out.” Which is always the dilemma in multiple-race wagers, where risks and rewards are big.
For those who like to bet on horse racing, here are a few opinions about Saturday’s all-stakes Pick 5 at the Spa. It’s a 50-cent base bet, which will help you to economize.
Sword Dancer Stakes
1½ miles, turf (race 9, 3:44 p.m. ET)
Looks like a two-horse race between uncoupled Charlie Appleby/Godolphin stablemates Silver Knott (even money) and Measured Time (7-5).
Use Silver Knott (4), Measured Time (2)
Ballerina Stakes
7 furlongs, fillies and mares (race 10, 4:20 p.m.)
Hoping that need-to-lead horses Society and Munnys Gold will set it up for the best finishers, even-money favorite Vahva and the improving Scylla (7-2).
Use Vahva (3), Scylla (5)
Forego Stakes
7 furlongs, 4-year-olds and up (race 11, 4:55 p.m.
In one of the trickier legs of the sequence, go with Gun Pilot (3-1), Mullikin (8-5) and Cagliostro (9-2). Gun Pilot is the only Grade 1 winner at the distance, and Mullikin (three straight wins) and Cagliostro are in sharp form and training impressively.
Use Gun Pilot (1), Mullikin (6), Cagliostro (8)
Allen Jerkens Memorial
7 furlongs, 3-year-olds (race 12, 5:30 p.m.)
World Record (8-1) dazzled last time by leading throughout a 6¾-length runaway in the Grade 2 Amsterdam. He’ll try to leave behind Grade 1 winners Prince of Monaco (4-1) and Book’em Danno (7-2).
Use World Record (1), Prince of Monaco (5), Book’em Danno (8)
Travers Stakes
1¼ miles (Race 13, 6:10 p.m. ET)
The filly Thorpedo Anna (3-1) and 2023 2-year-old champion Fierceness (3-1) are major talents, but can either stay 1¼ miles? She never has tried the distance, and Fierceness was up the track in the Kentucky Derby. Dornoch (5-2) won the 1¼-mile Belmont Stakes at Saratoga, and Sierra Leone (7-2) missed by a nose in the Derby. Stick with the two who are proven at 10 furlongs.
Use Sierra Leone (2), Dornoch (7)
THE TICKET: 2,4 with 3,5 with 1,6,8 with 1,5,8 with 2,7
That’s 72 combinations with a 50-cent base wager, which will cost a manageable $36. And good luck.
The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.
