Friday Bettor’s Guide: Saratoga, Charles Town, Woodbine

This is an unusually busy stakes Friday due to fortuitous scheduling and unforeseen circumstances with the three major events on tap.

The most prestigious race of the trio is the $500,000 Personal Ensign (G1) for older fillies and mares, kicking off Travers Stakes weekend at Saratoga.

However, the bigger money is offered elsewhere. How about a cool $1 million under the lights in the Charles Town Classic (G2), the richest card of the season at West Virginia’s top racetrack?

My Boy Prince Favored in rescheduled King’s Plate

There is another $1 million to be divided at Woodbine in the King’s Plate, postponed from last Saturday due to severe weather. My Boy Prince is the 2-1 favorite; Essex Prince is the 2-1 second choice in a field of 13. Both are trained by Mark Casse.

It is certainly a Plate-full for a Friday, so let’s dig in, starting with the Personal Ensign.

$500,000 Personal Ensign (G1), 1 1/8 miles, post time 5:43 p.m. ET

Idiomatic renews rivalry with Randomized

Idiomatic needs no introduction to most racing fans. The brilliant 5-year-old has won 11 of 15 races including four Grade 1s. She was the dominant winner of this race in the slop last year.

However, she suffered one of her few defeats to Randomized by a head in the Odgen Phipps (G1) at Saratoga in June, snapping a six-race winning streak that included the Breeders’ Cup Distaff (G1) at Santa Anita last November. That victory clinched her the Eclipse Award as champion older dirt female.

She rebounded from the Phipps to win the Molly Pitcher (G3) at Monmouth on the Haskell Stakes undercard last month. The victory raised as many questions as it answered. Bet down to 1-10, Idiomatic was all out to hold off Soul of an Angel, one of four rivals in the Personal Ensign, by only a head. It was not the kind of heart-pounding finish her backers expected at such a short price.

A win is a win, even if it came on the drop from Grade 1 competition.

“From the three-eighths pole home, she had to dig in to fend off a really good filly,” trainer Brad Cox said. “She got something out of it.

“She’s very talented. She’s able to get into a race and use her big stride and set a solid enough pace to run them off their feet going into the far turn. She doesn’t necessarily have to be on the lead. She tracked Randomized in the Breeders’ Cup last year; we’ll see if we can get a good trip on Friday.”

Spotlight on Randomized and Rivals in a Competitive Field

In a small field, that makes this an interesting jockey’s race within the race for Joel Rosario atop Randomized and Florent Geroux aboard Idiomatic.

Randomized has been resting on her laurels since pulling the 6-1 upset in the Phipps. It was sweet revenge for her half-length loss to Idiomatic in the BC Distaff.

Trained by Chad Brown, Randomized loves Saratoga where she is 3-0-1 in four starts, including last summer’s Alabama Stakes (G1).

“She’s not a very big horse, but she’s fast and she likes to go to the lead and carry her speed,” Brown said. “The Alabama is a really special race to win, and she’s come back and carried her form into age 4 winning the Phipps. A really special horse for us, and she’s got a lot of heart.”

Brown also sends out Raging Sea, winner here of the Shuvee (G2) last month, in the quest for his first Personal Ensign victory.

Let’s not overlook Soul of an Angel for trainer Saffie Joseph, Jr. She owns a win this year over Randomized in the Ruffian (G2) at Aqueduct and she gave Idiomatic all she could handle in the Molly Pitcher.

It’s a compact field but it is certainly loaded with class. If you bet on horse races….

THE PICKS: 1 Idiomatic 2 Randomized 3 Soul of an Angel

 $1 million Charles Town Classic (G2), 1 1/8 miles, post time 10:20 p.m. ET

Skippylongstocking defends title

Saffie Joseph, Jr. has more on his mind than the Personal Ensign. He sends out Skippylongstocking to defend his title in the CT Classic against nine rivals.

Races at Charles Town are always an interesting handicapping challenge. The smaller “bull ring” style track means a 1 1/8- mile race requires navigating three turns. A nimble horse and good early speed are potent weapons for that configuration, and “Skippy” certainly fills the bill.

He set the pace in last year’s Classic and drew off to a commanding five-length win. He is more than a small-track specialist. He was third in last year’s Breeder’s Cup Dirt Mile (G1) and has already posted wins this year in the Challenger Stakes (G3) at Tampa Bay Downs and the Oaklawn Handicap (G2).

Jose Ortiz will be aboard.

The 5-year-old will look to join Researcher, Imperative, and Art Collector as two-time winners of the Classic.

“We always had this race in our minds after how well he ran last year,” Joseph said.

“Skippy” is undoubtedly the horse to beat but we’ll take a shot at a mild upset.

Locally-based Coastal Mission is almost unbeatable here with a record of 10-1-0 in 11 Charles Town starts. He was a very good second most recently in the John A. Nerud (G2) at Aqueduct.

“It was late last year when we started thinking about how to get to the Classic,” trainer Jeff Runco said. “With these kind of horses, you have to plan things out well in advance. And you hope it all works out. And it has worked out so far. He’s ready to go. I was glad to get the extra time after the race at Aqueduct because he needed it to get him ready for this race. He’s going to need a good trip and the right kind of ride. It’s a pretty even, solid race, so you have to have a good break and get a solid position. He’s been training fantastic. I think he’s got a really good chance.”

Let’s give the hometown hero the nod while humming “West Virginia, mountain momma

Take me home, country roads.

THE PICKS: 1 Coastal Mission 2 Skippylongstocking 3 Bendoog