Stars Come out in Force for Whitney at Saratoga

There is no shortage of star power lined up for Saturday’s Grade 1 $1.25 million Whitney at Saratoga, with a berth to the Grade 1 $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic and a huge payday awaiting the winner.

A field of 10 was entered into the historic Whitney, which has been won by some all-time greats including War Admiral, Kelso, Dr. Fager, Alydar, Personal Ensign and Easy Goer.

This year’s field features seven runners that are Grade 1 winners, including the defending champion Moreno, who scored the upset and returned his backers $22 for a $2 wager last year.

The Whitney is a Breeders’ Cup Challenge “Win and You’re In” with the winner earning an all-expenses paid trip and entry into the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 31 at Keeneland.

The race will be televised live on NBC at 5:00 p.m. ET and can be streamed live using the NBC Sports Live Extra App.

Nine will be going to the post in the Whitney (Coach Inge will scratch). In the latest edition of NBC’s Randy Moss’ Randy’s Rankings for the Breeders’ Cup Classic, four of the top five are going in the Whitney, the one exception being top-ranked American Pharoah, who recently won the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. 

Moss has Lea, Tonalist, Honor Code, Noble Bird ranked two through five, and they all figure to garner betting support on Saturday afternoon.

Lea is coming off a tough neck loss to Noble Bird in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs on June 13. Tonalist was beaten by a head in the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap, while Honor Code is coming off a last-to-first win in the Grade 1 Met Mile and was installed as the 3-1 morning line favorite for the Whitney.

Peter Morgan/Associated Press

Tonalist is the second choice on the morning line at 4-1 and was the 2014 Grade 1 Belmont Stakes winner. The Christophe Clement trainee has two trips over the Saratoga main track last summer, runner-up finishes in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and the Grade 1 Travers Stakes.

"People thought after he won the Belmont, he's a mile-and-a-half horse,” Clement said via the NYRA press office.  “Well, he finished second in the Met Mile, so he's not a mile-and-a-half horse. He showed pretty good speed, too. He's a very good horse, that's what it is."

Trainer Eric Guillot made it known that defending champion Moreno would be on the lead again. "If you're in front of me, you went too fast," said Guillot, via Teresa Genaro of Blood-Horse.

Here are my predictions for the top three finishers of the Whitney:

Win:

Honor Code is coming off a career-best effort winning the Met Mile at Belmont Park on June 6. The ridgling came from far out of it with a six-wide rally to get up late for the win. The third-place finisher in the race was Private Zone, who returned to win the Grade 3 Belmont Sprint in his next outing on July 4.

The well-bred Shug McGaughey trainee has one trip over the Spa main track, breaking his maiden in his debut in the slope two summers ago, rallying from 22 lengths back to get up late. There is going to be a solid pace up front thanks to Moreno and Liam's Map.

Place:

Tonalist was beaten by just a head last out in the Suburban Handicap at 1 1/4 miles as the beaten favorite. Jockey John Velazquez thought he may have moved a bit early in that race and is looking to make amends.  “I hope I can redeem myself,” Velazquez said, according to David Grening of The Daily Racing Form. The colt rallied to finish second behind our top pick two back in the Met Mile.

The colt made two starts over the Spa main track last summer, a second in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy behind Wicked Strong, and a third in the Travers behind V.E. Day and Wicked Strong. The Christophe Clement trainee has earned triple-digit Beyer Speed Figures in seven of his last nine starts and has landed in the exacta in nine of 12 starts.

Show:

Lea just missed in a game second in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in his first start after returning from Dubai, where he was third in the Group 1 Dubai World Cup. The Bill Mott trainee starts the year by winning the Hal's Hope (G3) and running second in the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, a race he won in 2014.

He was giving up four pounds to Noble Bird in the Foster, and they are at even weights today. Jockey Joel Rosario should be able to work out a good trip sitting just off the pace. 

Morning line odds courtesy of Equibase

Follow Michael Dempsey on Twitter @turfnsport