Jockey Club Tour on Fox Heads to Saratoga for Hopeful

The future stars of horse racing will take center stage on Monday at Saratoga with a field of eight lining up in the Grade 1 $350,000 Hopeful, which will be broadcast live on Fox Sports 1 as part of the Jockey Club Tour on Fox series.

The Hopeful features juvenile colts, some of which we may see next spring under the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs competing in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, the first jewel of the Triple Crown.

The Hopeful also serves as a major prep for the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland on Oct. 31, a race that likely will determine the Eclipse Award for the top 2-year-old of 2015.

Among the horses that have won the Hopeful include Affirmed (1977) and Secretariat (1972), who both went on to win the Triple Crown the following spring.

Fox Sports 1 will televise the Hopeful during a one-hour telecast that gets underway at 5 p.m. ET. The show will include a feature on Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, with a look back at his second-place finish in the Grade 1 Travers Stakes and an update on future plans for the colt, which likely include taking on older horses in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic in the final start of his career.

The Hopeful is the final graded stakes race at the summer Saratoga meeting which ends on Monday. Racing in New York resumes on Friday with the opening of the Belmont Park Fall Championship meeting.

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Trainer Todd Pletcher, who is seeking his 12th training title at Saratoga, will send out the morning line favorite in the Hopeful in Uncle Vinny (5-2). The colt crossed the wire second in the Grade 3 Sanford over the Saratoga main track on July 25 and was placed first via a disqualification after Magna Light caused interference in the stretch.

"I think he's steadily improving," said Pletcher via Jenny Kellner of the New York Racing Association. "He's getting a little more professional each race and he's trained well since the Sanford. We're optimistic."

Magna Light, whose failure to keep a straight course in the stretch under jockey Jose Ortiz, is the second choice on the morning line at 3-1 and again likely will be the one to catch when they turn for home.

“I turned the page right away,” his trainer Rudy Rodriguez said via David Grening of the Daily Racing Form. “You can’t think about things you cannot control; you got to put it behind you and keep going.”

Trainer Doug O’Neill ships in Ralis from the west coast, is 4-1 on the morning line and picks up the services of jockey Javier Castellano, who won the jockey title here at Saratoga the past two years and is currently second.

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

Win: Ralis

Ralis ships in from the west coast for the O'Neill barn. Last out in the California-bred Graduation, the colt was bumped coming out of the gate, tracked the early pace and could not get to the gate to wire winner Mrazek. O'Neill elected to ship this guy east despite the Grade 1 Del Mar Futurity which is on tap on Monday, but he already has Nyquist in that race, that colt the 5-2 morning line favorite. Note jockey Javier Castellano jumps off the promising Set the Trappe for the Tony Dutrow barn to ride the invader.

Place: Uncle Vinny

Uncle Vinny lost his footing briefly breaking out of the gate, stalked the early pace, came with a four-wide bid and was gaining on the winner late in a runner-up finish in the Sanford. The winner Magna Light ended up getting disqualified for interference in the stretch, putting Uncle Vinny up for the win. The Todd Pletcher trainee is by Uncle Mo out of the stakes winner Arealhotlover ($146,567).

Place: Sallisaw

Sallisaw was a sharp maiden winner in his debut for the Kiaran McLaughlin barn that is having a solid meeting at Saratoga with 11 winners. The colt tracked a sharp early pace and took over inside the final furlong for the win. The colt is by Exchange Rate out of a stakes placed Dynaformer mare that has dropped three other winners, including multiple stakes winner Clear the Runway ($144,556).

Morning line odds courtesy of America’s Best Racing.

Pedigree information courtesy of the Daily Racing Form.

Follow Michael Dempsey on twitter @turfnsport.