8/14: Saratoga Steeplechase Race 1

[Flatterer]

Non winners of 2 life time over jumps are featured in the Steeplechase race of the week.

Leading trainer Jack Fisher sends out 2 runners, #7 Snap Decision and #8 Whitman’s Poetry, Elizabeth Voss sends out #4 Renown who is hopefully recovered from his foot abscess, and runners making their US debut from Ricky Hendricks #1 Zanzi Win and from Leslie Young #3 Tomgarrow.

Best flat track speed has #4 Renown with a slight edge over #7 Snap Decision, #8 Whitman’s Poetry.

From the NSA rating, #1 Zanzi Win has 125, #4 Renown and #8 Whitman’s Poetry are 119 and the rest are 116 or less.

Overall leading rider Michael Mitchell rides #8 Whitman’s Poetry and leading Saratoga steeplechase rider Tom Garner has #3 Tomgarrow.

In the first edition of this race from July 21, #8 Whitman’s Poetry clipped heals with Markhan after the 5th fence as he was starting to make a move towards the leaders. #8 Whitman’s Poetry was my pick then and he is still at the top of the heap.

Trainer Ricky Hendricks is excited about #1 Zanzi Win and he is also a top contender. Ricky’s runners tend to do well in their first efforts. An example from last year is Optimus Prime winning the NY Turf Writers in his first US run at 7.20 to 1.

#3 Tomgarrow beat 11 runners in a hurdle race in Ireland in May and has a 116 rating but I can’t verify the rating in the Horse Race Ireland database so I have no idea if the rating is accurate. It may have been set arbitrarily by the NSA.

#4 Renown should run well on a level surface that will carry his speed.

Race shape is difficult to determine with US debut runners #1 Zanzi Win and #3 Tomgarrow in the race. #1 Zanzi Win has gone wire to wire and off the pace over hurdles and #3 Tomgarrow came off the pace in his win. It appears #7 Snap Decision will take the lead early in a slow pace. I don’t see anyone trying to steal the race on the front end other than #7 Snap Decision.

Picks:
A) #1 Zanzi Win and #8 Whitman’s Poetry
B) #3 Tomgarrow and #7 Snap Decision
C) # 4 Renown

Good Luck at the races!

[knickslions2]

Whitman dumped the rider again although he did finish second by a lot with no rider