Spa selections 2021: Saratoga picks August 20

Ginger N Rye won the 2017 Smart N Fancy Stakes at Saratoga. Photo by Chelsea Durand/NYRA.

by Joseph Aiello

In Spa Selections, Saratoga on-site correspondent Joseph Aiello provides Saratoga picks for a handful of key races at Saratoga, including all of the exciting stakes action!

Race 8 – Alw 50000s

1. #1 Wicked Indeed (6-1) – A good winning effort last time out, and won his only try at this distance, this five year old gelding by Tapit will be in the mix here if he breaks

2. #5 Repo Rocks (7-2) – First time gelding took eleven tries to break maiden, so even if he doesn’t win here, still one that can stalk the leaders and hit the board

3. #10 Royal Realm (5-1) – Adds blinkers and steps back up into allowance company, one that has been inconsistent but has a few of the better races in this field

Race 9 – Skidmore Stakes

1. #8 Pure Panic (2-1) – This Maker trainee sat off a strong pace last time and came home quickly, plus gets Gaffalione who has been strong with Maker this meet

2. #3 Kaufymaker (8-5) – Drops from a Grade II, and despite being not as accomplished as Overbore, this filly has upside to go gate to wire

3. #1 Barone Cesco (6-1) – Take Averly Jane and Overbore on an off track, but this colt showed decent speed last time and could hold on in the money here

Race 10 – MC 40000

1. #3 Gabby Squared (3-1) – Closed well in the stretch run last time out for Chad Brown and comes off a layoff, but might need a bit of pace to close into here

2. #5 Hard Won (8-1) – Hasn’t run since October, but had two solid efforts over the Saratoga turf last summer, and seemed to be improving since then

3. #9 Sweet Mission (5-1) – This filly showed improvement dropping into maiden claiming company last time, and despite losing Saez still has room to grow

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