Pletcher has 3 shots at fourth Whitney victory
By: Nick Costa, Trackside with Trackman
A compact-but-well accomplished field of six horses line up for the 95th renewal of the Grade 1 race for older horses at nine furlongs.
Three-time Whitney winning trainer, Todd Pletcher, has three chances to get a fourth win when he sends out Grade 1 winners Americanrevolution, Happy Saver and Life Is Good. The Pletcher trio will be joined by another G1 stakes winner, Hot Rod Charlie, who contested two-thirds of the 2021 Triple Crown and ships in from California for conditioner Doug O’Neill.
The Bill Mott trained Olympiad looks to notch his first G1 victory in the Whitney. The four-year-old is 5 for 5 in 2022 and comes in off three consecutive Grade 2 scores. Rounding out the field is, Zoomer. The son of Curlin has been a popular commodity at the claim box having been haltered six times in his last 10 starts, most recently for new trainer, Mark Casse.
Post time is slated for 5:43 E.T.
1 - Americanrevolution – Luis Saez/Todd Pletcher: 5-1 – There has been talk this one may scratch, but here is the lowdown in case he stays in: The G1 Cigar Mile winner is winless in two starts this year, but his second-place finish in the Stephen Foster behind Whitney rival Olympiad was an excellent effort, earning the colt his best speed figure to date. He won 5 of 6 races last season, including a win over the Spa main track at this distance. Enters in good form and must be considered a legitimate threat
2 - Hot Rod Charlie – Flavien Prat/Doug O’Neill: 9-2 – This popular fellow among race fans was second in the Dubai World Cup two starts back and has participated in some other prestigious races. Charlie’s stop at Saratoga will mark his tenth different racetrack and he has always brought his best effort wherever he has raced. Expecting him to do the same here.
3 - Zoomer – Joel Rosario/Mark Casse: 30-1 – Six-year-old gelding is the elder statesman of the group and by far the most experienced with 37 lifetime starts. After his runaway score over this track at the nine-furlong distance three weeks ago, where he earned best speed figure to date, his new connections felt this race was deserving for him to try. Nees to improve even more to contend against these monsters.
4 - Olympiad – Junior Alvarado/Bill Mott: 2-1 – Is perfect from five starts this year, including four graded stakes wins, and puts that winning streak on the line here in an attempt at his first G1 win. His only other G1 appearance was last December when he finished fourth in the Cigar Mile, and incidentally, that was the last time he lost. He’s vastly improved since then and comes into this race in excellent form. A top win candidate.
5 – Happy Saver – John Velazquez/Todd Pletcher: 8-1 – He won his first five starts of his racing career, but since then he hasn’t won a race in five starts. However, during the latest streak he finished third followed by a streak of four consecutive runner-up placings. Overall, he has not finished out of the top three spots in 10 lifetime starts. Has proven himself over the track surface and at this class level.
6 – Life Is Good – Irad Ortiz Jr./Todd Pletcher: 6-5 – Closed out last season with a powerful score in the G1 BC Dirt Mile and opened his 2022 campaign with a decisive win in the G1 Pegasus World Cup, beating defending champ Knicks Go in the process. Has won seven of his nine career starts, with two wins from three races this year, the last being a five-length victory in the seven-furlong G2 John Nerud Stakes. The expected pacesetter and the one to beat.
ANALYSIS
For me, the Whitney winner comes down to either Life Is Good or Olympiad.
They are certainly the top two horses on paper and very well could end up that way at the finish line, in either order. However, one can truly make a legitimate winning case for three of the other four remaininng horses and wouldn’t get any argument from this handicapper.
Although speed has done well at the nine-furlong distance this year at Saratoga, the track has been very deep and tiring, which has accounted for a low percentage of wire-to-wire winners, which could hinder the speedy Life Is Good who will be trying to take them all the way on the front end.
Of course, Life Is Good could still go on and win the race, but the way the track surface has been playing up to this point is the determining factor for me to go with Olympiad, who has been as good as a horse can be in 2022. He too has plenty of early foot but has displayed the ability to sit off the early pace and rate which could give him a tactical advantage in this spot.
WAGER: In order to make any kind of money in this race, you must split the probable top two betting choices in an exacta, so I’ll use Happy Saver in the second spot. $60 win bet on Olympiad and $40 exacta Olympiad over Happy Saver.
Good luck, and as always, enjoy the race.
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