Saratoga Race Course Picks: Best Bets on Whitney Stakes Day, 8/2/2025

Key Takeaways:

• Barksdale and Twenty Four Mamba offer strong value in Race 7 thanks to ideal distance, class relief, and favorable setups.
• In the Fourstardave, Think Big stretches out successfully, and Neat returns to his favorite course with better trip potential.
• Test Score is peaking at the right time for the Saratoga Derby, while Juwelier could steal it on the front end at a huge price.
• All picks are longshots or mid-priced contenders with upside on a stacked Saturday card.

Saturday, August 2, is one of the flagship days of the summer meet at Saratoga Springs. The best horses in several divisions will line up for some of the most important races of the year. The feature race is the $1 million Whitney Stakes (G1), one of the best handicap-division races of the year—a race originally inaugurated in 1928 and named after Racing Hall of Famer William Collins Whitney, who founded The Jockey Club in 1898.

However, there are four more graded-stakes races on the card for bettors to enjoy on Whitney Day at Saratoga Race Course. Sophomore sprint fillies shine in the Test (G1), three-year-old turf routers continue their summer racing series in the Saratoga Derby (G1), older turf milers line up for the Fourstardave (G2), and juveniles try to step up in the Saratoga Special (G2).

The five graded-stakes races are among 13 on the Saturday card. The first post is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. You can watch and wager all day long through FanDuel racing on not only the racing at Saratoga, but on exciting horse racing action at Del Mar and all over the country.

Remember to check the weather and the scratches before placing your bets. Though Saturday is expected to be sunny and pleasant, scratches can happen for any reason, even when the track surfaces come up fast and firm. They can affect pace and class balances—horse racing is a game of information, after all, so make sure to stay informed before placing your bets.

These are three best bets for undercard races on the Whitney Day card at Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, August 2:

Saratoga Race Course Best Bets

Race 7 - Allowance optional claiming (N2X or $75,000 tag), seven furlongs on the dirt - Barksdale, Twenty Four Mamba

FanDuel odds: 20-1 and 10-1

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Speed does well in seven-furlong races at Saratoga. Even though this race drew an overflow field—14, plus one on the also-eligible list—there’s not much in the way of sprint speed in this race. That makes Barksdale (20-1) an appealing pace play at massive odds. The draw toward the inside could be challenging, but in a couple of races last year, he drew toward the inside as well, seized the lead, and took starter-allowance and first-level allowance fields coast to coast. Those were at seven and 6 ½ furlongs as well, meaning this is the right distance for him. (Toss his other seven-furlong try—that was a shot in the Woody Stephens (G1) last year, and he’s not facing Book’em Danno types here.) With trainer William Walden making the most of limited starts at the Spa and jockey Dylan Davis doing well when he does ride for the barn, this is a case of a horse where … you don’t need a lot to like him at the likely price, and there is more than enough to take a shot as one of the longest shots on the board.

Twenty Four Mamba (10-1) has been running against tougher conditioned allowance company in his last few. He won three back, in his first start off the Morley claim, but has been fourth in his last two tries (including last out against the Saratoga-loving graded winner Baby Yoda). Now he steps back down to this level—he won at a similar level and distance to this four back at Aqueduct when he was in for the tag. It’s not suspicious to have a horse claimed for $62,500 in for the $75,000 here, and the class is a perfect fit. He does have to handle the outside post, but there’s plenty of room for him to find a spot between the gate and the turn. He’s a four-time winner at this seven-furlong trip, and if he can find the more tactical spot like he did three, four, and even five back, he should be well suited on the return to just the right class for him.

Race 8 - Fourstardave (G1), one mile on the turf - Think Big, Neat

FanDuel odds: 6-1 and 20-1

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The Fourstardave is a great spot to go shopping for prices. After all, all the short-priced horses are talented, but they also have reasons they are beatable. Morning-line favorite Johannes is the class of the field, but he comes back after an extended layoff and needs to prove he is the same horse after an injury. Deterministic and Spirit of St. Louis are cutting back to a distance that is likely shorter than their best, while Intellect still needs to prove he can face stakes-level foes without finding a horse or two too good.

And, on the other hand, there are some longer-priced horses who have a right to outrun their odds. Think Big (6-1) looked like an up-and-comer in the turf sprint division after wins in the Shakertown (G2) at Keeneland and the Turf Sprint (G2) at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day. But, he looked great when trying a mile for the first time in the Kelso (G3) on July 5 at Saratoga. With firm ground that day, it showed that his disappointment as the favorite in the Jaipur two back wasn’t so much a question of not liking Saratoga, but possibly just the rain-affected footing after a wet week. He is likely to get a mile over the better ground he likes come Saturday. And, though he isn’t certain to get as sharp a pace to close into as he did in the Kelso, the pace should be honest at the very least, and rider Luis Saez is aggressive enough to place him well.

At a huge price, it is also worth considering Neat (20-1). In short, there are two versions of Neat: the one who races at Saratoga and the one who races everywhere else. The best version is the one at the Spa: he won the Hall of Fame (G2) at a mile over the Saratoga inner turf, the same course as this race. And then, even though he was only fourth behind Think Big in the Kelso over the local grass last time out, he was far off the pace and had all kinds of trip trouble. He isn’t usually as far off the early pace as he was in the Kelso—and if he can get his more customary spot within a few lengths of the pace and avoid that trip trouble this time around, this horse for the course can set the tote board ablaze.

Race 9 - Saratoga Derby Invitational (G1), 1 3/16 miles on the turf - Test Score, Juwelier

FanDuel odds: 7-2 and 20-1

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Test Score (7-2) has always been well-regarded—after all, trainer Graham Motion tried him in the With Anticipation (G3) last summer at Saratoga even when he was still a maiden. However, he needed a little more time to put it together. At three, he has been one of the top turf horses of his class. Two back, he ran a good second behind Zulu Kingdom, another horse with claims on the divisional lead, in the American Turf (G1). Next out, returning to the lawn at the Spa, he looked sharper than ever when winning the Belmont Derby (G1) on July 4. This time around, he won’t see Zulu Kingdom again—that one goes in the shorter Hall of Fame on Friday—and though he faces some tough international contenders, he is well bred for the extra distance and is well suited to get a trip near a pace that does not stand to be fast.

The most class-proven international contender is Hotazhell, a Group 1 winner at age two who hasn’t won in a pair of starts this year, but has been facing truly top European horses. He wouldn’t be a huge surprise on the angle of a classy European horse seeking a comparatively easier Grade 1, but one of the other overseas visitors is fascinating from a pace perspective and also likely to go off at a massive price. That’s Juwelier (20-1). This lightly-raced son of Wootton Bassett has won two of four starts, including his most recent outing in the German Derby Trial (G3) at Baden-Baden about two months ago. That day, he pulled a clever little gambit—he sent hard, led by a yawning margin, and held on by a head in the 1 ¼-mile race. The slightly shorter distance is a positive—as is the fact that, even though he is shipping to America, this race drew nothing in the way of American speed. Thus, under jockey Umberto Rispoli—who, riding in California, has had to learn a thing or two about speed—Juwelier can try another game of grand theft equine.

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