Jim Dandy Pick-4 SCORE – Recap!

Jim Dandy (G2)

The Super Screener was highly convicted in picking #2 Tax as the winner of this race. Here’s what we said about the winning colt before the race:

This year’s edition of the Jim Dandy (G2) came up with a disappointingly small but mighty field featuring stars from the Triple Crown trail and a couple of late bloomers. With this compact field and lack of speed, the pace set up really favors both #2 Tax and #4 Global Campaign. The former rival dueled throughout in the Belmont Stakes and fell flat in the end but ran a very respectable race. He will benefit most from that big cut back in distance while tracking an easier pace here. He certainly will benefit from the break and he is still a relatively fresh horse. Check out that work on the Saratoga surface… all signals flashing ‘go’.

Tacitus went to his knees at the start of the race, but as we have seen in all his races, he eventually levels off and hits that big stride and just keeps on coming. That was no match for Tax this time, but well clear of 3^rd place finisher Global Campaign. Tacitus is best at 1 ¼ miles, and he’ll get that in the Travers. We can say with early conviction that he will turn the tables on Tax in that race. 

We faded War of Will again, as he was the Vulnerable Favorite in the race. Not sure what all the hoopla is about this horse but the Super Screener has never been high on him. 

The Super Screener suggested Exacta wager with Tax on top and Tacitus in 2^nd returned $335 which wasn’t too bad considering this was a 6-horse field and the odds on favorite finished 2^nd.

Saratoga Late pick 4 
With Imperial Hint winning the Vanderbilt at nearly 6-1 and Channel Cat victorious in the Bowling Green at odds of just below 14-1, plus Tax catching the win in the Jim Dandy at 9-2, that set up for a great paying P4 regardless of what happened in the final leg. The Super Screener was live to three P4 tickets (including one ticket for $1 that singled Channel Cat) and the favorite scored in that final leg producing a payoff of $1160. So, in the end the return on the 3 cashed tickets was $4,640!

Bowling Green (G2)

Bingo! The Super Screener Top Long Shot pick delivers again. Luis Saez lulled the field to sleep getting #10 Channel Cat to the lead and then walking the dog on the front end. What was surprising, however, was the fact that no other challenger could out kick him to the wire. Here’s what the Super Screener had to say about Channel Cat before the race:

Watch out for #10 Channel Cat. This lightly raced 4-year-old out of the Todd Pletcher barn has plenty of upside, and form cycle analysis projects that he will move forward again here in just his 4th race off the 8-month layoff. Is getting good at the right time and fits so perfectly with the pace set up, distance and turf course. Listed at 15-1 one in the morning line, but hoping to get better than that. Great choice to single up and down in your vertical wagers spreading wide in all other tiers.

The other top 5 ranked Super Screener horses completed the next 5 positions under Channel Cat. Ya Primo, the Chilean sensation, is a great new addition to the Chad Brown barn. Arklow, the Super Screener Top Win and Top Board Hitter pick completed the Trifecta in the blanket finish in which the top five finishers were all within a length of one another at the wire.

A suggested Super Screener Trifecta ticket hit for $663.

Vanderbilt (G1)

Well, it had to happen, eventually… the immortal Mitole tossed a clunker in the Vanderbilt. The huge win in the Met Mile must have taken its toll and hopefully he gets a break now leading up to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Here’s what we said about that possibility:

One of these days, he’ll toss a clunker, but he is proven on 4 different dirt tracks so his first start on the Saratoga surface shouldn’t trip him up.

#3 Imperial Hint, on the other hand, served notice that he may be better than ever in breaking the track record at Saratoga for 6 furlongs (1:07 4/5), just crushing the field. He couldn’t have had a better trip sitting behind the duelers and then exploding in that final furlong.

#3 Imperial Hint has come off long breaks before and has fired.  He certainly is looking great in the mornings leading up to this, showing he is ready for a top performance here. No live contender will have a better trip than this one sitting just 2 lengths off the leaders on the rail.

Bing Crosby (G1)

The Super Screener faded Cistron and paid the price as the top 4 Super Screener ranked horses completed the 2 through 5 slots. He figured to be challenged early, but he got a clear lead and was game in holding off Desert Law for the win.  The Super Screener Top Long shot pick, Air Strike, did finish 4^th.

Amsterdam (G2)

Not to be outdone by Imperial Hint’s record breaking performance the day before in the G1 Vanderbilt, Shancelot utterly dominated this field in an unforgettable performance.  Check this out… he exits the 12 hole and immediately makes a big move to seize the clear lead cutting the first fraction in a startling :21 3/5 then he proceeds to open up on the field posting mind-blowing fractions of :43 ¾ and 1:07 ¾ (faster than Imperial Hint’s finish in the Vanderbilt) before finishing off the 6.5 furlongs in an amazing 1:14 and drawing off by over 12 lengths, running against the “best” 3 year-old sprinters in the country. If connections stick to one-turn affairs with this monster, he is going to be a force to reckon with when it comes to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint.

Make note that Super Comet blew the start and spotted the field several lengths. With a better start he probably finishes 2^nd here. 

The Super Screener’s top 4 ranked horses were the 4 horses that finished in the Superfecta though for a field this large the outcome was quite chalky.

Clement L. Hirsch (G1)

A lot of things went right in the Clement L. Hirsch (G1). First, we spotted Paradise Woods as a Vulnerable Favorite, and she was never a factor here, finishing a distant 4^th.  We also tabbed #4 Ollie’s Candy as the Top Value play, and she obliged by running the race of her life, dueling in the early stages and then repelling the challenge of Super Screener Top Win Pick, Secret Spice, to capture the hard-fought victory.  In addition, the Super Screener was very confident that Top Board Hitter pick, La Force, would close to finish 2^nd or 3^rd and, in the end, she completed the Trifecta at 7-1. 

So, she would need to really take a big jump in her form cycle her to win this, but if any horse in this field could do that, the Super Screener Top Long shot pick, #4 Ollie’s Candy, can.  This lightly raced 4-year-old is getting good at the right time for trainer John Sadler. She is effective on any surface and, when it is all said and done, dirt will probably be her preferred surface.  She is perfectly suited to the distance, form cycle analysis projects a new lifetime top here, which would be good enough to put her in the winner’s circle at a juicy price. That last work was just brilliant, further signaling that she is sitting on a big race. #1 La Force is the most reliable board hitter in the field and she will be sitting at least 5 lengths off the pace leader even as they hit the far turn but then she will pick off tired horses one by one for a finish on the bottom of the Exacta or, perhaps more likely, the Trifecta. Cover once in a smaller ticket in the win spot.

In the end the suggested Super Screener Trifecta ticket hit for $466 in this chalky affair. 

In addition to a strong stakes line up this weekend at Del Mar and Saratoga (Test, Whitney), we have the West Virginia Derby (G2) to look forward to, which will be headlined by the hot horse, Mr. Money, whose connections opted to go here versus on to the Travers. Another great weekend of summer racing ahead as we turn the page to August.

Until this coming weekend, Go Fast and Win!
Mike