Saturday At 'The Spa': Saratoga Race Course Picks For Jim Dandy Stakes, Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap

The Jim Dandy Stakes is one of the biggest races at Saratoga Race Course during every summer meet. Even though it's only a Grade 2 stakes race, the sport's best trainers and three-year-olds, including the 2024 Preakness Stakes winner, Seize The Grey, are running in the Jim Dandy. 

I've gone home down money in my first two weeks at The Spa. After losing all three races bet on CCA Oaks Day last Saturday, my bankroll is -$61.50 in the Saratoga 2024 summer meet. Stick with me though, since I hit the longshot winner, Dornoch, and Exacta in the 2024 Belmont Stakes at The Spa last month. 

Saratoga Race Course Best Bets: Jim Dandy Day 

Race 4: $110K Allowance Sprint, 2:13 p.m. ET post time

A nine-horse, six-furlong race on the dirt track for three-year-olds and older with a $110,000 purse. 

1- Notah 

• Morning Line (ML) odds: 10-1
• Record (Starts-Win-Place-Show): 14-3-3-4
• Jockey: Luis Saez
• Trainer: John Terranova
• Best Beyer Speed Figure (BSF): 85

The Kentucky-bred colt enters in great form, hitting the board in six consecutive races (2-2-2), including a 3.25-length win at The Spa last month. Notah's most recent win was his fastest career race. He won his only career race at Saratoga and has been training there for a month. Notah struggles in these six-furlong sprints, but he has fast "early speed" and there isn't a lot of late speed in this race. 

4- Mariachi 

• ML: 6-1
• Record: 8-3-1-2
• Jockey: Kendrick Carmouche
• Trainer: John Kimmel
• Best BSF: 93

This is Mariachi's second race of his four-year-old season. He won his second time out in both his second- and three-year-old seasons. One of those wins was at The Spa in July 2024, and the fastest race of his career. The #4 horse has hit the board in four of his five races at this distance with three wins. Mariachi showed at Saratoga in his last race in June at 6.5 furlongs, out-running his odds. This is the second-best price of Mariachi's career. 

Pick(s): 

• $5 Win & Place bets on #1 Notah for a $10 total bet.
• $2 Exacta Box: 1-4 for a $4 total bet.

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Race 6: Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap, 3:20 p.m. ET post time

A six-horse, six-furlong race on the dirt track for three-year-olds and older with a $350,000 purse. 

4- Baby Yoda

• ML: 7-2
• Record: 25-9-4-4
• Jockey: Eric Cancel
• Trainer: William Mott
• Best BSF: 114

Baby Yoda is a horse for the course. He is 4-0-1 in six career starts at Saratoga. Last month, Baby Yoda won the G2 True North Stakes by six lengths on a 6.5-furlong dirt track at Saratoga Belmont Stakes Day. The third leg of the Triple Crown ran at The Spa this year because Belmont Park was closed during renovations. 

Baby Yoda with jockey, Eric Cancel, at the winner’s circle after winning the True North Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in New York. (Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports)

The True North was his second consecutive win and Baby Yoda has run faster in all four races in his six-year-old season. The Prospective colt's 102 BSF in the True North was the second-fastest time of his career. His fastest was at Saratoga Sept. 4, where he ran a 114 BSF in a 4.5-length victory vs. 10 rivals. Baby Yoda’s fourth-fastest race was a 3-length win at Saratoga in July 2022. 

Pick(s): 

• $15 Win bet on #5 Baby Yoda.

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Race 10: Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes, 5:43 p.m. ET post time

A six-horse, one-and-one-eighth-mile race on the dirt track for three-year-olds with a $500,000 purse. 

6- Fierceness

• ML: 9-5
• Record: 6-3-0-1
• Jockey: John Velazquez
• Trainer: Todd Pletcher
• Best BSF: 110

The #1 horse, Sierra Leone, is the most consistent in the Jim Dandy field, but Fierceness is the fastest. His problem is that he alternates between blowout wins and no-shows. Fierceness's three triumphs are by 11.25, 6.25, and 13.5 lengths. One was the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup for two-year-olds and another was the Grade 1 Florida Derby, a prestigious prep race for the Kentucky Derby. 

Because of these two wins, Fierceness was the top betting choice in the Kentucky Derby, but finished 15th, continuing his weird on-and-off trend. The Pletcher trainee's outside post helps him since he can use his elite speed while avoiding traffic at the start. Finally, Fierceness is another horse for the course, breaking his maiden at The Spa. 

Pick(s): 

• $15 Win bet on #6 Fierceness.

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