Saturday At 'The Spa': Saratoga Race Course Picks For 'Whitney Day' August 2

I'm up $219.50 through the first three weeks of the Saratoga Race Course's 2025 summer meet. While it's not too shabby, $73 per week doesn't cover your booze, drinks, and parking at the track nowadays. But it does allow me to invest a little more in the ponies on Whitney Day, which features four Grade 1 races, including the Whitney Stakes. 

One of the biggest races of the season, the winner of the Whitney Stakes auto-qualifies for the 2025 Breeders' Cup Classic at the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club in San Diego, California on November 1. Without further ado, let's discuss how I'm betting the Whitney Stakes and the other three Grade 1 races at The Spa Saturday.

Saratoga Race Course Best Bets: August 2 ($111 risked) 

• Race 8: $20 Win on #1 Cugino. $20 Win on #4 Think Big. $5 Exacta Box (1,4) for a $10 total bet.
• Race 9: $20 Win on #9 World Beater and $1 Trifecta Box (2,4,5) for a $6 total bet.
• Race 10: $15 Win on #3 Look Forward.
• Race 11: $10 ‘Across the Board’ (Win/Place/Show) on #10 Post Time for a $30 total bet. $1 Trifecta Box (3,9,10) for a $6 total bet.

Race 8: Grade 1 Fourstardave Stakes, 3:52 p.m. ET post time

Ten horses on a one-mile Inner Turf course for four-year-olds and upward with a $750,000 purse. 

#1 Cugino (10-1). We could get a better price than 10-1 when this race goes off because this is Cugino's Saratoga debut, and he hasn't won a graded stakes race in four attempts. I'm overlooking his inexperience at The Spa because jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. is the winningest jockey in this meet (as of July 31), and has won jockey of the summer at Saratoga several times. 

Meanwhile, Cugino has never been lower than 7-1. Finally, he's run a 90+ Beyer speed figure in four of his last five races, including the fastest (93) in a win at Aqueduct last month, and Cugino ran the fastest four-furlong time at a July 20 work on turf with 50 other horses. 

#4 Think Big (6-1). This guy won't be that popular in the betting markets because it's a loaded field, and Think Big finished seventh in the Grade 1 Jaipur Stakes at The Spa last month. But, he has gone off as the top betting choice in four of his last six races, and two in which he wasn't the favorite. 

Lastly, Think Big has won three of his last four races. Two were Grade 2 wins (Shakertown at Keeneland and Turf Sprints at Churchill), and the latest was a Grade 3 (Kelso at Saratoga) with three rivals in this field, his first mile-long race. 

Race 9: Grade 1 Saratoga Derby Invitational, 4:28 p.m. ET post time

Nine horses on the one-and-three-sixteenth-mile Mellon Turf course for three-year-olds with a $750,000 purse. 

#9 World Beater (10-1). I'm not in love with this field and World Beater's 88 Beyer in a second at the Grade 1 Belmont Derby in Saratoga, his last time out, is tied for the third-fastest speed figure in this race. World Beater lost to the morning-line favorite in this field, #5 Test Score (7-2), in the Belmont Derby by only 1.25 lengths. 

Plus, World Beater improved when his trainer, Riley Mott, moved him to the turf at the beginning of the season. He's hit the trifecta in all five turf races this year, with two wins, two seconds, and a third, and he's run faster each time. Another step forward, and World Beater will be in the mix Saturday. I'm betting him to win and using him in a Trifecta Box with the #5 and #4 Tiztastic (15-1). 

Test Score is the rightful morning-line favorite in this field and has hit the Trifecta in seven of his eight career races. Tiztastic is running his second turf race after starting this season on the dirt and finishing 10th in the Kentucky Derby. But, his trainer, Steve Asmussen, wouldn't ship him to Saratoga if he didn't think Tiztastic could compete in this race. 

Race 10: Grade 1 Test Stakes, 5:04 p.m. ET post time

Eight horses on a seven-furlong dirt track for three-year-old fillies with a $500,000 purse. 

#3 Look Forward (8-1). She's 3-0 at this distance and won the Grade 2 Eight Belles at Churchill in May. Look Forward ran a good race her last time out, placing second in the Grade 1 Acorn in Saratoga last month. She looked good in her last two works, with the sixth-fastest time out of 71 horses over four furlongs two weeks ago and the fastest out of 71 horses in a five-furlong trip last week. 

Race 11: Grade 1 Whitney Stakes, 5:41 p.m. ET post time

Ten horses on a one-and-one-eighth-mile dirt track for four-year-olds and upward with a $1 million purse. 

#10 Post Time (12-1). The 2025 Whitney should be fast because seven of the 10 entries have a faster early pace, which should help Post Time, who is a "closer" with the second-fastest late pace in this race. His dad, Frosted, won the 2016 Whitney, so he is bred for this distance and class. Plus, Saratoga is the Graveyard for Champions, and I want to bet a good price in this loaded field. 

Otherwise, it's hard to ignore the morning-line favorite, #9 Fierceness (9-5). He broke his maiden at Saratoga two years ago, winning by 11.25 lengths in his debut. Fierceness won the Grade 2 Jim Dandy and Grade 1 Travers at The Spa last year and finished second in the Grade 1 Met Mile at Saratoga last month. 

I'm using #3 Highland Falls (8-1) in a Trifecta Box with #9 and #10. Highland Falls won the Grade 1 Jockey Club Gold Cup last year. He is cutting back from a 1.25-mile distance, and is the only horse in this field besides Fierceness with "tactical speed". The only two races Highland Falls didn't make it on the podium were both in California, so maybe he doesn't like the West Coast. 

EDITORS' NOTE: The weather forecast today at Saratoga is for 0% rain.  Expect all the turf races to remain on the turf and Geoff's picks not to be affected by the weather.  

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Follow me on X (or Twitter, whatever) @Geoffery-Clark, and check out my OutKick Bets Podcast for more betting content and random rants. Track my Saratoga Race Course picks during the 2025 summer meet here.