Two-Day Pick 4 At Saratoga Pays $156.50 To Winners

A special two-day Pick 4 featuring exciting stakes action Friday and Saturday from historic Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., during Runhappy Travers weekend paid $156.50 on a $2 base for selecting 4-of-4 winners. The total pool was $169,386.

The wager, which featured a mandatory payout, ran its first two legs on Friday's card and concluded on Saturday during Runhappy Travers Day.

Friday saw New York breds earn the spotlight at the Spa, with six stakes worth a combined $1.15 million for horses bred in the Empire State on the card. The two-day Pick 4 started with the $250,000 Albany for 3-year-olds going 1 1/8 miles on the main track in Race 9, with Americanrevolution posting a five-length win as the heavy favorite. Meet-leading rider Luis Saez stayed off the pace before coaxing a strong closing surge from Americanrevolution, who is trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. He completed the course in 1:49.94 and paid $3.40 on a $2 win bet.

Saez earned a personal double by leading Giacosa to victory in the following race, rallying from ninth to best Myhartblongstodady by three-quarters of a length to win the $150,000 Yaddo for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/16 miles on the turf. Trained by H. James Bond, Giacosa went off at 9-1 but hit the wire in 1:42.54, paying $20.80.

Saturday closed the Pick 4 with a pair of prestigious Grade 1 contests, starting when favorite Letruska topped Bonny South by a half-length in an exciting finish to the $600,000 Personal Ensign presented by Lia Infiniti. Conditioned by Fausto Gutierrez, Letruska went gate-to-wire in the 1 1/8-mile main track contest, registering a final time of 1:49.15 under jockey Irad Ortiz, Jr. Letruska returned $3.50.

The 152nd running of the $1.25 million Runhappy Travers for sophomores contesting the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles closed out the wager when favorite Essential Quality held off Midnight Bourbon by a neck to bolster his case as the top 3-year-old.

Essential Quality, the winner of the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes presented by NYRA Bets and the Grade 2 Jim Dandy in his previous start at the Spa, gave trainer Brad Cox his first career Runhappy Travers win, while Saez earned his second and first since 2013 when he rode Will Take Charge. Essential Quality posted a final time of 2:01.96 and paid $2.90.

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Special Two-Day Pick 4 Planned For Travers Weekend At Saratoga

The New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA) will host a special two-day Pick 4 featuring exciting stakes action from historic Saratoga Race Course during the Runhappy Travers weekend.

The wager, which features a $2 minimum base, will be offered with a mandatory payout. Free past performances are available via NYRA.com and NYRABets.com. For more information, visit NYRA.com/CrossCountry.

The first two legs will be the $250,000 Albany and the $150,000 Yaddo in Races 9 and 10, respectively, on Friday. The concluding legs will take place the following day, starting with the Grade 1, $600,000 Personal Ensign presented by Lia Infiniti in Race 10 and culminating with the Grade 1, $1.25 million Runhappy Travers in Race 12.

Friday's New York Showcase Day will kick off the wager, starting with the Albany for 3-year-olds contesting 1 1/8 miles on the main track with a 5:39 p.m. Eastern post time. Americanrevolution will look to continue his upward trajectory following a 7 ¼-length victory in the New York Derby at Finger Lakes. The son of Constitution handled his two-turn debut with flying colors, arriving at the New York Derby off a narrow triumph against next-out winner Water's Edge in a June 20 maiden event going six furlongs at Belmont Park.

Trainer Kelly Breen will saddle two contenders in It's a Gamble and It's Gravy.

It's a Gamble, a son of English Channel, earned an open company stakes victory when capturing an off-the-turf edition of the Jersey Derby on May 28 at Monmouth Park. The three-time winner broke his maiden over the Mellon turf last summer at Saratoga and defeated winners over the Aqueduct outer turf in the final start of his 2-year-old season.

It's Gravy, by Freud, is in search of his first victory since breaking his maiden on January 16 over a muddy and sealed main track at Aqueduct Racetrack.

The Yaddo, with a 6:13 p.m. post time, is the last of six stakes for New York-breds worth a combined $1.15 million on the Friday card. The handicap for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up going 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon turf course will see a loaded 10-horse field headlined by Myhartblongstodady who returns to defend her title after scoring gate-to-wire last summer. The 6-year-old Scat Daddy bay, trained by Jorge Abreu, boasts a record of 13-5-2-3 with purse earnings of $344,216.

Strong opposition will be provided by the Christophe Clement-trained Classic Lady, who finished third in last year's Yaddo and last out ran fourth in an open optional-claiming race over the Monmouth Park turf on July 31.

Saturday's Runhappy Travers Day, featuring seven graded stakes, including six Grade 1s, will continue the two-day wager with the 74th running of the Personal Ensign for fillies and mares 4-years-old and up going 1 1/8 miles with a 4:47 p.m. post time.

The contest, a “Win and You're In” qualifier for the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Distaff in November at Del Mar, will see 2020 Grade 1 Preakness-winner Swiss Skydiver take on multiple Grade 1-winning Letruska, who will be attempting her fourth consecutive graded stakes score for trainer Fausto Gutierrez. Letruska has already secured her Breeders' Cup Distaff spot with a dominating gate-to-wire victory in the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, also a “Win and You're In” event, on Belmont Stakes Day June 5.

Swiss Skydiver, the reigning 3-Year-Old Filly champion and 2020 Grade 1 Alabama winner for conditioner Kenny McPeek, will go up against a talented field that includes Letruska and other top contenders including Bonny South.

Bonny South, from the barn of reigning Eclipse Award-winning trainer Brad Cox, will try to turn the tables on Letruska after a runner-up finish in the Ogden Phipps.

Concluding the two-day Pick 4 will be the 152nd running of the Runhappy Travers for 3-year-olds contesting the classic distance of 1 1/4 miles at 6:12 p.m. on FOX. Cox will send out the reigning Champion 2-Year-Old Essential Quality, who has sustained his excellence as a 3-year-old with back-to-back wins in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes in June and a last out victory in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy in his first start over the Saratoga track.

Keepmeinmind, trained by Robertino Diodoro, will look to turn the tables on Essential Quality, after running a hard-charging second to the Runhappy Travers morning-line favorite in the Grade 1 Breeders' Futurity and ran third in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile in 2020.

The seven-horse Runhappy Travers field is also comprised of Midnight Bourbon for Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen, Dynamic One, for Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher, Masqueparade [Al Stall, Jr.], King Fury [McPeek] and Miles D [Chad Brown].

Two-day Pick 4 – Friday August 27:
Leg A: Saratoga – Race 9, Albany (5:39 p.m.)
Leg B: Saratoga – Race 10, Yaddo (6:13 p.m.)

Saturday August 28:
Leg C: Saratoga – Race 10, G1 Personal Ensign presented by Lia Infiniti (4:47 p.m.)
Leg D: Saratoga – Race 12, G1 Runhappy Travers (6:12 p.m.)

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