This is yet another highly competitive event. Lightning Buzz (1) figures to attract support off the claim by Jeremiah Englehart and James Riccio. This horse has had trouble getting to the winner’s circle, but he clearly fits well at this level and there’s a strong possibility that the new connections could move him up. Zap Zap Zap (7) has run races that would easily beat this field, but I’m getting bad vibes from this Todd Pletcher reject who now gets dropped to the bottom level off the claim by Brad Cox. While there are a few potential speeds in this race, like Nut Nut and Appealing Henry, they are hardly formidable pace presences.

As long as MAGNIFIER (4) breaks cleanly, I have to think that Kendrick Carmouche is going to send him to the front. Danny Gargan acquired this horse in Florida and kept him there for a few starts. He put an inexperienced apprentice aboard this horse in two straight starts – one of which was successful, the other disappointing. However, in that last race, I thought this speedy horse wasn’t aggressively ridden away from the gate and ended up getting an uncomfortable trip while buried down inside for much of the race. He’s clearly better than that, and I think it’s meaningful that Gargan is bringing this one up to Saratoga, since he’s a trainer that is typically very selective about which horses he starts at this elite meet. Furthermore, it's a good sign that his recent local workout got a positive review in the DRF Clocker Report.