Top pick: #9 (HARLAN'S PRIDE) - He ships in from Monmouth where he missed by a nose facing "open" $25K claimers July 24. Working fine for this, he moves up in class and faces fellow New York breds this afternoon. Gets the call in a very competitive (but good betting) finale.
2nd pick: #12 (Great Privilege) - He hasn't raced since late November when he finished a pace-setting third at this level on the Aqueduct infield. Working nicely, the post isn't an issue, and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin wins at a 33% rate off of long absences.
3rd pick: #5 (Winloc's John Lee) - He ran evenly from a very difficult post at Saratoga on opening day(July 22) and has a bullet work here August 19 in preparation for this attempt. Well-bred gelding took some betting action at the Spa and today Garret Gomez is aloft.
4th pick: #2 (Doublespeak) - Strong finisher ran second in both starts at Saratoga and last out was beaten a head by the highly thought of "Chardsey". He shortens-up a bit for this and will need to avoid any traffic issues to make his late charge effective.