US Racing Preview: Shanghai Hopeful of success at Saratoga

There is some interesting US action on Monday.

Simon Rowlands looks ahead to Monday's racing in the US...

In much the same way that there is no "I" in "team", but both "I" and "me" in Timeform, there is no "u" (pronounced "you") in Labor Day in the US but there is in Labour Day in Canada. Make of that what you will.

Labor Day, or Labour Day, falls on the first Monday in September and means that punters and punsters alike have plenty of good racing to go at in North America on the first day of the week for a change.

Just about the most prestigious race of all is the G2 Three Chimneys Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga (due off at 16:52 local time, 21:52 BST). With $300k in purse money, this seven-furlong race should go some way to clarifying the pecking order among the top juvenile males. The race was won by Currency Swap in 2011, a colt who is not far off the best sprinters/milers 12 months on.

Bern Identity was top Timeform juvenile in North America for a while, but his win in the Sanford Stakes here in July was workmanlike rather than better, and the runner-up that day, Handsome Jack, had been given a slightly bigger beating by Shanghai Bobby previously.

Shanghai Bobby is a son of Harlan's Holiday, who was high-class at nine and ten furlongs, and he could show quite a bit of improvement on his 112p rating now that he steps up from a pair of good wins at around five furlongs.

With a number of unknowns in opposition, not least his stable-companions Lawn Man and Overanalyze, support for Shanghai Bobby cannot be with maximum confidence. But he sets a good standard, with the likelihood of more to come, and looks the one to beat.

Del Mar stages the other G2 on Labor Day, the Yellow Ribbon Handicap for fillies and mares over eight and a half furlongs on turf (post time 18:00 locally, 02:00 on Tuesday BST).

The race is something of a rerun of the G2 John C Mabee Stakes at course and distance in August. City To City got up on the line that day to deny All Star Heart, and the pair oppose on the same terms while dominating the Morning Line along with the lightly-raced Byrony.

However, it would be folly to overlook the Mabee third, Go Forth North, who lines up 3 lb better off for one and a half lengths and has plenty of form in the book which suggests she can go close at a bigger price. She made the running that day but has performed well from off the pace, too.

Go Forth North does not win often, it has to be said, but her consistency could well see her hit the board again and a "show" bet (to finish in first three) on the Tote is recommended.

Parx racetrack near Philadelphia stages some fine racing, not least the $350k G3 Smarty Jones (16:40 local time, 21:40 BST) over an extended mile on dirt. Dwyer Stakes winner Teeth of The Dog deserves to be popular under ideal conditions, despite conceding weight to the majority of his rivals, and the main question is whether he will be a value price. Anything over 3.0 would make appeal.

The Labour Day meet at Woodbine in Canada features a couple of $200k races for two-year-olds, but a better proposition for punters may be the $125k Algoma Stakes (due off at 13:57 locally, 18:57 BST). Awesome Fire is the Morning Line favo(u)rite but drops in distance back on a synthetic surface and looks to have plenty on her hands with Tee Game, Casa Loma and possibly It's Gail.

Additionally, Awesome Fire's come-from-behind style is helped by a strong pace up front, which is by no means certain to unfold here. She is worth laying if at 4.0 or shorter on Betfair.

Recommendations
1 pt win Shanghai Bobby
1 pt show (Tote) Go Forth North
1 pt win Teeth of The Dog
lay to lose 2 pts Awesome Fire

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