Whitney Stakes Handicapping Picks
Horse racing gamblers are you looking for 2023 Whitney Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping Odds…plus some predictions? Need some advice on who to take? The 2023 Whitney is set for August 5 at Saratoga race track in Saratoga Springs, New York. Here’s a preview of our top contenders.
Whitney Stakes Preview
- Race: Whitney Stakes
- Purse: $1 million
- Track: Saratoga Race Course
- Date: August 5
- Post Time: 5:42 PM (ET)
- Live: Whitney Stakes Odds: Click Here
2023 Whitney Stakes Racebooks / Betting Apps We Like!
Before we can give you our expert 2023 Whitney Stakes free pick, we have to break down the entries! In fact, we’d love to hear from you after you’ve given this post a read to see if you see an angle that we don’t!
2023 Whitney Stakes Handicapping
The first Saturday in August at Saratoga sees an excellent afternoon race card with four graded-stakes races on tap with a total of $2.4 million in purse money up for grabs.
The feature is the (G1) Whitney Stakes for horses age four and older, racing 1 1/8 miles the Saratoga dirt. The big story line is the appearance in the field of Cody’s Wish, the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile winner who will try to power his way to his seventh win in a row.
The winner of the Whitney will also gain an automatic entry into the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Classic to be held November 4 at Santa Anita Race Track.
Odds listed here are provided by the Saratoga track oddsmaker.
2023 Whitney Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Cody’s Wish Race Odds: 1-2
There’s a good reason why Cody’s Wish is such a heavy favourite here, and all you have to do is look at the past performance info.
He has won nine of his past 10 races, and in the the other he was second by just a neck after getting out of the gate a bit slow. That is one issue with him, in that he makes things hard on himself with not-always-great starts, but so far it hasn’t been a problem as he has an excellent turn of foot and has been able to overcome early problems with tons of late speed.
Bill Mott trains, 2014 Whitney winner Junior Alvarado rides.
2023 Whitney Stakes Free Pick & Handicapping: Zandon Race Odds: 9-2
Ultra-consistent Zandon has been in the money in 10 of his 11 lifetime races, winning two of those and grabbing the runner-up spot on five other occassions.
Included that total is a third-place run in the 2022 Kentucky Derby. Last out he finished second, beaten by 3 1/4 lengths by Cody’s Wish in the (G1) Metropolitan Handicap. Although he has not had a win since last April, what he does have going for him over that rival is a win at the distance, that being the (G1) Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
Chad Brown trains, two-time race-winning jockey Joel Rosario picks up the mount.
Charge It Race Odds: 5-1
After a very solid three-year-old campaign, Charge It has been a bit up-and-down this year as a four-year old, with two wins, a second and two off-the-board finishes in five 2023 races.
He picked up a confidence building win last out in the (G2) Suburban Handicap at Belmont, racing on the lead from the gate. While the field here is much stronger, that race was at 1 1/4 miles, so he gets a cut-back in distance that could prove beneficial.
Trainer Todd Pletcher won the race last year, his fourth Whitney victory. Veteran jockey John Velazquez has won three times previous.
White Abarrio Race Odds: 6-1
There’s an argument to be made that White Abarrio has underperformed since winning four-of-five races to start his career, including the (G1) Florida Derby.
His next start was the 2022 Kentucky Derby, where he ran 16th, and that seemed to take the wind out of his sails, as he was beaten in his next five starts. He finally broke that streak two back with a win at the allowance level, but last out was only third in the Met Handicap, beaten 3 1/2 lengths by Cody’s Wish and a head by Zandon.
Richard Dutrow trains, while Saratoga’s current meet leading rider Irad Ortiz Jr. will been the irons.
Here’s My 2023 Whitney Stakes Free Pick.
Don’t over-think it. While there’s of course little value in betting Cody’s Wish to win here, that is more than likely the outcome.
Consider the fact that last out he beat both the second and fourth choices the ML odds and it wasn’t really close. There is a question about him getting a distance that is 1/16 of a mile further than he has raced before – and it was at that 1 1/16 miles distance that he last suffered defeat – but note that there is distance in his pedigree with a sire that twice won at 1 1/4 miles.
More than distance, getting a decent break is probably key, and if he does that, he should handle this field.
Looking at the exotics then, in a race lacking much in the way of early speed I expect Charge It will be the one to catch. As mentioned above he’s getting a 1/8 of a mile cut-back in distance here from his previous outing where he went wire-to-wire to win, and so he should be able to hang on until the end, and I’ll use him in the exacta.
Full Field: 2023 Whitney Stakes Odds
By post position
- #1 – Zandon 9-2
- #2 – Charge It 5-1
- #3 – Giant Game 20-1
- #4 – Last Samurai 15-1
- #5 – Whte Abarrio 6-1
- #6 – Cody’s Wish 1-2
Whitney Stakes Tweet of the Day
Cody’s Wish had a chance to say hello to his best friend Cody Dorman this morning before heading out to the track! 🥹
He’s entered in tomorrow’s #WinAndYoureIn Whitney Stakes! pic.twitter.com/hRhAHYtOLF
— Breeders’ Cup (@BreedersCup) August 4, 2023
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