BERNARD BARUCH
Saratoga, eighth race. Grade 2. Purse: $250,000. 1 1/16 miles, turf, 3-year-olds and up. Post: 4:39 p.m.
LOWDOWN: Data Link, 6-for-10 overall on turf, is 5-for-6 when the going is firm, which it will be today. The 4-year-old son of War Front, unraced since winning the Grade 2 Monmouth Stakes on June 10, has turned in some blazing workouts since then, and trainer Shug McGaughey is having a career year with turf runners.
TV: HRTV, TVG, NYRA Channel 71.
FOREGO
Saratoga, ninth race. Grade 1. Purse: $500,000. 7 furlongs, 3-year-olds and up. Post: 5:12 p.m.
LOWDOWN: Emcee set a furious pace (21.99 and 44.61 seconds) in the Aug. 5 Vanderbilt coming off a three-month layoff and held on gamely to be beaten just a half-length despite racing along the dead rail. Godolphin Racing’s son of Unbridled’s Song has run two sensational races at today’s distance, and trainer Kiaran McLaughlin says he runs best with a target.
TV: NBC, HRTV, TVG, NYRA Channel 71
WOODWARD
Saratoga, 10th race. Grade 1. Purse: $750,000. 1 1/8 miles, 3-year-olds and up. Post: 5:45 p.m.
LOWDOWN: Perhaps it’s just wishful thinking, but from the time he was a 2-year-old, we felt To Honor and Serve might be the top colt of his generation. Some of his races — last year’s NYRA Mile, this year’s Westchester — suggest that might be true, despite his disappointing efforts in the Met Mile and Suburban. The Woodward will be his first race in eight weeks, and trainer Bill Mott has done very well with layoff horses going two turns at this meet.
LAST WEEK: At Saratoga, Zagora won the Ballston Spa paying $5, $3.30, $2.50; Contested won the Test paying $4, $3.60, $2.60; Trinniberg (5-2) ran ninth in the King’s Bishop.