Saratoga Racetrack 2022, Week 2 Betting Preview: Fillies and Mares Steal the Show

This weekend familiar foes clash as fillies and mares vie for divisional honors in the Grade III Shuvee Stakes and the Grade I Coaching Club American Oaks. Some of the most talented female stars in the sport will take center stage at Saratoga Race Track.

Dimers.com contributor Kimberly French, a freelance horse racing writer and Assistant Director and Production Manager at the New York Racing Association, provides betting insights each week at the Spa.

The Shuvee Stakes may lack in quantity but not in quality. This contest features the rematch of Clairiere and champion Malathaat after Clairiere defeated her rival by a head in the Grade I Ogden Phipps on Belmont Stakes Day.

Malathaat, who has never lost two consecutive races in her career, will compete with blinkers for the first time and won the Grade I Alabama last year over this surface with Clairiere in second.

The fourth time was the charm for Clairiere in the Phipps as it was the first time she finished ahead of Malathaat in four races. Like Malathaat, Clairiere is a multiple Grade I winner.

This will be Clairiere’s fourth start of the season after a win at Fairgrounds in March, a second in the Grade I Apple Blossom to champion Letruska and her triumph in the Phipps.

This is Malathaat’s third start in 2022. She won the Grade III Doubledogdare Stakes at Keeneland prior to her loss in the Phipps.

A win by Malathaat would provide trainer Todd Pletcher with his fifth Shuvee Stakes victory and equal H. Allen Jerkens’ record in this event. If Clairiere enters the winners’ circle it would be trainer Steve Asmussen’s first Shuvee win.

Like the Shuvee, the Coaching Club American Oaks features a rematch between sophomore stars Secret Oath and Nest. Secret Oath got the best of Nest in the Grade I Kentucky Oaks after a fourth-place finish in the Grade I Arkansas Derby against males.

Secret Oath then finished fourth in the Grade I Preakness, again against males, two weeks later. She was given a brief freshening before continuing her sophomore campaign at the Spa.

Nest also competed against males on the Triple Crown trail. The filly was second to stablemate Mo Donegal in the Grade I Belmont Stakes. She also won the Grade I Ashland Stakes before racing under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs.

Will Malathaat return to her winning ways?

Will Nest turn the tables on Secret Oath?

The road to divisional honors continues at Saratoga.

In addition to the competition on the track, the New York Racing Association (NYRA) offers a new wager at Saratoga Race Course. That is the NYRA Triple Play is a Pick 3 wager with a $3 bet minimum and a takeout rate of 19 percent. On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Saratoga meet, the NYRA Triple Play will feature a trifecta of specially selected races. Each NYRA Triple Play will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool. Wagering on the NYRA Triple Play will be available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the nation.