Saratoga Picks: Alabama Stakes 2024 Date, Entries, Horses, Odds, and Predictions (2024)

Alabama Stakes 2024:

Thorpedo Anna is preparing for next week’s Travers Stakes, so that means the rest of the field has a chance in the G1 Alabama Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday, August 17. Race 10 in your program for Saturday will not feature the nation’s top 3-year-old filly, but it does feature a list of eight intriguing contenders for the 144th running of the Alabama Stakes.

This is one of the nation’s oldest horse races and some elite fillies have won this race, including 2021 Kentucky Oaks winner Malathaat, 2020 Preakness Stakes winner Swiss Skydiver, Hall of Famer Songbird (2016), and Breeders’ Cup Distaff (2015) and Black-Eyed Susan Stakes winner (2014) Stopchargingmaria (2014). One of the sport’s most decorated fillies, Silverbulletday, also won this race back in 1999.

It is a 1 ¼-mile run on the dirt, so the winner will have definitely earned it. Post time is set for 5:43 p.m. ET.

Here are the Alabama Stakes entries, odds, jockeys, and trainers:

With a big weekend in the Saratoga Summer Meet, many of the top riders are on hand, including several here in this race. This is the third leg of the “New York Triple Tiara”, with the others being the Acorn Stakes during Belmont weekend and the Coaching Club American Oaks.

Here are some notes on the horses:

1. Intricate (6-1; Walsh/Gaffalione): The first of two daughters of Gun Runner in this field. There were only four runners in the Coaching Club American Oaks and nobody had a chance at Thorpedo Anna. Intricate was the long shot at 10-1 and finished a distant third. None of the horses really pushed when Thorpedo Anna hit the gas, so it is really tough to get a read on Intricate, as well as Candied, who drew Post 7 in this one.

However, what we do know is Intricate wasn’t good enough in the Monomoy Girl Overnight back in June or her two Fair Ground starts, losing to Tarifa in the Rachel Alexandra and finishing fifth in the Oaks. Intricate is the only horse to have ever beaten Thorpedo Anna (2023 Golden Rod Stakes).

2. Chatalas (8-1; Glatt/Dettori): The other Gun Runner girl is Chatalas, who is coming off of a solid win in the Indiana Oaks after a long layoff. That July 6 run is her only start of the year and she galloped 1 1/16 for the win over Little Jamie and Impel. Antonio Fresu was in the mount for that one as a 10-1 shot and beat a 1-5 favorite in Impel with a huge push at the stretch.

It wasn’t quite wire-to-wire, but she set the pace heading into the last turn and had just enough by a nose to secure the win in the battle with Little Jamie. Distance is a factor for most of the horses here, especially Chatalas, who has never run more than 1 1/16.

3. Power Squeeze (9-2; Delgado/Castellano): The well-bred daughter of Union Rags and Callmethesqueeze had a bounce back effort in the Delaware Oaks last month to hold off Sidamara and Regaled in the stakes debut for each. She struggled with stronger fields in the Acorn Stakes and Kentucky Oaks, finishing third and sixth, respectively.

This field is not as strong as those two and her figure from the Gulfstream Park Oaks might be enough to win here. She’s a four-time stakes winner and maybe the distance bump will be okay for her. Out of 12 career wins from her parents, only one came over 1 1/16 miles, but it was when Union Rags won the 2012 Belmont Stakes.

4. Just Basking (5-1; Wilkes/Landeros): Like Gun Runner, Arrogate has two offspring in the field, with Just Basking as one of them from Post 4. She has a win at this distance, claiming her maiden at Churchill back in April. She’s coming off of a nice win in the Iowa Oaks as the second favorite at 1 1/16 miles. She pulled away and won by nearly five lengths with Landeros aboard.

This is obviously a big step up in class, but Arrogate was a good distance runner and she might just be a little late with an unraced dam. I find her a very compelling contender.

5. America’s Vow (20-1; Hamm/Alvarado): The daughter of Constitution is coming off of a nice win in an allowance at Saratoga last month and she’ll turn around quickly here for the Alabama. It was just her second win in 12 starts and her other was a maiden that took five tries.

She’s been beaten twice by Power Squeeze in stakes races and only hit the board in one of them. She also lost to Intricate back in October at Keeneland in a seventh-place finish. Luis Saez had the mount in the win. Saez has opted for Neon Icon here, as Junior Alvarado gets the ride.

6. Miss Justify (6-1; Pletcher/Prat): The connections pop for Miss Justify in this race, with the Todd Pletcher/Flavien Prat tandem on the sheet and a sire like Justify. She’s also rounding into form very nicely with an allowance win at Churchill and a Wilton Stakes win at Saratoga in her last two starts. She’s never run more than a mile, which is the concern here, but her 98 and 101 Equibase Speed Figures in her last two races would likely be good enough to win this one.

Nest and Malathaat, the other two winners for Pletcher in the last three Alabama Stakes, already had two-turn runs and wins before this event. On the other hand, we may simply be seeing Miss Justify’s coming-out party.

7. Candied (7-5; Pletcher/Franco): Candied certainly seemed targeted for this race by Pletcher, but Miss Justify probably was not. He’ll see if his fillies can finish 1-2, as Candied comes in off of a distant runner-up to Thorpedo Anna in the Coaching Club American Oaks and a win at Monmouth in the Lady’s Secret back in June.

Candied maybe seemed a little more promising as a 2-year-old with two wins and a third in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies, but she still hasn’t done much to hurt her perception heading into this race. Like so many, she’s never run at the distance, but she fared pretty well in the American Oaks going an eighth of a mile more than she ever had.

Maybe this is worth reading into and maybe it’s not, but Prat gets the ride on Miss Justify and Candied gets Manny Franco for his second consecutive ride.

8. Neon Icon (15-1; Arnold/Saez): The greatest unknown is Neon Icon, who has maiden and allowance wins and a fifth in the Indiana Oaks. She ran first at Churchill in May at this distance after not running as a 2-year-old. Edgar Morales had the ride in the Indiana Oaks, but Saez is back in the mount after leading her first two wins.

Dam Mademoiselle Coco was unimpressive, but did win two races in five starts. She was also a daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, so Neon Icon’s grandpa was quite a racehorse.

Alabama Stakes Picks

Thorpedo Anna would be the pick at any price, but she’s not here and this race is a riddle as a result. It is a tough one to solve between accomplished horses that haven’t run the distance, not-so-accomplished horses that have, and long shots that seem a little livelier than usual.

Perhaps Candied is the horse to beat, but I’ll just add the favorite to exotics, as I think she can be beaten.

Using a hypothetical $50 bankroll:

$10 Win ($20)

4 Just Basking

6 Miss Justify

$2 Trifecta Part-Wheel ($24)

4,6 / 1,2,7 / 1,2,7

$2 Exacta Box ($6)

4/6/7