The 2020 Whitney Stakes will be Race 9 on August 1st at Saratoga. Post time is set for 4:42 PM CT. This Grade I Race is one and one eighth miles and has a purse of $750,000. There are five horses in the field this year. Last year’s winner was McKinzie (who’s actually racing today in the Bing Crosby at Del Mar). Let’s take a look at the rankings for this year’s field.
In my algorithm, there are several factors I take into consideration including the horse’s past performances, workouts, winnings as well as the jockey’s performances and winnings. Let’s check out the rankings for the five horses entered in this year’s Whitney Stakes.
Tom’s d’Etat is the best horse in this field; he’s won four races and a row and had speed figures of 113 or higher in each of those races (Stephen Foster Stakes (Gr. 2), Oaklawn Mile Stakes, Clark S. presented by Norton Healthcare (Gr. 1) and Hagyard Fayette Stakes (Gr. 2)). Code of Honor, Improbable and By My Standards are all horses that raced in last year’s Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve (Gr. 1).
Code of Honor finished second in the Derby and went on the win the Runhappy Travers Stakes (Gr. 1) after that. Recently, Code of Honor has ran speed figures of 113 and 115 in his last two (finishing 1st and 3rd).
Improbable ran 4th in last year’s Derby and won his last start in the Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes (Gr. 1), with a speed figure of 116.
By My Standards finished 11th in last year’s Derby, but more recently has won three of his last four. In his last race, he finished second in the Stephen Foster Stakes to Tom’s E’tat
The only horse I haven’t touched on yet is Mr. Buff. At a 12-1 morning line; he’s the longshot in this field. He did run a 119 speed figure three races back in the Haynesfield Stakes, but he hasn’t been in the same big-time races the rest of this field has.
I have run the 2020 Whitney Stakes 1,000 times in simulations. Below are the results of those races.
Quick Wrap Up and Betting Strategies
Most Likely to Win: Tom’s d’Etat (6/5)
My Bet: 5 to Win
Trifecta: 5-3-2
Hard to find value in a race with only five horses, so I’m just going to go with the one I think will win and enjoy this race because there are some very talented horses to watch in this one.
