Baby Talk Info & Intel: Saratoga – Race 3 – Sunday, July 27, 2025

Ten colts will battle it out over one mile on the Inner Turf course, and one more is signed up and is Also Eligible, but only for the Main Track Only. One First-Season Stallion is represented, along with dudes like Lope de Vega, Munnings, City of Light, Liam’s Map, Blame, Upstart, Practical Joke, Authentic, and Karakonite. Pletcher has two in the main field and also has the MTO filly. Miguel also has two set to go, while Chad Brown, Brad Cox, and Bill Mott each have a runner that they’ll saddle. This is a terrific race, and it’s time to thoroughly analyze it…

#1 British Invasion (8/1) - Miguel Clement (the barn is 10/54, 18.5%) trains the first part of the entry, and this colt is by Lope de Vega (5/25, 20.0%). His Irish-bred dam has tossed four other foals of racing age. $283,687 was the winning bid on this guy in 2023 when he was a weanling (2/11) before being pinhooked back last year as a yearling for $437,024 (20/63). He’s put in a total of 13 spins (38 furlongs). His first three were at the Payson Park Training Center before he was shipped up to SAR in mid-May for ten works, all at Oklahoma, with two coming on the turf track.

#2 Olivetti (4/1) – Munnings (15.5%) is the proud pops to this colt with his French-bred dam coming from Turtle Bowl (IRE). Mama won three of 12 races, including her third start over in France as a juvenile, and ended with $176K in the bank. She’s produced four other foals of racing age, and one of those was a winner as a baby in their second start at Aqueduct, scoring in a total of six races (three at the G3 level) from 27 starts, and banked nearly $3/4 million. This fella, trained by Chad Brown (19.0%), is a White Birch / Peter Brant homebred. He’s been out on nine mornings (32 furlongs), all at Saratoga, with his first six coming over the Oklahoma strip, and his most recent three taking place on the main oval. His times have not been overly impressive.

#4 Teddy’s Rocket (3/1) – The Morning Line favorite is the second colt in this race, who is trained by Miguel Clement (10/54, 18.5%). His pops is Liam’s Map (11.2%), and his mom is by Quality Road. On the track, she won her debut at Aqueduct, but could not find the Winner’s Circle again in three more starts, ending with $63,000 in the bank. In the breeding shed, she’s only thrown one other foal of racing age. Today’s runner hammered for $120K last year (47/93). Clement has been reading this guy with eight workouts on the training side of Saratoga (31 furlongs), with two coming on the Oklahoma turf. He has not set the stopwatch on fire.

#5 Blame Jerry (6/1) – The first of two in the main field that Todd Pletcher (17.3%) will saddle is a colt by Blame (11.6%). His 19YO dam was unraced, but she’s tossed ten other foals of racing age. One of those offspring was a full sister to this guy, who was a fine runner who sports a 5/13 record with $320K in purse money won. Today’s competitor went through the sales ring in 2023 as a weanling and brought $50,000 (4/8), but was pinhooked back as a yearling for $200K (5/49). All of his prep work has been completed here at the Spa with a total of nine drills (34 furlongs); the first five on the training track and the most recent four on the main dirt surface. As the horse listed above, the stopwatch has not reflected any swift times.

#6 Royal Guard (9/2) – Conditioner Brad Cox is responsible for the preparation of this colt, who will be making his debut. His stallion is First-Crop sire, Essential Quality (one winner from nine starters), and his dam is French-bred by Arch, who was 0 for 5. Today’s runner is her first foal. The price tag was $160K last year when this dude went through the sales ring as a yearling (25/68). His workout regimen started in mid-May at Keeneland, where he put in seven drills. After that, a quick van ride west on I-64 landed this guy at Churchill Downs, where he performed two 5f works. Lastly, a trip up to Saratoga earlier this month gave him the opportunity to try to Oklahoma turf course, going a half mile. His last morning effort at KEE stopped the timer in 1:01.2 for the 5/8^th mile breeze, giving him a bullet move (1/19).

#9 Helioo (20/1) – HOFer Bill Mott (5.5%) is the trainer of this Authentic (8.5%) colt, whose mom is a Godolphin homebred by Speightstown. She was 0/3 on the track and has thrown three other foals of racing age. All were winners, and one scored as juvey at Churchill Downs in her second start. Helioo was a $200K yearling sold last year at the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling sale (9/70). He has raced one time, back on 7/11/25, here at the Spa, but he didn’t do much running, finishing 7^th of eight starters while going off at 16/1. Mott has given him one maintenance work since his afternoon outing.

#10 Sunrise (8/1) – A mating of Karakonite (16.9%) and an Unusual Heat dam produced this colt. Mama, now 19YO, was victorious in one of 20 starts, bringing home just shy of $100K. In the breeding shed, she’s produced seven other foals of racing age, two of which are full sisters to today’s runner, who were successful. One won her debut at age 2 at Gulfstream Park and also won a stakes event and finished runner-up in a G2 affair while still a baby. Another won four times in seven starts, including a G1, a G2, and a G3, ultimately banking $795K. The hammer fell at $150K on this dude last year when he was a yearling (1/8, nearly double the second highest). Trainer Todd Pletcher (17.3%) has put him through his paces eight times here at Saratoga (30 follows). His first four came on the Oklahoma dirt, the next was on the turf training track, and the most recent three were on the main dirt oval. None of his works have been flashy fast, but the clockings have been solid.

My Pick – I rarely write up seven horses in a single race; it speaks to how open I see this event to be. Although I don’t see one standing out, I will always pick one (and only one) in every race that I cover (it’s only sporting that I do so). My pick is #2 Olivetti. Brown certainly knows his way to the Winner’s Circle in turf affairs. Although Prat’s taken some heat lately, he’s still clearly a terrific rider, and Peter Brant only breeds first-rate runners. His dad is solid, and his mom won as a juvey with his female side coming from European, which is always a positive for grass runners. Let’s give this guy a roll…