The Jim Dandy at Saratoga has a post time of 5:44 p.m. Eastern on Saturday, and the race sets up as a rematch between two horses who ran a combined second and third in the Belmont Stakes two months ago.
Commandment, trained by Brad Cox and ridden by Flavien Prat, goes off as the morning line favorite at 6-5. Renegade, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., is listed at 7-5. Chip Honcho, trained by Steve Asmussen with Jose Ortiz in the irons, opens at 3-1. Silent Tactic and Asked and Answered complete the five-horse field.
The Belmont went to Kentucky Derby winner Golden Tempo, who closed powerfully in the final furlong to beat Commandment. Renegade finished third after a difficult trip throughout the race. According to Yahoo Sports, Pletcher was direct about what happened to his horse that day.
"He never found a clear path really. He was always in between, in behind, eating a lot of dirt," Pletcher said of Renegade's Belmont run.
The distance Saturday is a mile and an eighth, one furlong shorter than the Belmont. That difference matters for Commandment, whose past performances suggest he is more comfortable at the shorter distance. He still ran a solid race at a mile and a quarter in the Belmont before Golden Tempo's late surge shut him down.
The Jim Dandy was inaugurated in 1964 and named for a 100-1 longshot who defeated that year's Triple Crown winner, Gallant Fox, at Saratoga in 1930. Gallant Fox had gone off at 1-2 and was considered a certainty. The race has carried its upset reputation ever since.
Saturday's field is small but loaded at the top. Chip Honcho gives the race a speed dimension that the Belmont lacked entirely. That race was dominated by closers from start to finish, with no speed horses able to sustain a lead. Whether Saratoga's track plays any differently on Saturday remains to be seen when the gates open late in the afternoon.
