The Pick 6 is the most exciting and difficult and lucrative bet in all of horse racing.
It is hard to win but the logic is simple: find the horses who will win each of 6 consecutive races.
You can add multiple horses for each race on your ticket, but each horse doubles the price of the bet. It can get expensive quickly…
Today is a good day for a Pick 6 bet at Saratoga. There is no carryover or added money to the prize pool but the Travers Stakes day is one of the biggest racing days of the year and we can therefore expect the Pick 6 pool to be full of money, including a lot of money from amateur bettors.
In horse racing, all betting is done in the pari-mutuel format, meaning that the dumber the betting public is, the better it is for the savvy punters.
Regardless of how inexperienced the betting public is, it remains incredibly complicated to find 6 winners in a row but today is a good day to try.
Races in the Pick 6 at Saratoga on August 25 2018
All the races in the Pick 6 line up today at Saratoga are Graded Stakes. This means that every horse in the field has a proven track record which makes it easier to analyze and pick. If your Pick 6 line up comprises of a lot of Maiden or Claiming races, more surprises can occur…
The corollary to that is unfortunately that most of the horses in these fields are top class and have a realistic chance at winning. Most of the races at Saratoga today are pretty wide open so we will still need a lot of luck but proper analysis helps highlight the most interesting contenders and set up a Pick 6 bet with a reasonable budget.
Main contenders in the Saratoga Pick 6 races
Below are listed the main contenders and best outside chances for every race.
You can click the race name to access the full race analysis in separate articles.
Race 6, H. Allen Jerkens Stakes picks
Best chances: PROMISES FULFILLED (1) and FIRENZE FIRE (8)
Race 7, Personal Ensign Stakes picks
Best chances: ELATE (6) and ABEL TASMAN(1); Longshot: WOW CAT (4)
Race 8, Ballerina Stakes picks
Best chance: FINLEY’SLUCKYCHARM (5); Secondary chance: LEWIS BAY (6); Longshot: MARLEY’S FREEDOM (7)
Best chance: CITY OF LIGHT (8); Longshot: NO DOZING (5)
Race 10, Sword Dancer Stakes picks
Best chance: SPRING QUALITY (2); Secondary chance: SADLER’S JOY (10); Longshots: BIGGER PICTURE (6) and CHANNEL MAKER (7)
Best chance: GOOD MAGIC (9); Secondary chance: GRONKOWSKI (3); Longshots: WONDER GADOT (2) and KING ZACHARY (7) and CATHOLIC BOY (11)
How to create your Pick 6 bet
Playing all these horses straight into your Pick 6 will result in a $1440 bet, which is not a good idea in my opinion.
The best is to combine horses according to the ABC method of Steven Crist. Depending on your budget, you can set up a bet of between $50 and $300 with these selections.
There are many bullets to avoid in this Pick 6 lineup and as previously mentioned, in most races many horses have a realistic shot at winning.
But these selections have the best chance in my opinion and with some luck, a Pick 6 win of good value will result!