Top pick: #3 (Cave Rock) (4-5) - The 2-year old colt looks special - just like his father, Arrogate, who won the 2016 Breeders' Cup. Cave Rock has won two Grade 1 races, taking the American Pharoah Stakes by 5+ lengths at this same 1 1/16-mile distance. Jockey Juan Hernandez will be riding again and said of winning the Pharoah, "I didn't want to move too soon. I let the horse get comfortable and just let him run because that's the way he runs."
2nd pick: #6 (Blazing Sevens) (6-1) - Blazing Sevens was stretched out to one-mile last month and still looked great winning the Grade 1 Champagne by a 3 1/4-length margin. This Chad Brown horse also won at Saratoga in its debut three races ago by 6 1/4-lengths. Staying with Cave Rock won't be easy, but a second-place finish is likely.
3rd pick: #5 (Verifying) (10-1) - Verifying is the son of Triple Crown winner Justify. He went toe-to-toe with Blazing Sevens at the one-mile Champagne, leading at the eighth pole on the sloppy course before finishing second. In a 6-furlongs win at Saratoga, jockey Joel Rosario asked this horse for bit more down the stretch and he delivered. Rosario will ride again here, though Verifying is being stretched out for the third time in three races.