Saratoga Race Course Picks: Diana Stakes Day, 7/12/2025

Key Takeaways:

• Art Fair and Uncle Jim are well suited to the seven-furlong dirt distance in Race 3, with Art Fair offering frontrunning appeal and Uncle Jim showing versatility at a fair price on the drop.
• Far Bridge is the proven class in the Bowling Green (G2) and should thrive at the longer 1 ⅜-mile distance, while longshot El Rezeen is a strong stretch-out play with back class over the Saratoga turf.
• Illuminate and Runninsonofagun both offer upside at a price in Race 10, with Illuminate returning to his best trip and Lasix, and Runninsonofagun dropping in class and reuniting with Rosario for a potential off-the-pace score.

Horse racing at Saratoga Springs started a little early last weekend with the July 4th Racing Festival, and that action rolls right into what would otherwise be opening weekend, this weekend at Saratoga Race Course. As usual, this mid-July weekend is headlined by the Grade 1 Diana, a turf route that drew some of the leading lights of the filly and mare turf division.

However, the Diana isn’t all there is on Saturday at Saratoga. Saturday at Saratoga features a full 12-race card with another graded-stakes race as well, the Bowling Green (G2) for older turf horses. The action gets underway at 12:35 p.m. Saturday, and you can watch and wager all day long through FanDuel and FanDuel TV.

Don’t forget to check the weather and the track condition before placing your bets. There is a possibility for rain on Friday and Saturday, which could affect both whether horses stay in the races and how well they handle the surfaces. Those scratches can affect both the pace setup and class balance of the races, so it’s always smart to check before you bet.

Here are the three best bets for the Saturday, July 12 card at Saratoga Race Course:

Saratoga Race Course Best Bets

Race 3 - $100,000 claiming (three-year-olds only), seven furlongs on the dirt - Art Fair, Uncle Jim

FanDuel odds: 7-2 and 4-1

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Seven-furlong horses win seven-furlong races, but there’s a seven-furlong horse to bet against here. That’s Joey Muscles. Though he drops into a claimer for the first time and has won and finished second in seven-furlong races, he runs like two different horses at Gulfstream versus away from there. That’s a common pattern for Gulfstream, and it’s a high-confidence move—consider betting Joey Muscles when he goes back to Hallandale Beach, but leave him alone at the Spa despite his seven-furlong form.

With that out of the way? Art Fair (7-2) has never lost for a tag, and has found the right spot. Not only is he by Munnings, an elite extended-sprint sire, but he beat allowance horses at Tampa Bay Downs going that distance and was second in a sloppy starter allowance at Keeneland. He is drawn near the outside, so he has a good chance of starting cleanly, and he has the speed to get his preferred spot on the lead. He also attracts high-percentage rider Flavien Prat. In short, wet or dry, Art Fair should be the one to catch.

Uncle Jim (4-1) intrigues on his first drop into a straight claiming race. He has been claimed—twice, in fact, but those races have been optional claimers. He has three wins in six starts: all his losses have come at a mile or longer, while all his wins have come at either 6 ½ furlongs or seven. He wired the field last out, and he is unlikely to outjump Art Fair to the front—but looking back to his maiden win, he can win from off the pace as well, meaning he has another way to the finish line. He also may be a bigger price than he would otherwise be with such fitting form, as he hails from the unheralded barn of Ilkay Kantarmaci.

Race 8 - Bowling Green Stakes (G2), 1 ⅜ miles on the turf - Far Bridge, El Rezeen

FanDuel odds: 6-5 and 8-1

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Far Bridge is the class of the Bowling Green field. He is the only horse coming out of a Grade 1 race, and he missed by just a neck after tracking the pace. The extra distance for the Bowling Green helps – the Manhattan was just 1 ⅛ miles, but he does his better work going 1 ⅜ miles or 1 ½ miles. He should be able to get a tactical trip on or near the lead from a gate close to the outside, assuming the race stays on the lawn, which, chances are, it will. Far Bridge’s normal day at the office at this distance should win this race, making him a logical favorite.

If you’re going to try and oppose him—or play someone with Far Bridge in exotics—look for a price horse with upside. El Rezeen is the most interesting of that lot. He makes the second start of his four-year-old year in the Bowling Green. Though he was defeated in allowance company in his return at Keeneland, that was a 1 1/16-mile race. That race was too short for him. Not only is he bred top and bottom to go as long as possible on the lawn, but last year, it wasn’t until he stretched out to these longer distances that he figured it out. He graduated at 1 ½ miles at Saratoga, cleared his one-other-than over the same course and distance, and missed by only three-quarters of a length in the 1 ⅜-mile Jockey Club Derby (G3) in his graded debut. He can make a stout rally from midpack, whether the pace in front of him is sharp or sluggish, and should be doing just that now that he stretches out to a distance he likes.

Race 10 - Allowance optional claiming, seven furlongs on the dirt - Illuminate and Runninsonofagun

FanDuel odds: 8-1 and 8-1

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In a field with a lot of horses with limited upside, lightly-raced Illuminare (8-1) is on the way up for trainer Todd Pletcher. Toss the last; it was his graded-stakes debut, and there is also a possibility that he just hated Gulfstream Park. After all, that was his first start over the track, and just as there are horses who run anomalously well at Gulfstream, there are plenty of others who can’t take to the footing there. Seven furlongs at Saratoga is clearly his jam, as he broke his maiden and cleared his first-level condition over this course and distance in his first two starts. He did so from very close to the lead, but showed a more tactical style when he cleared his second-level condition two back. It is also worth noting that he has won all three starts with Lasix and lost the pair of stakes without it – this being allowance company, he has it again.

Runninsonofagun (8-1) has freshened up since a fourth-place finish in the Tom Fool on March 1. He makes all the right moves here, too: he stretches out to seven furlongs, drops in class, and gets Joel Rosario in the irons. The big question here is the barn change during the layoff, but it’s a big plus that Rosario (who rode him to his best efforts last year) returns to the saddle, and he has been working well since the return. He also has the right running style for this; with several horses in the field likely to show speed, Runninsonofagun can get a nice trip from a few lengths off the pace and pick them off in the lane.

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