Secret Oath, Nest clash at Saratoga in CCA Oaks on Saturday

By NY Hot List Staff | Thursday, July 21, 2022

Week two at Saratoga Race Course shines a spotlight on fillies as the top two 3-year-old distaff runners will clash in Saturday’s Coaching Club American Oaks. Secret Oath and Nest, the two favorites in the Grade 1 stakes, last met in the Kentucky Oaks when Secret Oath prevailed over Nest by two lengths. Since then the two fillies tackled the boys in Triple Crown races with mixed results. Secret Oath finished fourth in the Preakness Stakes while Nest was a game second in the Belmont Stakes. Both fillies have been training in solid fashion for their showdown over 1 1/8 miles at the Spa.

Here’s the Hot List picks for the CCA Oaks:

$500,000 Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) – Saratoga, Saturday, Race 5.

(5) Secret Oath and (3) Nest are on similar paths since they finished first and second in the Kentucky Oaks (G1). They both then ran in Triple Crown races against the boys. Secret Oath (G1) ran fourth in the Preakness and Nest was second in the Belmont Stakes (G1). The factor that might separate these two fillies is the distance of 1 1/8 miles. Nest will have to cut back from the 1 ½ mile distance of the Belmont and historically that is not easy to do. Thus, Secret Oath is the top pick and Nest is the pick for second. (4) Nostalgic did not run well in the Kentucky Oaks but before that was the winner of the Gazelle (G3) at Aqueduct. (1) Butterbean is in fine form right now with 3 wins in a row – the Iowa Oaks (G3), the Panther also at Prairie Meadows, and a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs.

The rest of the NY Hot List picks and the Special Saturday Pick 3 are available free of charge at this website.