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NYRA partners with Del Mar for Saturday's Cross Country Pick 5

by Brian Bohl

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 featuring four graded stakes overall and three Grade 1s between historic Saratoga Race Course and Del Mar on Saturday. 

Live coverage will be available with Saratoga Live on FOX Sports and MSG Networks. Free Equibase past performances for the Cross Country Pick 5 sequence are now available for download at https://www.nyra.com/saratoga/racing/cross-country-wagers.

Saratoga will start the wager with a full field of juveniles going 1 1/16 miles on the inner turf in Race 5 at 3:28 p.m. Eastern. The maiden contest will feature a pair of entrants for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott in Lease and Thorn, while fellow Hall of Fame conditioner Mark Casse will send out American Diamond from the outermost post 10. Winfromwithin, trained by Todd Pletcher, will break from post 8.

The day's feature race at the Spa will comprise the second leg, as the Casse-trained Got Stormy will look to repeat in the Grade 1, $400,000 Fourstardave in Race 9 at 5:46 p.m. Last year, Got Stormy became the first female to win the Fourstardave, setting a track record for the one-mile inner turf course test by completing the course in 1:32 flat. This year, she drew post 4 with Tyler Gaffalione aboard as she competes against a talented field that includes Eclipse Award-winner Uni, who is one of four runners for trainer Chad Brown along with Raging Bull, Valid Point and Without Parole. Mott will send out a pair in Chewing Gum and Casa Creed. The Fourstardave is a "Win and You're In" qualifier to the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Mile in November at Keeneland.

Del Mar will feature the wager's final three races with three graded stakes, starting with the Grade 2, $200,000 Del Mar Handicap for 3-year-olds and up going 1 3/8 miles on the turf in Race 7 at 8 p.m. United, who ran in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf last year, will compete in a race that will offer the winner an automatic berth in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Turf. Combatant won a Grade 1 in March when he captured the Santa Anita Handicap over the main track. The 11-horse field also features Oscar Dominguez, the Irish bred who won the 1 ½-mile Grade 2 Hollywood Turf Cup.

The Grade 1 action continues in the fourth leg in the $250,000 Del Mar Oaks for 3-year-old fillies going 1 1/8 miles on the turf in Race 9 at 9 p.m. Laura's Light, trained by Peter Miller, won the Grade 3 Honeymoon at the same distance. She will face an 11-horse field that includes European horses such as Miss Extra, winner of the Group 2 Prix de Sandringham in France, and the French-bred Neige Blanche, who captured the Group 3 Prix Cleopatre in her native country.

The finale will be the Grade 1, $500,000 Pacific Classic in Race 10 at 9:30 p.m. Maximum Security, who won the Eclipse Award last year as Champion 3-year-old, is 2-for-2 to start his 4-year-old campaign after winning the Saudi Cup and the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap last out. The horse who crossed the wire first in last year's Grade 1 Kentucky Derby before being disqualified and placed 17th and has won four graded stakes since the "Run for the Roses," taking the Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park, the Grade 3 Bold Ruler at Belmont Park and the Grade 1 Cigar Mile Handicap in December at Aqueduct Racetrack. Now trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, Maximum Security is one of six contenders in the 1 ¼-mile test, which includes Midcourt, Higher Power, Mirinaque, Dark Vader and Sharp Samurai.

The minimum bet for the multi-track, multi-race wager is 50 cents. Wagering on the Cross Country Pick 5 is also available on ADW platforms and at simulcast facilities across the country. Every week will feature a mandatory payout of the net pool.

The Cross Country Pick 5 will continue each Saturday throughout the year. For more information, visit NYRABets.com.

Cross Country Pick 5 - Saturday, August 22:
Leg 1 - Saratoga, Race 5: (3:28 p.m.)
Leg 2 - Saratoga, Race 9: G1 Fourstardave (5:46 p.m.)
Leg 3 - Del Mar, Race 7: G2 Del Mar Handicap (8:00 p.m.) 
Leg 4 - Del Mar, Race 9: G1 Del Mar Oaks (9:00 p.m.)
Leg 5 - Del Mar, Race 10: G1 Pacific Classic (9:30 p.m.)