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NYRA teams with Woodbine and Monmouth for Cross Country Pick 5 on Whitney Day

by Brian Bohl

The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) will host a Cross Country Pick 5 encompassing action from Saratoga Race Course on Saturday, Whitney Day, in addition to Monmouth Park and Woodbine Racetrack. 

Live coverage of all the sequence's races 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.

Woodbine will initiate the sequence in Race 9 at 5:26 p.m. Eastern with a 1 1/8-mile maiden allowance tilt for 3-year-olds and up. A full 12-horse field running on the Tapeta track will see a pair of entrants for Hall of Famer Mark Casse, who will saddle Malahini and Awesome Wok N Roll. Trainer Graham Motion will send out Red Storm Risen, while Olliemyboy, who ran second last out on July 11, will run for trainer Sid Attard.

Monmouth Park, located in Oceanport, New Jersey, will host the first stakes of the sequence in the second race with the 96th running of the Grade 3, $200,000 Monmouth Oaks in Race 11 at 5:31 p.m. Nine 3-year-old fillies will compete at 1 1/16 miles on the main track, with Project Whiskey, trained by Robert Reid, Jr., entering off a win in the Grade 3 Delaware Oaks on July 4. Lucrezia, conditioned by Arnaud Delacour, ran fourth in the Grade 1 Acorn on Belmont Stakes Day June 20 and previously was the runner-up to Eclipse Award-contender Swiss Skydiver in the Grade 2 Gulfstream Park on March 28.

Historic Saratoga will add another chapter to its famed legacy in the third leg with the 93rd running of the 1 1/8-mile Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney in Race 9 at 5:42 p.m. A "Win and You're In" qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Classic, a field of five millionaire earners will compete, led by 6-5 morning-line favorite Tom's d'Etat for trainer Al Stall, Jr. Code of Honor, who won last year's Runhappy Travers at the Spa, will look for additional glory as a 4-year-old in the meet's primer race for 4-year-olds and up.

Conditioned by Hall of Famer Shug McGaughey, Code of Honor will look to become the first horse since Hall of Famer Easy Goer in 1989 to win the Travers, Jockey Club Gold Up and Whitney in a career. Other contenders include Improbable, trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, as well as New York-bred Mr. Buff and By My Standards.

Action will shift back to Woodbine, in Rexdale, Ontario, for the penultimate leg in Race 10 at 5:58 p.m. when a full field of 13 horses 3-years-old and up will contest at 1 3/8 miles on the turf. Coleyville, who won last out in a race taken off the turf, earning an 84 Beyer Speed Figure for trainer Edwin Knight, is coming off a win, while Burning Man, who netted an 87 Beyer for his runner-up effort against optional claimers at 1 1/6 miles on the turf on June 20, returns for trainer Josie Carroll. 

Another Grade 1 contest will close out the Cross Country Pick 5 with the $300,000 H. Allen Jerkens presented by Runhappy in Saratoga's Race 10 at 6:18 p.m. Eleven sophomores will contest the seven-furlong main-track sprint that will feature a rematch of the top-four finishers of the Grade 1 Woody Stephens presented by Claiborne Farm on Belmont Stakes Day last month.

No Parole, the winner of that race, drew post 6 for trainer Tom Amoss as he looks to improve to 5-for-5 all-time in sprints. Hall of Fame trainer Steve Asmussen will saddle three in Echo Town and Shoplifted - the 2-3 finishers in the Woody Stephens - as well as Sonneman. Baffert entered Eight Rings, drawing post 2, while Tap It to Win, who ran fifth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes for Casse, will break from the outside post 11. 

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 1:
Leg 1 - Woodbine, Race 9: (5:26 p.m.)
Leg 2 - Monmouth, Race 11: (5:31 p.m.)
Leg 3 - Saratoga, Race 9: Grade 1 Whitney (5:42 p.m.)
Leg 4 - Woodbine, Race 10: (5:58 p.m.)
Leg 5 - Saratoga, Race 10: Grade 1 H. Allen Jerkens (6:18 p.m.)