Expert Pick of the Week: 2023 Alabama Stakes

Aug 17, 2023 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

An outstanding field of 10 three-year-old fillies will travel 1 1/4 miles on the
Saratoga dirt in Saturday’s ever-important $600,000 Alabama S. (G1). The Chad
Brown-trained
Fireline lacks the
credentials of most of her foes in the field, but I am expecting the Juddmonte
homebred to run the race of her lifetime at a big price on Saturday. She is the
Expert Pick of the Week.

The daughter of Arrogate was unplaced in her debut run at Aqueduct in November over
a sloppy, sealed surface, but she showed marked improvement second time out
with the move to one mile when graduating by 13 commanding lengths. She
commenced her 2023 campaign with a very impressive allowance score while facing
her elders at Belmont Park, prior to finishing fourth in the recent
Delaware Oaks
(G3)
.

Fireline
comes in fresh with a trio of nice morning drills on the surface in advance of
her toughest test to date, and the Kentucky-bred will have one of the hottest
riders on the grounds in the silks with Javier Castellano taking the reins. The
filly will track a moderate early tempo from the second flight early, which
will allow her to get the jump on her late-running foes.

Wet Paint got her much-deserved top victory
when gamely taking the
Coaching Club American Oaks (G1) on the oval last time
out. Conditioned by Brad Cox, the consistently very good Blame filly is
essentially a one-run closer who boasts a powerful turn of foot, and drawing
near the rail seems ideal for the Godolphin homebred to save ground throughout.
The bay has worked twice following her signature score and retains the services
of Flavien Prat.

Black-Eyed Susan S. (G2) victress Taxed has
really moved her game up since having the blinkers removed three starts back.
The Randy Morse trainee, who was claimed for $50,000 in November, had a strong
prep for this when a clear second in the Indiana Oaks (G3) at 1 1/16 miles and
will surely improve in a second run off the layoff. The gray daughter of Collected
will rally from off of the early tempo with Rafael Bejarano in the silks.

An
exacta with
#5 Fireline on top of #2 Wet Paint and #9 Taxed in the 2023 Alabama Stakes is the Best Bet of the Week.