Our full week coverage of this final stretch of the Colonial Summer meet continues with these spot plays and full-card picks for the Saturday card. This will all culminate in a couple days with the big Labor Day stakes extravaganza that serves as the send-off for 2026 racing at the track. I’ve already participated in a video preview of those races over on the In the Money Media YouTube channel alongside PTF & Will Humphrey. Be sure to check that out ahead of Monday’s card.
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Selections
- Race 1: 7-8-2-10
- Race 2: 5-1-3-4
- Race 3: 7-1-8-2
- Race 4: 8-5-1-3
- Race 5: 8-3-7-2
- Race 6: 1-3-2-7
- Race 7: 9-8-1-10
- Race 8: 5-1-6-7
- Race 9: 7-9-2-6
- Race 10: 12-10-7-2
Colonial Downs Race 1: Hot Cocoa (#7) at 8-1 or higher
I’ve gotten pretty familiar with this group of maiden claimers from handicapping Colonial this meet and one thing I’m sure of is I don’t want to take a short price on any of these runners. Cool Hard Breeze (#2) is the horse to beat off that narrow defeat here on August 15th and you have to like that she gets an improved post, but I’m not keen on taking sub-2:1 on a 5% barn. The “fuzzy” in this race is Shiv (#8) who I nearly made my top pick given she’s the new face in the group. She at least showed a little bit of speed in her debut going long on the dirt and now she gets to go over the surface she’s better suited for based on her pedigree as the dam won $135k on grass. I went with Hot Cocoa (#7) on top who despite her 0/13 record has run quite well in a few of her turf routes. It wasn’t too far back she went off at 6-5 in a maiden claimer down at Gulfstream and as long as she doesn’t get in a speed duel, I project a pretty good forwardly placed trip as she gets a barn and jockey change. and could be double-digit odds.
Colonial Downs Race 8: Strutsherstuff (#5) at 5-1 or higher
There’s a few common rivals who will take part in the Nellie Mae Cox Stakes looking to take advantage of the opportunity racing against VA-Restricted company one more time this meet. Despite her loss last time out in the All Brandy Stakes I still make Day to Day (#1) the horse to beat in this spot. She was impressive taking down the Brookmeade two starts back but just couldn’t overcome the 4-wide journey last time. I prefer her to the other logical Nick’s Notion (#8) who got a nice setup and might not get as much pace to close into this afternoon. The lack of pace makes Quadra (#7) dangerous, but Day to Day handled her pretty seamlessly in the Brookmeade and she’s proving to be quite faint-hearted in the lane. I landed on Strutsherstuff (#5) as the top choice thinking she can get a nice stalking strip outside Day to Day. This is the first try against VA-Restricted company for this Madison Meyers trainee and I think she could appreciate the class relief. I thought she was developing into a nice one last summer after taking that N2X at Laurel, but obviously something went amiss as we didn’t see her show up again until Preakness weekend. While she hasn’t won yet this year I can make excuses for all three of her efforts. The The Very One Stakes was a tough spot off the bench going a distance shorter than she prefers and the company proved too tough in an open N2X at Saratoga. She hinted at a return to her best form last out with a solid second sprinting on synthetic at Presque Isle and now she gets back to routing on turf where she produced her best win.
Colonial Downs Race 10: Sometime (#12) at 6-1 or higher
A full field is signed on to contest this nightcap and that makes me hesitant to default to the favorite Launch Control (#2) as 7/5 would be no bargain in a turf sprint like this. He’s the horse to beat off that 2nd place finish at the level last out, but no more than 25% likely to win which would be an underlay. The Roland Clement III barn has two entrants in this spot. Holy Joanie (#9) crossed the wire first at this level last out before being DQ’ed, but I worry there’s too much early speed in this affair. His other entrant Blessings Bestowed (#11) is in good form right now, but will have to handle a step up in class. I’d use both Horsetron Supreme (#7) and Sinetic (#10) on tickets as the former gets an intriguing surface switch for a barn that’s brought some live runners to the meet despite not winning a race yet. The latter just doesn’t look like he should be 20/1 as he’s been competitive at this level earlier in the meet. However, I made Sometime (#12) the top pick as I’m interested in what we get from him returning to the lawn. I found it notable that connections opted to try him on turf in his second career start fresh off a dominant debut win on dirt and he didn’t run all that bad in the Jamestown Stakes finishing 3rd beaten 2L. Now he’s making his second career turf try in start 15 and also getting some necessary class relief. There’s still some modicum of solid form left based on his sprint race at Penn National three-back and if he takes to the grass, he should get a nice setup rallying from mid-pack.
#TheCheatSheet
2026 Summer Meet Statistics (thru 9/1)
All
Top Picks: 139-31-23-28 (22%, $1.76); Featured Horses: 45-8-7-6 (19%, $1.97)
Fair Odds Met
Top Picks: 104-21-13-24 (20%, $2.04); Featured Horses: 37-6-5-6 (18%, $2.17)
Grid
Percent of Races Won By: A’s: 52%; B’s: 32%; C’s: 13%; X’s: 4%
