Race 10 at Saratoga | Saturday, July 11 | Post Time 5:39 PM Eastern

Bowling Green Stakes | Purse $250,000 | One Mile and Three-Eighths on Turf | Four-Year-Olds and Upward

Top Contender: Ole Crazy Bone (1)

Other horses for exactas: Desvio (3), Fort George (4)

Ole Crazy Bone (1) won a similar race when he ran the Grade 2 Kentucky Downs Turf Cup Invitational last September. Prior to the win, he missed a head in the Kentucky Downs Preview Turf Cup at one and a quarter miles. Both efforts earned Ole Crazy Bone his best Equibase Speed Figures, 115. Those races came after he changed to Michael Maker. The horse had run in 17 races in his career previously, never in a claiming race, but his previous trainer put him into a $100,000 price. Maker improved the horse in two races; then he was off for eight months. His last race was shorter than either of his previous two, but he still ran second, and now he goes back to his best distance. Jockey Flavien Prat was aboard Ole Crazy Bone the only time he won the Turf Cup, and Prat is having his best career year, winning 25% of 600 races. With the rail, Prat getting aboard again, and a race now under his belt, Ole Crazy Bone has a shot at securing his second Grade 2 stakes win, just like last September.

Desvio (3) and Fort George (4) have the credentials to win if Ole Crazy Bone doesn’t. Desvio won the Grade 2 Sycamore Stakes last October at this distance, with a 112 figure. He is also running in his third race off a layoff. One back, he finished second in the Grade 2 Elkhorn Stakes in April (with a 96 figure), then he finished fourth in the Cape Henlopen Stakes even though he ran faster and earned a 102 figure. That figure was similar to when he finished second in the Colonial Cup Stakes last September before winning the Sycamore. John Velazquez is riding as he was in the Sycamore and for his last two races.

Fort George imports to the U.S., where he has a good record of 3-4-3 in 12 races. His worst race since his debut was when he raced in the $5 million Dubai Turf, finished ninth, his last race on March 28, where he had no shot with Ombudsman and others. Ombudsman has a record of 9-3-0 in 12 races. In Fort George, his second recent race, he finished second to Rebel’s Romance in the Group 2 Dubai City of Gold, a very good effort where he earned a 111 figure. Rebel’s Romance has won $15 million, including winning the Breeders’ Cup in 2024 and finishing second last year. In between his debut and the Dubai Turf, he has finished in the money in all 10 starts. Fort George is in easier company compared to his last two races, so he has a shot for a part of the exacta at the least.

 

Win Bet: Ole Crazy Bone (1) at 3 to 2 or higher.

Exactas: Ole Crazy Bone (1) over Desvio (3), Fort George (4)