Saratoga Racing Tips: Balsa fancied to improve switching to turf

Saratoga 20:55: Balsa 0.5pts each-way at 9/1 or better

It's a tricky old day to identify any standouts on the Saratoga card, though there could be a bit of each-way value in the turf maiden race for 2-y-os at 20:55.

Christophe Clement's Inflation Nation is clearly the one to beat following a good effort on debut in July, where he sat a little way off the pace before coming through to be beaten just a neck into second place.

The form of that race looks fine, with the winner running fourth in stakes race next time, while one of those further back came out to win a Colonial maiden next time.

The only real knock is the likely price, with Inflation Nation sure to be short in the betting.

I'm going to take shot at beating him with Godolphin's Balsa, who admittedly was well beaten on dirt on his debut but did show some good speed and on pedigree is bred to be better on turf.

The selection is by Street Boss, who is a good influence for turf, while Balsa's dam was a winner on the grass.

He's also trained by Brad Cox, who is a very good trainer of debutants but also has a fine record with second-time starters, striking at around 30%.

Whilst I fully accept that Inflation Nation will be tough to beat if anywhere near the level of his debut, there's plenty of reasons to expect Balsa to step up considerably on his opening run too, and he'll be a much bigger price to boot.