Saratoga TB

A fantastic prelude to the Belmont Stakes. Rhetorical (second choice) is in the form of his life and has strong credentials. He has so much speed that a slight doubt exists over his strength in the finish over this slightly longer trip, however. One Stripe also has some stamina doubts, as he can race keenly even over a mile, but the former South African star ran a huge race last time at Keeneland. Deterministic is sure to go well to repeat last year's win, when the race was moved to the inner turf track and run over slightly shorter, but it could be as simple as French-trained BRIGHT PICTURE having similar speed but more genuine stamina than these. He represents the form of outstanding Daryz from the Ganay and the fact that he ran poorly in Bahrain last year on his only previous start outside France does not dent confidence. [James Willoughby]