Whitney Stakes Picks and Preview

If you were looking for a visually impressive performance in a horse race, you couldn't find much better than that of Frosted (3-5 in the Whitney morning line) in the Met Mile on the Belmont Stakes under card. He beat a pretty good field that day by more than 14 lengths with almost no urging from jockey Joel Rosario, which is why he's so heavily favored here. He had started the year in Dubai, where he won his Group 2 debut, and then finished fifth in a Group 1 event before returning stateside. His Met Mile result makes him a solid threat here.

To try and beat him, Effinex (7-2) rarely runs a bad race, and comes into this off a win in the (G2) Suburban, where he ran just off the lead throughout, and then went five-wide to get up for the win. He gets a cutback in distance here, and should be there when the wire comes in view. The third-place finisher in the Met Mile, Upstart (10-1) is in here as well, and while he likely won't get as hot a pace to run at as he did in the Met, he'll be coming at the end and could get a piece with the added 1/8 mile. The pacesetter in the Met Mile was Noble Bird (10-1) who will be sent to the front again and could hold on for a minor award.

OTB NY Picks  

1) #4 Frosted

2) #6 Effinex

3) #3 Upstart

4) #5 Noble Bird

Full Field and Odds