IT’s quality over quantity in the top-class races on the Saratoga card tonight which features the five-horse Grade 1 Whitney Stakes.

The Grade 2 Stephen Foster winner Tom’s d’Etat is the 6/5 morning-line favourite. He was a four-and-a-quarter-length winner of that nine-furlong contest and missed a 21-year-old track record by just 0.02 seconds. That came after a victory on his seasonal debut in the Oaklawn Mile Stakes and having ended 2019 with wins in the Grade 1 Clark Stakes and the Grade 2 Fayette Stakes, an impressive tally of success.

Al Stall, trainer of Blame, sent Tom’s d’Etat for a third-place finish in the Stephen Foster last year and he seems to have stepped up a level, even at seven years old.

Will Farish’s four-year-old Code Of Honor is the main danger and this distance will suit better than the Met Mile where he was unable to get to grips with Vekoma, finishig third. He’s two-for-two at Saratoga and won last year’s Grade 1 Travers Stakes.

Trainer Shug McGaughey hopes that run over a mile did not take too much out of the son of Noble Mission.

“The key thing was making sure the Met Mile didn’t take too much out of him. But he seems to have bounced out of it well. I don’t know if it moved him forward, but it tightened him up.”

Bob Baffert sends Improbable who enjoyed his biggest win when he took the Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup Stakes for his first graded stakes win since capturing the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity at two. Improbable drew clear in the stretch to prevail by over three lengths.

By My Standards has was behind Tom’s D’Etat in the Stephen Foster but had three wins this season including the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap and is not out of it. Code Of Honor should be primed for this and might just run down the favourite.

Earlier on the card, champion older dirt female Midnight Bisou will look to score her 14th graded stakes victory and become only the second horse to capture back-to-back runnings of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign when she faces five rivals. Even though Saratoga is the ‘graveyard of favourites’, she looks as good as ever this season and Point Of Honor, just beaten by a nose last time the Grade 1 Ogden Phipps, can chase her home.

The third Grade 1 is the seven-furlong H. Allen Jerkens Memorial for three-year-olds. No Parole heads the market with four wins from five starts this season. Mark Casse’s Tapit To Win was behind Tiz The Law in the Belmont and drops back in distance and could be a player.

Grade 1-winning veterans Channel Maker and Sadler’s Joy will attempt to end losing streaks in the Grade 2 Bowling Green Stakes on the turf. Cross Border, a winner here two weeks ago over shorter, looks more likely.

Del Mar

One of the most interesting races of the weekend comes early on the Del Mar card (10.30pm) when the Shared Belief Stakes is a trial for the Kentucky Derby and features the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby winner Honor A P. The form of that race was boosted by Authentic’s Haskell Stakes win two weeks ago.

Six were entered but Uncle Chuck and Anneau d’Or are likely to scratch and it leaves two Baffert-trained runners, Thousand Words and Cezanne, as dangers. Thousand Words won the Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity in December and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February, while Cezanne, who cost $3.65 million last year and runs for the Magnier, Tabor, Smith, and co-breeder St. Elias Stable, has won his only two starts. The son of Curlin needs to win the Shared Belief if he is to safely secure an entrance into the Derby. The Shared Belief provides 50 Derby points to the winner. Honor A.P looked good at Santa Anita and it would be disappointing if he can’t follow up.

Baffert has indicated that he may withdraw his favourite McKinzie from the card’s highlight, the Grade 1 Bing Crosby over six furlongs. “He drew the inside, and this track hasn’t been playing very good. It’s been really deep and loose.”

It leaves a wide-open contest between Anyportinastorm, Wildman Jack and Desert Law. Early speed is an asset for Anyportinastorm, with Desert Law the danger.