Fortunately my job as the Editorial Producer at HRTV does not require me to go on the record with my picks.

Nonetheless, when friend and colleague Tim Wilkin of The Times Union invited me to be the guest handicapper for the newspaper on Woodward Day, I was happy to oblige.

I follow in the footsteps of, among others, Mike Repole, Randy Moss and Richard Migliore. Repole went 5 for 10 the day he was the guest handicapper. I don’t know for sure, but Repole probably picked some of his own horses, and given the owner’s supremacy at this meet that probably aided him.

I had 12 races to handicap, and I was tempted to peek at Aaron Vercruysse’s picks (which you can find on his blog here) because like me, he hunts for long shots with a chance.

I didn’t peek.

Anyway, here are my picks as they appear in Saturday’s edition of The Times Union.

Best Bet: Acronym

Race 1:

Evading Tempete
Deluxe
Sugar Again

Race 2:

O’Prado Again
Winston C
Da Vinci

Race 3:

Nurse Dolce
Lady’s Lunar Luck
Oatka Idas Rose

Race 4:

McCarroll
Star of Escondida
Za Approval

Race 5:

Earnings Release
Going Green
Aquifolia

Race 6:

More Than Lucky
Foggy Max
Manresa Road

Race 7:

Africanist
Invocation
Go West

Race 8:

Acronym
Protesting
Pachattack

Race 9:

Regal Ransom
Sidney’s Candy
Jersey Town

Race 10:

Rule
Convocation
Havre de Grace

Race 11: 

Brolio
One Cool Dude
Ninety Five South

Race 12:

Thewizardofnassau
Down Broadway
Live for Today

Going to Bill Mott’s Saratoga barn on the Oklahoma side of the track always results in
happy memories.

Barn 80 had been my father’s barn since I was a little girl. When P.G. passed away on Aug. 6, 2004, I wondered who they would put in the barn. I was delighted the following year when I walked by and saw Mott’s green and white webbings.

My father had the utmost respect for Mott as a horseman, and I knew that he would approve.

Over the years — for both my father and Mott — countless horses made the trek from Barn 80, across Union Avenue, and into the winner’s circle after a stakes.

One of the biggest stakes wins of my father’s career came with Maplejinsky, the 1988 Alabama winner. Twenty-three years later, I found myself at Mott’s barn about 8 hours before he would saddle Royal Delta in the 131st running of the storied race.

Mott sat atop his paint pony, a ride that looks better suited for a pig-tailed youngster competing in the Pony Club.

I constantly rib Mott about this. “Did you get him at a county fair?” I ask yet once again.

“Do you want to ride him?” he responded. When I demurred by saying that I’m not a good rider, Mott replied. “You don’t have to be, I ride him.”

Mott’s training skills are perhaps only rivaled by his dry humor.

The subsequent conversation about Royal Delta indicated to me he had quiet confidence in his filly. I made a bet, and won after Royal Delta steam-rolled over her five rivals as the fifth choice in the betting.

When I saw Mott in the winner’s circle after the Alabama, I said, “Hey, I brought you luck by visiting you this morning.” He said, “You did. You can come by anytime.”

Of course I can, Bill. After all, I still think of it as my father’s barn!