A full field of a dozen 2-year-olds will compete for a “Win and You’re In” berth into the Brown Advisory Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf in Saturday’s running of the Grade 2, $250,000 Pilgrim Stakes going 1 1/16 miles on the grass at Belmont Park. The race is loaded with contenders so let’s dive in and pick the winner.

Nine of the 12 horses in the field are exiting maiden races and four of the entrants are still looking for their first career win, so we’ve really got to find some angles and read the tea leaves to come up with the likeliest top finishers. #4 Roscoe Goose is one of the four maidens in the Pilgrim field but very well may be the horse to beat. He’s making his second lifetime start for young trainer Riley Mott, who rarely ever wins with his first-time starters, yet he came within a head of a first-out win last time at Saratoga with a strong rally after drawing way out wide in post 11. He just missed behind #12 Let Him Know in that maiden race, but this time it is Let Him Know who had drawn out in the parking lot in post 12 while Roscoe Goose gets cozy post 4 and now should be fully cranked-up for a winning effort.

Two other contenders in the Pilgrim field that exit a key Saratoga maiden turf race are #1 Chief of Peace and #8 And the Runner Is, who finished 1-2 at the Spa at this distance on Aug. 23 when Chief of Peace scored the win by a head for turf ace trainer Miguel Clement. And the Runner Is settled for a close second for the second time in two starts for trainer Mark Casse. New York’s leading rider Manny Franco picks up the mount on Chief of Peace from the rail. Meanwhile, And the Runner Is hopes for a better break from the gate after being hampered by a bad start last time.

There is also an interesting English invader in the field for the Pilgrim, and although he is still a maiden, he also looms as one of the top challengers in the race despite drawing an outside post. #11 Dover Street exits a second-place finish in a Group 3 race at Sandown Park in England and has twice been able to overcome disastrous starts to finish second in two of his three career races so far. Trainer Richard Hannon Jr. is not a household name on this side of the pond, but he has already successfully sent over a graded stakes winner to the U. S. this September when his Haatem scored the win in the $2 million Mint Millions Invitational Stakes at Kentucky Downs. Dover Street needs to sort out his woes at the starting gate, but if he does, he might prove to be a handful at Belmont Park on Saturday.

The wagering strategy for the Pilgrim will be to bet on #4 Roscoe Goose to win and use him along with #11 Dover Street in exactas. Then let’s sprinkle both #1 Chief of Peace and #8 And the Runner Is into some trifectas and hope that one of them can make an impact:

Wagering Strategy on an $18 Budget:

$2 win on #4 Roscoe Goose ($2)

What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, race 11, $2 to win on 4

$2 exacta box: 4,11 ($4)

What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, race 11, $2 exacta box 4,11

$0.50-cent trifecta box: 1,4,8,11 ($12)

What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, race 11, $0.50-cent trifecta box, 1,4,8,11

Wagering Strategy on a $32 Budget:

$10 win on #4 Roscoe Goose ($10)

What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, race 11, $10 to win on 4

$5 exacta box: 4,11 ($10)

What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, race 11, $5 exacta box 4,11

$0.50-cent trifecta box: 1,4,8,11 ($12)

What to say at the betting window: Belmont Park, race 11, $1 trifecta box, 1,4,8,11

Good luck and enjoy the race!