The $65,000 Straight Line Stakes may not be the biggest race on the Arlington Million day card August 15, but the race offers plenty of intrigue from a gambling standpoint. 
On Friday at Saratoga, the featured race is the $100,000 John Morrissey Stakes. The six and a half furlong contest is restricted to horses foaled in New York and has drawn a field of eight colts and geldings. 
As the signature race of the Ellis Park meet in Henderson, KY, the Grade III $100,000 Gardenia Handicap on August 9 once again draws a quality field including graded stakes winner Molly Morgan. 
On Thursday at Saratoga, the 4th running of the $100,000 Birdstone Stakes has drawn a field of six colts and geldings to compete in the mile and three-quarters contest over the main track. The race is named after Saratoga mainstay Marylou Whitney’s Belmont Stakes winning colt. 
Some of the top sprinters in the country will compete in Saturday’s Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap at Saratoga. With a purse of $350,000, the six-furlong contest has drawn a field of eight. 
The Grade II $200,000 Jim Dandy Stakes July 26 at Saratoga features a field of seven – including Kentucky Derby runner-up Commanding Curve and Belmont Stakes winner Tonalist. 
Turf sprinters will be featured on Thursday at Saratoga in the 5th running of the $100,000 Quick Call Stakes. Restricted to three-year-olds, the five and a half furlong stakes race will be contested over the Mellon Turf Course and has drawn a field of seven.
This Saturday at Saratoga, the future stars of the sport will take center stage in the $150,000 Sanford Stakes. The Grade 3 contest is run at six furlongs and has attracted a field of nine two-year-old colts and geldings.
The $150,000 Grade III Arlington Oaks has drawn a field of ten three year-old fillies set to contest the mile and an eighth race on the Polytrack July 19 in Chicago.