Some of the best turf sprinters on the East Coast square off when the starting gate opens in the 2021 Get Serious Stakes on Saturday at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. The Critical Way, who is trained by Jose Delgado, is the 3-2 morning-line favorite in the 2021 Get Serious Stakes odds. Francatelli, who is trained by Cathan Lynch, is getting 3-1 in the eight-horse field. Every other horse is 9-2 or higher in the odds. The horses will be sprinting five furlongs on the turf in the $75,000 race.
Because of a new whip rule adopted by the New Jersey Racing Commission, jockeys will be allowed to strike a horse with a riding crop only for safety reasons. Post time is 4:05 p.m. ET. With a well-accomplished field set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you'll want to see what racing insider Bob Weir has to say before making any 2021 Get Serious Stakes picks.
Based in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Weir has been handicapping and following horse racing since reading Andy Beyer's landmark handicapping book "Picking Winners" in the late 1980s. Weir is highly invested in the Beyer Speed Figure, a number assigned to every race run by a horse that measures how fast the horse ran. He uses the figure as the backbone of his handicapping. In fact, thanks to his proficiency with speed figures and top-tier handicapping, he landed one of just eight spots on Beyer's figure-making team in 2017, a position he holds to this day.
Weir's methodology has produced multiple five-figure days. In 2014, he hit a $60,000 Pick 6 at Del Mar. The following year, he nailed a $31,000 Pick 6 at Gulfstream Park. In 2016 and 2017, Weir qualified for the prestigious National Horseplayers Championship in Las Vegas.
Last year, his first for SportsLine, Weir was on fire. In June, Weir hit a $2 superfecta in the Ogden Phipps Stakes that paid a whopping $1,039. He crushed the exacta and trifecta in the Forego Stakes in August for $1,134.50. He hit the late Pick 4 at Belmont Park on June 18, June 19, June 25, July 2 and July 5, with the June 25 score returning a whopping $2,159.50.
This year, he has hit the exacta in the Sam F. Davis Stakes, Tampa Bay Derby and Peter Pan Stakes, the trifecta in the Risen Star Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes and the superfecta in the Belmont Stakes, with the Tampa Bay Derby score returning $1,414. On May 16 he also hit the Pick 6 at Santa Anita Park. Those are just some of his scores in 2021.
Now, Weir has handicapped the 2021 Get Serious Stakes horses, made his picks and constructed his bets. You can only see them here.
Top 2021 Get Serious Stakes predictions
Weir studied the past performances of every horse in the Get Serious Stakes 2021, and his top pick is not The Critical Way, even though he is the 3-2 morning-line favorite. A 7-year-old, The Critical Way has seven wins, six seconds and two thirds in 24 career starts. He is coming off a second-place finish in the Jim McKay Turf Sprint on Preakness Stakes day.
The Critical Way likes to race on or near the lead, but on Saturday he faces multiple other horses who have the same running style. Because of that, The Critical Way "could be compromised," Weir says. Weir has the horse ranked second in the race.
How to make 2021 Get Serious Stakes, bets
Weir's top pick is a horse who "should have no excuses" on Saturday. He is including this horse in his 2021 Get Serious Stakes bets, and so should you. He's sharing which horses to back only at SportsLine.
So who wins the Get Serious Stakes 2021? And which horse is a must-back? Check out the latest Get Serious Stakes odds 2021 below, then visit SportsLine to see Weir's picks for Saturday's Get Serious Stakes 2021.
2021 Get Serious Stakes odds, field, contenders
| Program # | Horse | Odds |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Francatelli | 3-1 |
| 2 | The Connector | 6-1 |
| 3 | R Boy Bode | 30-1 |
| 4 | Fox Rox | 12-1 |
| 5 | Samedi Night | 10-1 |
| 6 | Boldor | 9-2 |
| 7 | The Critical Way | 3-2 |
| 8 | French Reef | 6-1 |
| AE-9 | Steadytillready | 6-1 |
| AE-10 | Foolish Ghost | 9-2 |
