Saratoga Tips - Group One selections on September 4

We've taken a closer look at both races and put up our best US horse racing tips.

We start off on the inner turf track at Saratoga, before switching to the main dirt stack for the Gold Cup, and WAR LIKE GODDESS is clearly going to take all the beating here.

William Motts' filly handed My Sister Nat a sound thrashing when they met in the Glens Falls here in August. Julien Leparoux's mount moved into contention as if she has just started the race that day, flying home down the straight to win by almost four lengths.

Great Island timed her late challenge to perfection to land the Matchmaker and this shorter trip will suit her. Yet, War Like Goddess is not short of speed, so she'll have no trouble adapting to this 11-furlong trip.

Forza Di Oro is clearly a talented sort and deserves respect. As does Max Player, who danced all the big dances as a two-year-old and won the Grade Two Suburban Stakes last time out at Belmont.

Third at Belmont was HAPPY SAVER, who beat Mystic Guide in last year's renewal of the Gold Cup Stakes. Todd Pletcher's star won again on his four-year-old reappearance, but saw his unbeaten career record shattered at Belmont as Max Player took down Mystic Guide.

That was Happy Saver's first run on a sloppy surface, though, and Irad Ortiz's mount was posted at least six horses wide as he rounded the final bend. Conditions on Saturday will suit the defending champion, and Happy Saver should have come on again for that run in the Suburban.