2025 Acorn Stakes: Can anybody upset Good Cheer on Friday at Saratoga?

The 2025 Belmont Stakes may be about two horses, but Friday’s headliner at Saratoga, the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes, is about one. No.2 Good Cheer, the winner of the 2025 Kentucky Oaks, is 7-for-7 in her career, and all seven of her wins have come by at least two lengths.

A win on Friday afternoon would put her in lofty company, and the oddsmakers believe that it’s more likely than not that she comes through.Good Cheer was installed as a hefty 1-2 favorite on the morning line, putting her a couple of tiers above the rest of this seven-horse field.You can expect a ton of horizontal wagers on Friday to have Good Cheer singled to close their ticket, and you will see plenty of punters tie her to Journalism or Sovereignty in the Acorn/Belmont Stakes Double.That presents the classic dilemma for handicappers: Do you just join the masses and throw Good Cheer in all of your horizontal wagers and try to find value other ways, or do you try to take her on, knowing that you’re going to get a good price on whoever you think has the best chance of handing Brad Cox’s runner her first defeat?What’s so interesting about Good Cheer and her dominance is that she’s not putting up monster numbers. If you’re someone who is using speed figures in your handicapping homework, you’ll be left a little perplexed because this horse is doing nothing wrong, yet hasn’t had that eye-popping number yet.That may sound like a knock, but it’s really a testament to just how good this horse has been.She’s shown up to each race and has been the best runner on the track seven times out of seven.To beat a horse like Good Cheer, you’ll need two things to happen.

One, she needs to be off her game, and two, you need the race to break your way. But even for most horses in this field, that likely won’t be enough. There are a couple of entrants that do have a chance to pull the upset, should things follow their preferred script.No.3 La Cara (10-1)La Cara set a lively pace in the Kentuck...