Several of the country's top older dirt horses will square off when the starting gate opens in the 2024 Whitney Stakes on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Met Mile winner National Treasure has been installed as the 9/5 morning-line favorite in the 2024 Whitney Stakes odds. The Brad Cox-trained First Mission is the 9-2 second choice among the 12 Whitney Stakes horses. The 2024 Whitney post time is 5:42 p.m. ET.

With several accomplished horses set to enter the starting gate on Saturday, you'll want to see what Santa Anita Park-based racing reporter and analyst Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2024 Whitney Stakes picks.

Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.

Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager two years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.

She enters the Whitney Stakes on a roll. She correctly called National Treasure to win the Pegasus World Cup, predicted Stronghold's upset win in the Santa Anita Derby and smashed the exacta in the Apple Blossom Handicap. On the Belmont Stakes undercard, she nailed National Treasure's win in the Met Mile and had the winner and exacta in the Woody Stephens Stakes. During the Royal Ascot meet, Yu nailed Rosallion to win the St. James's Palace Stakes and cashed the exacta in the Gold Cup. Anyone who has followed her is way up.

For the 2024 Whitney Stakes, Yu has made her picks and constructed her bets. Join SportsLine here to see them.

One surprise: Yu's top pick is not National Treasure, even though he's the 9-5 favorite. "He's not invincible," Yu told SportsLine. 

Moreover, Yu's top pick is a horse who "seems to have upside." She also is high on a longshot who "deserves the shot." You ABSOLUTELY need to see her picks before locking in any of your own!

So who wins the Whitney Stakes? What longshot is a must-play? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2024 Whitney Stakes picks, all from the racing insider who has been red-hot all year!