Upcoming
Along with Teresa Genaro of Brooklyn Backstretch, I’ve been invited to appear on Call to the Post with Seth Merrow of Equidaily on the Capital OTB channel at 9:45 a.m. Monday (the show is streamed live online; Albany-Saratoga region viewers can watch on cable channel 12) to talk about how the web has changed the relationship between racing and its fans. Should be a fun discussion …
And on Thursday, sometime during the 4:30-5:30 p.m. hour, Dana Byerly of Green but Game and I will be on the Sirius radio show At the Races with Steve Byk (archived for listening online) to talk about Self Appointed Fan Committee, which should also be an interesting conversation, as the committee’s first reports will be issued the same day.
In the Second
… at Saratoga today, Spaniard makes his second start for trainer Bob Baffert. The 2-year-old Candy Ride colt, a half to certain Test Stakes favorite Indian Blessing, comes to the Spa off a sixth-place finish in a June maiden special at Hollywood that has yielded three next out winners (one at Hollywood, with a BSF of 80, two at Del Mar, with BSFs of 73 and 80), and gets leading rider John Velazquez. Sure to be sent to post at better odds, however, is Nowhere to Hide, a Vindication colt with a bullet work on July 12 debuting for trainer Nick Zito, who is 3-1-2-0 with juveniles at the meet so far, all at decent odds (5-1 on flashy winner Miss Ocean City, 4-1 and 3-1 on the others). Steve Asmussen sends out Coach Gravy, an unfortunately named Grand Slam colt out of G3 Meld winner Caiseal Ros, while former Pletcher assistant Seth Benzel, still seeking his stable’s first win, starts Orientate baby Viscount, bought for $350,000 at Keeneland and sporting an improved gate work on July 26.
Quite the Spectacle
Saratoga doyenne Marylou Whitney and soap star Susan Lucci enter Congress Park in a rickshaw …
Preceded by dragon dancers …
While a golden blow-up Buddha welcomes guests to the annual Whitney Gala at the Canfield Casino …
Final Prep
Big Brown breezed three furlongs in :38.66 over the Aqueduct turf course this morning in a final prep for the Haskell on Sunday. Asked why the surface change, trainer Rick Dutrow told DRF, “just felt like doing it; no reasoning to it.” Michael Iavarone gave Blood-Horse more:
“The dogs were way out off the rail, and it was just what we wanted; no gallop-out. It was just a lung opener. Rick decided to work on the turf just to protect his feet. God forbid if anything went wrong, like if he stepped on a rock or something like that. Rick said he had a nightmare with Rising Moon, and he didn’t want to have anything like that happen again.”
Rising Moon was vanned off following the Whitney last week with an injury that turned out to be a bruise in his left front foot, and he’s not the only horse Dutrow is having bad dreams about in the run-up to the Haskell:
“When we had Sis City and ran a sub-par race in the Oaks, she never ran another step again, even though she trained great,” Dutrow said. “I pointed her toward big races and she never showed up in any of them again. When something like that happens where horses just doesn’t run their race, and you don’t know why, then you’re concerned that it might happen again.”
What a change. Big Brown is training sharply and 1-2 on the Haskell morning line, but there are no hints of the “unbridled audacity” the trainer displayed through the Triple Crown season. The tension around the barn and the pressure Dutrow must feel to get a win on Sunday after the Belmont debacle has to be enormous. I don’t envy him.
Today’s Longshot Flyer
SAR, R8: Halo Najib (ML 10-1). The one-mile turf Majestic Light comes up tough with Prussian (second to Virginia Derby winner Gio Ponti in the Hill Prince) and Luck Money (good enough as a 2-year-old to run third to Henrythenavigator in G2 company) entered, but Halo Najib gets some class relief regardless and maybe even some pace at which to run.
Results: Halo Najib showed zip and was an underlay at 8-1, finishing seventh, many lengths behind Luck Money and Prussian. Since this was a flyer, I was unperturbed at the loss, which was more than made up for by 6-1 Any Limit (with Zada Belle underneath) in the Honorable Miss (true, I told this person while in the paddock). “Wire to wire, that was nice,” said trainer Allen Jerkens, who did not go to the winner’s circle. The mare will point to the Ballerina.
Any Limit returning to the winner’s circle after the ninth.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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