JC / Railbird

Anticipating

There’s one juvenile I’m looking forward to seeing at Saratoga above all the other well-bred babies who will debut between Friday and Labor Day and that’s Rachel’s Valentina, the second foal of Rachel Alexandra. The 2-year-old filly by Bernardini is in Todd Pletcher’s Oklahoma barn, and she’s been working steadily since late May. David Grening reports that the trainer says she’s “about two works away from running” (DRF+):

“She acts like a filly with quality that you would certainly expect to improve with distance,” Pletcher said. “When you get a horse like that, it’s exciting to get one with that type of pedigree. It goes without saying that everyone has high hopes. They still have to do it. We’ve been very pleased with the way she’s performed since coming in.”

Watch for stablemate Anna House in race six on opening day — the first-time starter breezed four furlongs from the gate with Rachel’s Valentina on July 11. Valentina posted a bullet :47.04, Anna House :47.05.

Rachel Alexandra’s first foal, Jess’s Dream, is also at Saratoga. The 3-year-old Curlin colt’s path to a first start hasn’t been smooth:

[Trainer Kiaran] McLaughlin said Jess’s Dream has suffered from “little issues” such as respiratory problems caused by allergies. “Really weird stuff but he’s doing well,” he said.

7/26/15 Update: Rachel’s Valentina worked again from the gate, going four furlongs in :48.55 with stablemate Preppy. “I thought she worked very well. She’s not super quick away from the gate but she makes up for it once she gets going,” Pletcher told the NYRA press office. “We’ll see how she comes out of it and look through the condition book and try and figure something out.”

Posted by JC in Racing on 07/23/2015 @ 3:42 pm / Tagged Buzz Babies, Jess's Dream, Rachel Alexandra, Rachel's Valentina, Saratoga / Follow @railbird on Twitter

Crammed

Jeff Scott is another questioning the “Big Day” trend:

So-called “mini-Breeders’ Cups” are a growing trend, but are they always a good thing? With the Saratoga meet extending over 40 days, does it make sense to cram nearly half the Grade 1s (6 of 15) into a three-hour period on a single one of those days? At a time when attendance has been in steady decline, wouldn’t it be better to keep the major attractions more evenly distributed, to give people — especially close followers of the sport — more of a reason to come to the track all seven weekends of the meet, not just four or five of them?

Posted by JC in Racing on 07/21/2015 @ 8:30 am / Tagged Big Days, Graded Stakes, NYRA, Saratoga / Follow @railbird on Twitter

Interactions

Dana Byerly’s out with a smart post about how racing sites can do more to anticipate customers’ needs. She makes a great point in conclusion:

The competition for racing sites (desktop and mobile) and apps are not only other racing sites, they’re also the daily use sites and apps that have well considered user experiences.

Posted by JC in Web/Technology on 07/17/2015 @ 3:30 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter