Harvey Pack returns to Saratoga for another season of Siro’s seminars on Wednesday, joined by the usual suspects to handicap opening day. This summer, Pack has more than horse tips for fans: He has a memoir, the charmingly entertaining “May the Horse Be with You,” written with Peter Thomas Fornatale, in which the raconteur-horseplayer regales readers with stories of grandstand habitues, wild schemes, and bad beats, drawn from more than half a century of hanging around racetracks. “May the Horse Be with You” is classic Pack; just the thing for the Spa.
Posted by JC in Books on 07/23/2007 @ 9:45 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
– The loss of his apprentice bug on Saturday hasn’t slowed Joe Talamo: The rider had three wins on Sunday, two more today at Del Mar, giving him seven wins for the meet’s first five days (LA Times).
– Rags to Riches, pulled up during a Sunday workout, is sound, veterinarian Steve Allday said after examining the filly this morning, but she’ll be sent to New Bolton for a complete physical anyway. “Although everything seems to be fine, in order to be thorough she will have a complete physical done,” said trainer Todd Pletcher (Blood-Horse).
– “One of the biggest contests at Saratoga Race Course has nothing to do with the finish line” (Saratogian).
– Red Giant, the longest shot on the board at 37-1, won the Virginia Derby in a photo finish with lucky leading Colonial Downs rider Horacio Karamanos aboard (WashPost).
Posted by JC in Horses on 07/23/2007 @ 9:30 pm / Follow @railbird on Twitter
For Saratoga are up. And what a card it is, with 10 full fields and the first juvenile stakes of the season. The Schuylerville attracted nine two-year-old fillies, including trainer Barclay Tagg’s According to Plan, an impressive debut winner at Belmont last month, and Subtle Aly, one of trainer Steve Asmussen’s many winning first-time starters at Churchill this summer, making her first start for Richard Dutrow.
Posted by JC in Saratoga on 07/22/2007 @ 11:00 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
