JC / Railbird

Saratoga Archive

Sun, Turf, and Chocolat

– The sun is out in Saratoga today and the G2 Lake George will be on the turf, as scheduled. My Princess Jess is the 8-5 morning line favorite making her second start for trainer Barclay Tagg and entering off a win in the G3 Boiling Springs at Monmouth last month, but second choice Mousse Au Chocolat, making her first North American start, is a far more compelling and classy contender, returning from a strong second place finish to Modern Look (who chased a quick pace and finished fourth behind undefeated Zakarva in the French Guineas) in the G2 Prix de Sandringham at Chantilly; in the start before that, she finished 2 3/4 lengths behind Zakarva, one of the early Arc favorites, in a G3 at Longchamp. Note as well that her last win came over a soft course, which is the listed condition of the Saratoga grass after two days of rain, and that French rider Christophe Lemaire comes along for the trip.
– Odds and ends: Demoiselle winner Mushka returns in the third, her first start since November … Richard Migliore, who decided early in July to return to New York, was on the backstretch this morning in safety vest and helmet, looked reading to hop on a horse at moment’s notice while chatting with a gaggle of reporters near the Morning Line. The rider isn’t named on any mounts through Saturday, but he was in the right place to hustle for assignments … Steve Asmussen is 6-4-0-1 through the first two days of the meet. The trainer has two entered today, in the second and the sixth … Dagnabit and Notonthesamepage, scratched from the Sanford Stakes on Thursday, are both entered in the ungraded Tyro Stakes at Monmouth on Saturday … Thanks for Self Appointed Fan Committee mention, Nick.

Posted in Saratoga on July 25, 2008

Thursday Notes

– Trainer Steve Asmussen, who won the Schuylerville with 12-1 Jardin, said that favored Ocean Colors tied up in the stretch, which is why she stopped so badly on the final turn. Jockey Shaun Bridgmohan blamed the wet going, reports the Daily Gazette:

So long as she recovers well, Ocean Colors, already more accomplished than most of her dam’s babies, will certainly get another chance to redeem the late Winning Color’s reputation as a broodmare. Hopefully, she’ll get that chance over a fast track.
– Notonthesamepage is scratched from the Sanford Stakes with a fever, leaving six five competitive starters for today’s feature (Bullion Cache is among today’s 31 33 scratches). Desert Party, making his second start, seems likely to go to post as the favorite with his connections, breeding, and $2.1 million auction price, but there are a few things to like about Dagnabit — the colt showed some versatility winning the Tremont in his second start, and Essenceofthemoon, third in that race, returned to win an allowance at Delaware with a 71 Beyer speed figure — and Vineyard Haven, making his first start for trainer Bobby Frankel. He won his debut at Calder last month by drawing away to a 4 1/2 length lead, and Miles and Miles, the place horse in that race, returned to win a maiden special at Calder with a 79 Beyer figure.
– In the grand tradition of web site launches, Raceday 360 is a wee bit behind schedule due to backend issues, soon to be resolved. In the meantime, though, we are on Twitter.
– 12:30 Update: Dagnabit is now scratched from the Sanford, and the rain, after ceasing for a few minutes this morning, has returned.

Posted in Saratoga on July 24, 2008

A Familiar Scene

Rain today, rain tomorrow. Thursday turf races at Saratoga have already been moved to the main track and the first steeplechase of the season canceled, which means post-time will be at 1:35 p.m., with race two opening the card. If I seem fixated on the forecast, it’s because I don’t relish the slop, unlike Steve Asmussen runners, who won three races this afternoon, including the feature.

Despite the rain, I made it to the track for opening day, arriving in time to wedge myself into a spot on the clubhouse rail to catch the first race. On my right was a middle-aged fellow, who began imploring one of the runners to “Show me some heart,” as the field entered the stretch, then muttered “No,” and slouched forward unable to watch the end. On my left was a woman going wild for eventual winner Star Player, exuberantly, dangerously jumping in a strapless sundress and yelling, “C’mon, Star! C’mon, Star!” After the 5-1 shot crossed the wire, she exulted to her companion, “I won! I should have bet $10!” Standing not far behind her, a man claiming to have the $311 trifecta “a couple times,” chided another, “I told you to watch out for Chad Brown.”

It was all so familiar, inducing a happy moment of deja vu; it could have been any opening day at the Spa. I even briefly forgot the rain … an unlikely occurrence on Thursday.

Posted in Saratoga on July 23, 2008

90% Chance of Slop

Opening day at Saratoga looks wet, with rain, sometimes heavy, and thunderstorms forecast for Wednesday. I’m hoping dark clouds do no more than lurk menacingly until after the second race, which is a maiden special sprint stocked with babies who could be any kind, including Pious David, half to Blue Grass Stakes winner Monba, and Cognito, half to Fountain of Youth winner Cool Coal Man. First crop sire Speightstown is represented by In Speight of It, whose dam, Honest Deceiver, is a half-sister to stakes winner Yes It’s True, both 2-year-old debut winners. In Speight of It is 15-1 on the morning line, but offspring of his rookie sire are proving quite precocious: Speightstown’s six runners to the track so far have a combined record of 8-3-1-3.
7/23 Addition: Left at the Gate commenter Discreet Cat checks in with more details on Cognito over there. That the colt ran second in his debut to a next out overnight stakes winner at Canterbury is interesting, although company can be an iffy angle with 2-year-olds early in the season (a lesson I have to learn repeatedly). Also of relevance — especially to the Schuylerville later in the afternoon — is that Cognito worked five furlongs over the Oklahoma track on July 14 with stablemate Ocean Colors, morning line favorite for the opening day feature.

Posted in Saratoga on July 22, 2008