JC / Railbird

Saratoga Archive

The First Half

Monday marked the midpoint of the Saratoga meet; Wednesday kicks off the fourth week of racing. Ahead lies the Alabama (this Saturday) and the Travers (the following). I’ve had a great time in the past three weeks. The meet got off to a bit of slow start for me — before last Saturday, I’d made a total of nine bets and cashed only two tickets, one on the Michael Matz-trained Quadrant, who ran an excellent second to Ice Wynnd Fire in the same allowance race on August 6 that Noble Causeway was pulled up in, and another on the Suffolk Downs-based Carlow. The filly, trained by Karl Grusmark, paid a generous $28.20 when she won on August 8, despite beating similar company in the Niagara Stakes at Finger Lakes just a month before. Things turned around over the weekend, with a couple of nice plays, including one on Congo King in the third on Saturday. The two-year-old paid $16.00 to win. Seeing this colt up on the board at 7-1 felt like an unbelievable gift, what with his precocious pedigree, steady record of workouts, and trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.’s two-year-old stats. On Sunday, I survived blanket madness by watching the races from the backstretch and cashing a $141 Dave-Provincetown exacta in race nine. Not bad. Anyway, more Thursday on the meet and what I’ve been doing all this time, as well as a look at the Alabama and the Travers.

Posted in Saratoga on August 16, 2005

A Belated Note from the Spa

I am chagrined. A little shamefaced that Railbird posting has dwindled to almost nothing in the past three weeks. All this time in Saratoga, and I’ve barely written a word. The situation is so bad that when I met Alan of Left at the Gate at the track on Saturday, he greeted me with, “What happened? It’s like you fell into a black hole.” Not quite … just Saratoga, where racing crowds out all else. Some notes and observations on the meet’s first half are coming soon …

Posted in Saratoga on August 15, 2005

Opening Day

Or, what I saw in the detention barn. A full report on that boondoggle, as well as comments on Monday’s Saratoga Preview and the meet’s opening days, coming Friday or Saturday. Posting three or four times a week may have been an ambitious plan — the past week has been a blur of horses and people and I’ve spent less than, oh, an hour online in that time. Saratoga is fantastic, though, and I hope to write about it as much as I can over the next month.

Posted in Saratoga on July 28, 2005

Railbird Moves to Saratoga

Saratoga opens on Wednesday, and I’m in town for the whole meet starting today. Through August, I’ll be posting three or four times a week, and in a different format — entries will be in more of a column or diary style, and almost exclusively about the Spa. If you’re in Saratoga too, send me an email. I’d love to meet you.

Posted in Saratoga on July 24, 2005