JC / Railbird

Saratoga Archive

Opening Day Entries

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 in Saratoga on July 22, 2007

Saratoga Summer

Photos from the meet just ended …

Bellamy Road walks to the paddock before the Travers

Loading the gate in the seven-furlong chute

Waiting for a race on the final Wednesday of the meet

Watching the action at the backstretch mutuel booth

Morning baths behind an Oklahoma barn

Horse laundry hung to dry

Clare Court

Posted in Saratoga on September 9, 2005

Travers Day

And the crowds are out in Saratoga, both in town and at the track. I’m looking to beat Bellamy Road in the Travers with Reverberate and Andromeda’s Hero, but probably will pass on betting the Hopeful or the King’s Bishop — First Samurai and Henny Hughes dominate in the former and unless something freakish occurs (as it did to Ashado in yesterday’s Personal Ensign), Lost in the Fog is a lock in the latter.
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It’s true. Alan did tell me he liked Shadow Cast when I saw him minutes before the Personal Ensign. I liked Island Sand, thinking the pace would set up well for her, although I skipped placing any wagers on the race and only played a tiny show bet on Along the Sea in the Spinaway (there have been several days this meet where Dick Jerardi would have had me turned away at the door). I know the folly of show wagering, but one of my favorite bets is on a longshot horse that figures to run third at best in a race where the overwhelming favorite is almost certain to run out of the money, and that opportunity comes along so rarely …

Posted in Saratoga on August 27, 2005