JC / Railbird

Saratoga Archive

Saratoga Saturday

By the numbers …

5: The number of gawkers visiting First Samurai’s stall this morning, including ESPN commentator Randy Moss and noted equine surgeon Dr. Larry Bramlage. The two-year-old, a gorgeous chestnut that draws a crowd daily to watch him gallop and bathe, won his last two races by a combined 11 1/2 lengths and will start in the Hopeful next Saturday. The colt breezed four furlongs in :47.46 on Friday morning, a time jockey Jerry Bailey, aboard for the work, attributes to there being a couple of horses ahead of him. “He had a target for half the work and it made him work a little bit better,” said Bailey (Daily Racing Form). What the DRF article doesn’t mention is that one of the horses was Lost in the Fog, who went head-to-head with First Samurai.

4: The number of reporters following owner Ken Ramsey around Oklahoma after the break. Now I know why so many racing articles have so many of the same quotes.

1: The number of unclaimed picnic tables remaining behind the grandstand as of 9:30. And it’s not even a giveaway day.

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A quick return: Provincetown, who ran second to Dave in last Sunday’s West Point Handicap, returns today in the $65,000 Troy.

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Arrivals: Island Sand, winner of last month’s Delaware Handicap, arrived in Saratoga yesterday afternoon for Friday’s Personal Ensign Stakes. She could face tough competition in the form of Go For Wand winner Ashado, also nominated to the race.

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Dave Litfin determines that Saratoga is the “Graveyard of Value“:

In 2004, 739 horses ran in 93 dirt races, an average field of 7.95. On turf, 285 runners competed in 30 races, an average of 9.50.

This year, in 72 dirt races, 520 horses have run, an average of 7.22. On the turf, 405 runners have competed in 46 races, for an average field of 8.80.

Field size in dirt races is down an average of .73 horses per race, a staggering decline of nearly 10 percent from a year ago. Turf fields are off by almost as much, at .70 horses per race.

Not only are the fields smaller, but favorites have won 42% of the races. (DRF)

Posted in Saratoga on August 20, 2005

Thursday Eve Notes

I see via Left at the Gate that congressman Ed Whitfield of Kentucky, chairman of the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, is most displeased with the response he’s received from the Jockeys’ Guild to his request for documents in an investigation into the matter of jockeys’ insurance. It seems the Guild has dodged (Thoroughbred Times) providing documents relating to president Wayne Gertmenian’s consulting company, Matrix, to which the organization has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in management and real estate fees. In a letter to the Guild, Representative Whitfield asks, among other things, that Gertmenian:

Whitfield set a deadline of August 31 for compliance with his request, or else a subpoena may be issued to get the information. I’m looking forward to Gertmenian’s response — I’ve had the same questions as Whitfield about Matrix since last March and would like to know more about a consulting company that supposedly has been in business for more than 20 years, but has had only two clients (Gertmenian and the Jockeys’ Guild) and which seems to be based out of Gertmenian’s house. Just what is that rent the Guild’s paying?
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One of my personal betting rules is to never back an older horse with established form coming off a new career-best Beyer win. Racetrack crowds love these horses, though, and that short-priced certainty at Saratoga today redeemed race three with its four-horse field.
Thunder Touch won at Saratoga on opening day with an impressive, going away at the wire performance that earned him a new high Beyer of 110 (his previous high was a 102 earned at Belmont in May). Although obviously in form and a talented horse, there was no way Thunder Touch was going to repeat his last race, and a bounce back to his usual put him squarely on the same level as his evenly-matched competition. It didn’t matter — Thunder Touch was bet down to even money. Mr. Whitestone, a Monmouth shipper whose last win came in November at Aqueduct, was 2-1. Spooky Mulder, who ran second to Thunder Touch on opening day, was 3-1. Always Noble, coming off a win at Delaware on August 1, was the longshot of the field at 6-1. It was the easiest play of the day. Always Noble won by a neck after dueling a game Spooky Mulder down the stretch and paid a nice $14.80. Thunder Touch ran last.

Posted in Jockeys' Insurance, Saratoga on August 18, 2005

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