Railbird 2004–2019

Saratoga Archive

Slow Thursday

Prominent (2nd) gallops out after the fourth on Thursday.
– Maybe it was the stifling heat and humidity that began early, but everything about Saratoga on Thursday felt slow and muted, from training hours on through the card. The eighth felt especially so, perhaps because pace for the 1 1/8 mile N1X was :47.48 and the final furlong :14.28. This was the first race of the meet run under the new bonus conditions for routes, and it drew 10 starters, swelling the purse to $100,000, but it also highlighted the problem the scheme aims to correct, with early leader Spring Elusion wilting towards the wire and 11-1 Borrowing Base, “outrun for six furlongs” (PDF), grinding to the lead over exhausted rivals in the stretch. Not to complain though — rewarding horsemen for prepping and entering their charges to run at a distance is a worthy effort. There’s only so many one-turn sprints, dirt or grass, any handicapper can take.
– On Saturday, Adirondack winner More Happy returns in the fourth, the ungraded Flanders Stakes, her first start since finishing fifth in the Spinaway nearly a year ago. She at least makes it back to the races (after throat surgery and a bout of pneumonia). Former stablemate Maimonides, another precocious Vindication baby who debuted last summer for trainer Bob Baffert and attracted much attention, was pulled from training with an injury after finishing third in the Hopeful, transferred to trainer Bill Mott in February, and hasn’t been heard from since.
– Out west: Rumors are fanned that Curlin might start in the Pacific Classic and mighty Zenyatta faces eight, including Tough Tiz’s Sis (the closest thing to a challenger the undefeated filly has these days), in the Hirsch on Saturday. Trainer John Shirreffs is posting training videos on YouTube (not via Jay Hovdey’s recent DRF+ column, since there was no link), including this one featuring Zenyatta’s July 26 work, in which she went five furlongs in 1:01 at Del Mar. The images are fuzzy at the start, but her pricked ears and gorgeous, fluid stride are clear in the final 100 yards or so.

Posted in Saratoga on July 31, 2008

That’s Racing

Edgar Prado on Carriage Trail before the De La Rose Stakes.
– A bad beat for Trouble Maker, on the inside and barely edged out in the De La Rose by 3-1 Carriage Trail. Her Majesty the Queen’s horse, Medley, finished a length back in third. “She ran a winning race,” said trainer Tom Albertrani of the mare, winless since July 2007 and sent to post at 10-1. “It’s a tough photo, but that’s racing.”
– It’s not quite like the good old days when every Todd Pletcher and John Velazquez 2-year-old starter looked live, but the pair did find themselves in the winner’s circle after the fifth race with Double Domino, a juvenile by Stormy Atlantic making his first start. Pletcher is now 2-for-5 with first-time babies at the meet. Random fact: According to Formulator, Double Domino is the first 2-year-old to win for Pletcher at 5 1/2 furlongs over the Saratoga turf in the past five years (out of six such starters — the turf sprint isn’t a common move for the trainer’s juvenile firsters at the Spa). Personal aside: Double Domino gave me my first win of the meet, which was a welcome result.
– Proud Spell, returned from a well-earned turn-out following her Delaware Oaks win, is training for the Alabama, where she could meet CCAO winner Music Note. Trainer Larry Jones is thinking positive. “Music Note ran a huge race the other day. Looks to me like she’s setting up for a bounce, we’ve got to play that factor…. And if she does, we sure would hate for her to bounce, and us not be there” (Daily Gazette).

Posted in Saratoga on July 30, 2008

Arrrrr!

– Skipped the track this afternoon to watch the races on Capital OTB while doing homework in advance of the forum on synthetic surfaces scheduled for Tuesday, which begins at 9:00 a.m. and opens with a panel featuring racetrack executives, then moves on to panels with veterinarians, trainers, riders, and researchers, wrapping up at 5:00 p.m., leaving just enough time to grab dinner downtown before heading to the Ride On! exhibit preview at the National Museum of Racing (hosted by Fran of Hoofcare). Fortunately, little was lost hearing this call on TV instead of on-track:

What especially amuses me about this call is that after Tom Durkin growls, “Arrrrr! Arrrrrrrrr! Arrrrr!”, he comes back to announce the place and show finishers straight.
– We’ve been warned: “If he throws a dud [in the Haskell], there was something wrong that we missed, and it could very well be the end of Big Brown’s career” (NYT). As for the Travers, Nick Zito will point both Da’ Tara and Anak Nakal to the midsummer Derby, despite disappointing finishes in the Jim Dandy; Todd Pletcher is reportedly planning on sending Prince of Wales winner Harlem Rocker.
– Weather, the economy, no bobblehead: The reasons are many, but all add up to declines in Saratoga numbers.
– Favorites won 34% of all races at Saratoga during the meet’s opening week, and finished in the money 61% of the time. Of the 10 races on turf, four were by favorites. Even with the rain, slop, and scratches, form holds.
– I’ve been meaning to get to the Blood-Horse report, “Losing the Iron Horse,” but haven’t had much time lately to read through hundreds of pages of data. Superfecta made more progress. One random observation from what I did get through: The increase in the number of 2-year-old starts, across stallion categories, concurrent with a decrease in the number of 4-year-old starts beginning in the 1980s is striking. Evidence of the breeding industry’s effects?
– Put Music Note in the Travers. Why not? The 3-year-old males this year are an ordinary, weak lot (with the possible exception of Big Brown, depending on how he runs next Sunday), and the Travers offers a better purse than the Alabama, which will feature several horses the Godolphin filly has already beat.

Posted in Saratoga on July 28, 2008

Dandy Upset

Runner-up Pyro walks to the test barn after the Jim Dandy.
– The dirt was harrowed before the ninth today, which seemed to make the track deeper and more tiring, a real change from the quick surface seen earlier in the afternoon, and opening up both the ungraded Henry Walton and G2 Jim Dandy to horses coming from off the pace. In the Walton, favored Mambo in Seattle wrapped up the 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.98, faster than Macho Again’s final time of 1:51.16 at the same distance in the Jim Dandy. Even if the time doesn’t inspire much excitement, the Jim Dandy was a visually interesting race (video), with Da’ Tara and Mint Lane dueling for the lead down the backstretch (“absolutely insane“), Tale of Ekati making a bold move into contention entering the stretch (then flattening, as usual), and Pyro employing his late kick and gamely charging after Macho Again in the final sixteenth, although as the wire drew near, it didn’t look as though even-money Pyro was gaining on the 8-1 Dallas Stewart trainee. Trainer Steve Asmussen sure sounded disappointed after: “We finished second. There is nothing more I can say. Go talk to the winner” (Blood-Horse). Stewart was thrilled with the victory, his first graded stakes win at Saratoga.
– Commentator could start next in the MassCap (and what a draw that would be for this year’s renewal of Suffolk Downs’ signature race). “I like the timing, I like what the people in Boston are doing,” Zito said, referring to the track’s recently announced zero-tolerance slaughter policy. “It’s good for the horse, and it’s good for horses” (Daily Gazette).
– Oh, and rider Kent Desormeaux finally won his 5000th race, with favored Bella Attrice in race seven. There were cheers from the crowd, champagne (which Desormeaux didn’t drink), and a cake dropped, not served.
– Immersed in Saratoga, ignoring Del Mar, missed the massive pick six carryover that grew to more than $5 million on Sunday afternoon and paid $60,499 to 59 winning tickets, none held by the Hat or the Zap.
– Dana of Green but Game and I will be on At the Races with Steve Byk sometime next week to talk about Self Appointed Fan Committee. Details to follow when available …

Posted in Saratoga on July 27, 2008

Sunday Saratoga Report

Jockey Ramon Dominguez takes a second to sign a program.
– Commentator had the Whitney his way, getting clear at first jump and stealing the race gate-to-wire with a half in :47.73, a final time of 1:50.23, and a 4 3/4 length lead. The 7-year-old NY-bred gelding has now won the Whitney twice, the first horse since Kelso to do so, and earned a post in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Asked if Commentator might ship west this fall, owner Tracy Farmer replied, “That’s up to Nick. I’m not worried about getting the horse to Santa Anita — I’m worried about getting Nick to Santa Anita” (DRF). He’s probably not joking about that: Zito has been outspoken against synthetics, a topic he’ll get to expound on during a Tuesday forum on artificial surfaces (DOC).
– No breaks for 1-5 Ginger Punch in the Go for Wand. The 5-year-old mare broke smartly from the gate, then was boxed in by Moon Catcher in front and Copper State to the outside going into the clubhouse turn and kept covered through the first three quarters, which went by in a dull 1:14.04. What wasn’t dull in the least was the sight of brave Ginger Punch, refused room to run, barreling though her rivals to draw away to a 1 1/4 length win. “My filly showed me a big kick because she was a little mad, you know?“, said jockey Rafael Bejarano after (ThoroTimes). Final time was 1:53.43, final eighth :13.49; can’t knock Ginger Punch for either, not after such an impressive display of determination and heart, accomplished while giving away nine pounds or more on the rest.
– In the Diana, it was Kent Desormeaux who was mad, giving Dynaforce a frustrated smack of the whip right before the wire (which didn’t look good, but doesn’t seem to be technically against the rules) after late-runner Forever Together flew down the center of the track in :11.14 to win by 3/4 length over the filly. Desormeaux has been trying to get win #5000 since opening day, when he hit #4999. He’s 0-for-17 since; the rider has five mounts today.
– Shug McGaughey-trainee Baronial, mentioned here when he made his debut, broke his maiden in the third at decent odds of 4-1. I was side-tracked while wandering over to the track Saturday afternoon and just missed the race, which has pretty much been my story (in handicapping, betting, luck) since the meet began. Like Kent, I’m feeling a little aggravated, but I won’t be taking that out on any horses …
– Odds and ends: Big Brown breezed six furlongs in 1:10.86 on Saturday at Aqueduct for the Haskell, boilerplate raves followed … Agree, this is ludicrous … And this is funny.

Posted in Saratoga on July 27, 2008