Notes - Aug 23

- I feel as if my picks, or observations, or whatever I call it have been bad, so I'm just going to mention one little horsey from Thursday's card, and then bore you with what we did on the dark day Tuesday.

In the third, a turf sprint for two year olds, Michael Matz, who as we mentioned is three for 10 (and two thirds), sends out Lake Placid. He is by Giant's Causeway, and his first two dams were stakes winners on the grass. Whatsmore, this is the distaff family of Theatrical - the 2nd dam of that grass champ is the third dam of Lake Placid. That's all I got for today, I'll (mostly) spare you otherwise. Yeah, it's another "bad" card, but I see opportunities betting against both Vitruvius, making his two-turn debut in a very competitive field (looking at Monopoly Pricing) and Wait A While. Aside from the slumping Toddster, I just don't think she's the same filly as last year; and My Typhoon looks mighty mighty tough to me cutting back to a distance that I think she prefers.

A quick plug for the "unknown" Monet exhibit at the Clark up in Williamstown, which we saw on Tuesday. I know that the real art fans are ga-ga over this because of the rarity of the works shown. But I, knowing little about art history and impressionism, was left merely to enjoy them for their own worth. In fact, I made the Head Chef come with me to see some "real" Monets in the Clark's main gallery space first so that I could have some perspective. I think I wrote last year that the paintings in their permanent exhibit alone are very well worth the trip there. Also, the grounds at the Clark are quite stunning themselves, and how's this for a picturesque little spot for a picnic lunch?



From there, we headed south to a favorite spot called Wahconah Falls State Park.




Let's just say it's an idyllic spot, one of those place where I can sit all day and wonder what the hell is wrong with the world. Probably not a good spot for handicapping though based on my results on Wednesday.

We headed back to Saratoga in time to head to Congress Park for the weekly Tuesday night free music. Nothing spectacular here, just a nice setting where people in a very nice little city gather on the lawn to hear local bands play. A long ways from Central Park Summerstage to be sure. In this case, the music was supplied by Doc Scanlon's Rhythm Boys. Afterwards, we went to the Mexican Connection for dinner. I just indulge the Head Chef when we go there; she loves it, I don't like Mexican food, and get by with a plain steak, hold the cumin please!

I remember a time when I used to dread the dark day (as well as the year that there wasn't one, an experiment that quickly revealed itself to be a disaster). Now it's a day to look forward to, a break from the routine. And Saturday's King's Bishop Travers card also looms as a break, this one from the recent routine of mediocre racing we've seen here over the last week. 12 big races, and about 150 entries altogether. Time to get to work.