Where are the Crowds?

- It doesn’t seem that crowded here as the Travers approaches. It was an absolutely perfect weather day on the Thursday before the big day, yet the crowd was only 17,405, actually a couple of thousand less than Wednesday. I imagine NYRA must be concerned, as the attendance usually builds as the big day approaches. It doesn’t seem particularly crowded in town either, nor at the motel at which I’m staying. I've also noticed the crowds noticeably thinning out as the days go on, perhaps because the races just haven't been that interesting?

It was another fruitless day for me on Thursday, and I’m getting frustrated not only with myself, but with the races. I feel as if my chances have been limited; not like in the past, when it seemed like every race was wide open, presenting a chance to make the one big score needed to get you through. It was like the day was virtually over for me after the 6th race; the 7th was a 4 horse field (more than 60 lengths separated first and last), and the 9th was one of those formless turf sprints that I despise – that eliminated the chance of me playing the final Pick 3 or 4. In the 8th, a sprint stakes for 3 yo fillies, Reunited was 4-5 for Dale Romans off a dominating win here earlier in the meet. I suppose I could have had the winner Nothing But Fun (Dixie Union). She was undefeated with two impressive wins herself.

So what made her 5-1 as opposed to 4-5? 13 Beyer points. That’s the way we handicap the races these days, and I was as intimidated as anyone else, and sat the race out. I think we all need to use a little more creativity! Yes, Reunited had won her last in a class above that of the eventual winner, but Hushion’s filly had every right to improve just as Reunited had. OK, I’m done lecturing myself.

Nothing But Fun is out of a Theatrical mare, and her second dam was a European stakes winner who produced others of the same, so I wouldn’t be surprised to find her on the grass at some point.

At least I showed discipline and kept my losses at a minimum on another difficult betting day. Tom Durkin got off to a bad start in the first when he mis-called Legs Benedict as Legs Diamond throughout the race. Chantal Sutherland drove Contenders Emotion through a late hole to take the opener; trainer Frank Martin, the one time NY claiming king, is enjoying a bit of a revival with a 10-3-2-2 record here.

I didn’t bet until the 3rd, an interesting maiden race in which Frankel’s Sir Halory got pounded late to 4-5; the half brother to Halory Hunter was making his first try around 2 turns. I recalled the failure of Aristocrat, Frankel’s half to Ghostzapper, negotiating distance for the first time the other day. Bredwinner is a money burner and was an easy throwout, and who would think 9 furlongs would be enough for Nolan’s Cat, the horse who finished third in the Belmont, breaking up my triple. I took a stab with 9-1 Pennant Contender, returning to the races for Bill Mott, who has an excellent record with returnees. But the addition of blinkers did the trick for Nolan’s Cat, who shockingly stalked the pace and then out dueled Sir Halory in an exciting stretch contest, as my selection was an outclassed third. Of course, you wouldn’t have known about the equipment change unless you were at the track listening to the announcements.

It was not announced at 12 p.m. (EDT) but at 12:30, and throughout the day on the crawl of the NYRA simulcast feed. Trainer Dale Romans had checked off on his entry that he was adding blinkers, but the NYRA race office missed it. When the overnight came out, Romans saw that Nolan's Cat was not listed as adding blinkers and he alerted the race office and stewards. It was too late to get it into the track program or past performances, but why NYRA did not have it on their initial changes for the day is inexcusable. [Brisnet]

(It may be worth noting (or not) that Andromeda’s Hero adds blinkers for the Travers.)

The more I handicap a card in advance, the more I’m subject to the temptation of simulcasts. Since I’m familiar with the live races, I tend to stray; but I successfully held myself back from losing wagers in the 3rd races at Monmouth and Ellis Park.

Darley Stable sent out 2 yo first timer Changing Weather in the 4th. Here was a hot money favorite (8-5 from 7-2 morning line) that totally lived up to his billing, setting a hot pace of 21.3 and 45.2, and then sprinting home in 12.1 for a sparkling final time of 57.3. Darley was a big player at the 2 yo in training sales, and they got this son of Storm Boot for $260,000 at Ocala in March.

The 5th was a gloriously competitive turf affair with lots of ways to go if you went against favored Fishy Advice, and the second choice Mumble Jumble. The latter is from the barn of Jimmy Jerkins, who has gotten very quiet the last week or so after his hot start. My two longshot stabs were a couple of shippers with fine form, Lone Arrow and Shredded, as I went against the Beyer grain, but they were nowhere. The race turned anticlimactic as Patrick Biancone’s Ball Four, with the outside post and 10 lb apprentice Julien Leparoux, jumped to the lead and never looked back. He was 7-1, but didn’t seem like a popular winner at all, as I heard virtually no cheering. Sometimes you’ll see a horse bet even lower win, and no one seems to have it, and you know that it was a “smart money” horse rather than a popular choice. Funny game sometimes.

By this time, I was getting frustrated again, especially with the poor last three betting races coming up. I was forced to move my chair because there was a woman next to me with a really annoying laugh. It was the piercing “Heh heh heh heh’ type cackle, and it was coming at a rate of 2 or 3 a minute, so I had to go. If I'd been winning, I probably wouldn't even have heard it. The 6th was a maiden turf event for 3 and up, and I tried to beat the logical favorite Dancy’s Angel. She was breaking from the ten post on the inner turf course, and at a mile, it’s a short run to the sharp first turn. I was thinking how difficult that post is, and how the crowd often doesn’t factor that in enough. I was feeling intellectually superior. Of course,she won easily by 3 at 6-5, as Elbar Coa expertly managed to get to the inside. My day at Saratoga was over. In the 8th at Monmouth, I correctly threw out the 3-5 favorite, and ran second to an 11-1 shot. Bad luck, but at least I was right on principle about something.

Friday’s card looks like another tough one, and includes three 2 yo maiden races. Us horseplayers are funny sometimes. We pore through the past performances for the most minute details of a few Beyer points or a few fifths of a second, study tapes of past races to find a couple of feet of ground lost here and there, and obsess over trainers’ records in similar spots. But put in front of us a bunch of babies who have never raced before and have absolutely nothing in terms of a past record for us to go on, and we’ll bet our money on them anyway in wagers that really are basically just us guessing.

- I overheard a group saying that they’ll be lined up at the gate at 3 A.M. Saturday morning so that they can run in and get a table for Travers Day. I’d like to be able to size the competitors up beforehand and get some bets down as to who gets the choice tables first. No past performances here either, just a matter of sizing up the field.

- Journey is performing here on Saturday night, and they always remind me of the comedien Robert Klein, who used to do a funny bit in which he would go something like – NEWS FLASH! IT’S TRUE! JOURNEY, KANSAS, AND STYX ARE ALL THE SAME BAND!! Klein also does a mean Fred Capossela.

Notes - Aug 25

- Interest in the Travers has been revived with the entry of Bellamy Road, and NYRA’s Bill Nader is expecting 50,000 or more to show up on Saturday. "I think there are a lot of people who will come out and see this horse run," said jockey Javier Castellano, who will ride Bellamy Road. "He is a big, black beautiful horse." [Albany Times-Union]

Paul Moran of Newsday provides his take on the Bellamy Road team’s decision to opt for the Travers.

To beat Lost in the Fog, something no horse has done, it is necessary to be somewhere in the same vicinity at the furlong pole of a 7-furlong race. Lost in the Fog, who is 8-for-8, has run twice at the distance. On the day Bellamy Road won the Wood at Aqueduct, Lost in the Fog hit the furlong pole there in 1:08.80 in the Bay Shore. He won the Riva Ridge on Belmont Stakes day after 6 furlongs in 1:08.60. Bellamy Road is a fast, free-running horse with immense potential, but asking him to run fast enough to defeat probably the best sprinter in the nation, while coming off an injury and a layoff, would be reckless. The Travers is the softer spot.

If he was a magnificent physical specimen in May, Bellamy Road is only more so in August, and he has trained purposefully here. "He's an amazing horse," Zito said. "He's developed; he's gotten taller and longer. Hopefully, if he can duplicate his Wood Memorial, you'll see what kind of horse he is."

If Bellamy Road is the horse he appeared to be in May, it will be evident Saturday. This is not the bizarre, 20-horse stampede he encountered in Louisville. He is clearly the speed of a seven-horse field and in position to control the pace, as he did in the Wood.

- Reverberate is 8-1 in the morning line, and jockey Jose Santos says that the colt has developed since his second in the Jim Dandy. "His neck is getting bigger and he is getting more muscular. Can we win? Well, you never know. I've seen a lot of surprises before. We're going into this thinking we can win." [Albany Times Union]

- Henny Hughes will be the focus of the Hopeful, but another 2 yo with a buzz at Saratoga is First Samurai. He was bet off the board in his dominant entry-level allowance win here earlier in the meet, and is the likely second choice in the Hopeful.

The massive, well-chiseled First Samurai is a favorite with Saratoga's breakfast crowds. Fans snap photos as he stands near the finish line before embarking on his training -- so composed that on his first day training at Saratoga, breakfast commentator Mary Ryan informed her audience that the colt surely was an older horse. [Louisville Courier-Journal]

Owner Lansdon Robbins spoke about the son of Giant’s Causeway’s two wins: "The first time he ran, he had a horse right next to him and he was toying with him.....Pat Day was riding him that day and he didn't even ask him. He did the same thing in his race here and he had a lung infection, too." [Bloodhorse] Emphasis added by me. I guess it wasn't an Afleet Alex type of lung infection, just a regular old Saratoga one.

- Nobody will ever accuse Billy Turner of rushing a 2 year old to the races. After weeks of anticipation, it looks less and less likely that our Highland Cat will be running up here at Saratoga. The only remaining possibility is a race written for next Friday, Sept 2, but the feeling is we'll be waiting for Belmont. It wasn't a wasted trip for the colt though; he's progressed well in his workouts, and he was able to catch the Grand Funk Railroad / Edgar Winter gig down in Albany last week.

Travers Update

Bellamy Road is the 2-1 morning line favorite in the Travers, and has drawn the rail.

"The horse is 2-1," his trainer, Nick Zito, said Wednesday after the draw for post positions. "He's 2-1 regardless of everything. That's what this horse does. He's the morning-line favorite. How much more juice can you bring to a race than being the favorite?" [NY Times]

What the hell is he talking about? Maybe Nick should have a drug positive and score one of those Dutrow vacation type deals. Reading comments by the riders of Roman Ruler and Flower Alley, it seems clear that neither will be putting early pressure on Bellamy Road. Jerry Bailey, riding Roman Ruler told the Times: “I'm not convinced Bellamy Road is dead fit, so I'm not going to compromise my chances and go after him too early.....But I respect him enough that I don't want to let him get away." John Velasquez, on Flower Alley, told the Racing Form “If [Bellamy Road] is in front by five, I'm just going to leave him alone, and when Jerry comes to me, we'll both use our horse at the same time instead of me trying to get after him." It could be a matter of Bellamy Road alone on the lead and let's see just how fit he is. Roman Ruler and Flower Alley are talented colts that seem to be improving, and either or both could certainly be right there if Zito's horse is a bit short.

Back at the Track

- I’m back in Saratoga. Well almost in Saratoga; another budget stay in Albany. I was at the races today, I stayed on my feet almost all day, and I showed more discipline in terms of sitting races out (and avoiding simulcasts), but I got blanked again. I really suck right now. It’s fortunate that I didn’t get there until the 3rd. At this rate, the next time I come here I may have to stay in Vermont . I dunno, I think I’m doing the same things I was doing when I was doing OK, but I’m not even coming close. I need to find another place to watch the races. I’ve been watching up in the clubhouse, around midstretch, and it’s close enough to the turn that I can tell that my horse is finished as soon as they straighten away for home. At least if I’m on the finish line or watching on TV, I can get the visual illusion that my horse actually has a chance until the eighth pole anyway!

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 4 weeks since I came up for opening day. In the old days of 4 week meets here – and it wasn’t really that long ago – this meeting would be over. 6 weeks seemed like a long time when they first extended, but now it seems to go by just as fast. Labor Day used to be a huge day at Belmont – the Jerome Stakes and a crowd of 40,000 usually guaranteed. Now, there’s no racing in the NYC area on that holiday at all; not even at the Meadowlands anymore.

The third was a 2 yo maiden turf race, and Dale Roman’s first timer North East Storm, a Fusaichi Pegasus half brother to graded turf stakes winner North East Bound, was taking a ton of money when he dumped Gary Stevens and ran off and had to be scratched. It was very reminiscent of when Performing Diva head butted Jerry Bailey when she was taking a lot of tote action. When she returned, she was dull on the board and ran that way. I was thinking of betting North East Storm just because of the action, so the scratch likely saved me money. Harrigan was left a horrible 7-10 favorite, and he promptly ran dead last with no excuse. The George Weaver stable has tailed off considerably and is 2 for 22 after getting both winners in the first 4 days of the meet. The winner, Smoke Em Again (Two Punch) is another grassy winner for Graham Motion and he won impressively, taken in hand late, winning with something left. The 25-1 runnerup Para Rider (Exploit) finished well, and his dam is a half to Artie Schiller, watch.

The 5th was a wide open $35K claiming event on the turf at 1 1/16 – an excellent betting race, unlike the putrid 5 ½ furlong races that have been carded here. Form (Arch) was 15-1 morning line shipping in from Delaware off a couple of disappointing allowance tries, got hammered on the nose to 7-2, and ran 5th. The smart money isn’t always smart. There was a lot of value and I landed on 8-1 Defrocked; he had a great record closing on good and soft turf courses, and this course was labeled as good. It didn't seem to play that way though. The pace was lively, and they still came home in a snappy :30.59, with Defrocked doing well to close for 4th. Not a terrible betting decision, just a bad result. Peace Emblem won it for Dutrow, his 12th winner of the meet, and the more I think about it, the more ridiculous his “suspension” seems. Some punishment; it was more like a reward - like a vacation in which he had people like Bobby Frankel looking after his horses while he slept late every day.

In the 6th, a state-bred 2 yo race, first timer Red Hot Rose, 5-1 in the morning line, opened at 8-5 and went off at 6-5! His trainer Joseph Imperio is not one who usually has hot horses; perhaps it was the fact that sire Boundary scores at 25% with 2 yo first timers according to the Form. I was going to sit it out until I noticed some late tote action on firster Bella Dorato (Goldminer’s Gold), showing sharp works at Finger Lakes for Anthony Ferraro and John Grabowski in to ride. He went off at 5-1 and ran a fine second as the favorite ran dead last with no excuse. It’s nice to see some these absurd favorites going down. No way I would have had the winner, Follow My Dream, who actually was bet himself at 7-1. Another OK decision with a bad result.

In the 7th, well, I posted about Comacina earlier in the day, and she was a miserable 7th at 5-2, so that took care of the late Pick 3s (which I wouldn’t have had anyway). The winner, Seeking the Ante (Seeking the Gold), really did figure to be best if she wasn’t weary from a long campaign against the best of the 3 yo filly division. I was betting that she was, but she was dead fit for John Kimmel. She’s a nice filly, and hopefully her connections will keep her spotted in a more reasonable fashion. She’s a half sister to Friends Lake, being out of Grade 1 winner Antespend.

I ran dead last with Accountforthegold in the state-bred Albany stakes, as Naughty New Yorker got enough of a pace to rally for the win. Blue Sunday was sent off as the 2-1 favorite despite the fact that he’d never been beyond 7 furlongs and was trying 9 here; another awful favorite - he ran a distant 5th - but I didn’t take advantage. Blue Sunday’s trainer Thomas Albertrani, was on fire at Belmont, but has just one winner in 8 starters here.

And I lost the 9th too, OK? I lost! I tried to beat the Mott/Bailey Tar Heel Dime, who went off the 3-1 favorite. It’s been said that you get better prices on favorites in the 9th because people try to find longshots to get even for the day. I tried various combinations and permutations of three contenders, but none of them made the top three. I suck.

But I ended the day with some discipline, as I didn’t make a bet on the three races I was at the harness track for, nor the simulcast 6th from Del Mar. My handicapping and decisions throughout the day weren’t terrible, even if the results were. And I stood and walked a lot and got a lot of exercise. It was still a great day.

- Have I mentioned that there are a lot of Red Sox fans here this year? A lot.

- Way back those four weeks ago, when there was grass on the ground, I’d mentioned the problems with the betting lines and machines. Those glitches have long since been remedied, and I haven’t had to wait on any line at all since the second day. The track has easily handled the crowds this year; a day like today, with 19,531 on hand, seems downright mellow.

Furthermore..

- The Travers’ gain is the King’s Bishop’s loss. Lost in the Fog will be a prohibitive favorite and whatever he does, it will likely not silence those who are skeptics. Trainer Greg Gilchrist is not upset at all though that Bellamy Road is headed for the Travers. "I am certainly not sad that (Bellamy Road's) not going to be there....I am not the kind of guy who wants to go find the toughest race that I can. If he's not in there, it won't hurt my feelings." [Albany Times-Union] Gilchrist also downplayed the bar shoe the colt has been wearing to protect a quarter crack in his left hind foot.

"I would doubt very seriously that he wears it in the race," Gilchrist said Monday from northern California. "I'm not even concerned about that foot. It's not bothering him. I wouldn't say it won't bother him after the race, but you've got to play hurt sometimes. It's not a major thing." [Daily Racing Form]

Hmmm. Seems like we’ve heard that before.

The other big race on Travers day is the Hopeful for 2 yo’s and Biancone’s Henny Hughes worked a spectacular 5 furlongs in 59.65.

Trainer Patrick Biancone called it a routine work for an extraordinary juvenile colt.
"He's not just any kind of 2-year-old," Biancone said. "He's different. He relaxes well, he's got all the qualities of a good horse. He does the job push-button - he's a pro."
......
Henny Hughes did Tuesday's work so easily that as he walked through the paddock on the way back to his barn, you could hardly hear him breathe. [DRF]

Wednesday Morning Notes - Aug 24

- The 7th at Saratoga today is the type of race that has always made us love the place; and these have been unfortunately all too rare this season. It's a wide open allowance race with some classy looking 3 yo fillies from top stables. Patrick Biancone sends out Comacina (Dixie Union), who won impressively in her 3 yo debut at Monmouth last month. She prompted a fleet opening quarter, and then, according to the chart, “moved to the front passing the quarter pole while under a rating hold, drew clear when asked, and was ridden out to the final yard before allowed to coast home.” She was placed very ambitiously last year, as this barn tends to do, running in the Astoria as a maiden, and in the Futurity against colts after her maiden win. But she seems to have come back strong. Comacina faces a tough field today, but picks up Gary Stevens and ran her best race last year at this 7 furlong distance.

- Pari-mutuels in Broward County, Florida got a boost in their effort to install slots as a judge put pressure on the state legislature to establish regulations when he reaffirmed his decision that they have the right to install machines on their own. Still, it’s unlikely, at least for now, that anything will happen.

Track owners say that for now, it's enough that they're working with state lawmakers and Broward County commissioners to draft regulatory guidelines. The likelihood that lawmakers will convene a special session this fall to finish writing regulations is promising enough to keep the parimutuels from immediately bringing in slot machines.

They won't wait forever though, said Tom Julin, a lawyer for the three Broward horse tracks and one jai-alai fronton that won voter approval for slot machines in March.

''I think Dec. 1 is a good sort of outside date,'' Julin said. ``There's only so long you wait.'' [Miami Herald]

In New Orleans, the City Council last week approved Churchill’s plan to install slots at the Fair Grounds, but with severe restrictions and under the close watch of the neighboring community.

The [citizens advisory] committee will meet quarterly to consider any alleged violations of the provisos covering issues such as hours of operation of the slots, police patrols of surrounding neighborhoods, and landscaping, fencing, lighting and signage at the track.

The hours set in the ordinance are the same as those in the zoning petition: 9 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. to midnight Sunday. Batt had said in June that he hoped Churchill eventually would agree to delay the Sunday opening to 11 a.m., but the ordinance authorizes 10 a.m.
.......
One proviso in the ordinance bans "amplified outdoor sound, including but not limited to live music, recorded music, D.J. services and public address announcements" at the track except during the race season and the annual New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival. [Times Picayune]

It’s hard to imagine gamblers in a slots parlor being herded to the exits at midnight! Churchill originally requested a 24 hour operation, and this is quite a concession on their part; but clearly, the company just took whatever they could get, and it sounds like they better be on their best behavior.

- The final report and decision on NYRA’s deferred prosecution has been delayed until September 13, as it was reported that NYRA lost $16 million in 2004.

Stand Up

- Every serious horseplayer knows that you should keep detailed records of your bets. This way, you can compile a set of past performances on yourself. Are you more successful in allowance races or claimers? Dirt or turf races? Have you been more profitable (or less unprofitable) betting speed horses or closers? Perhaps you do well with first time starters, or maiden claimers, or with non winners of 3 allowance races. Have your best scores been exactas, triples or Pick 4s; what is your P&L on each? You could theoretically assemble a database like Formulator, and find that you have a high winning percentage betting mid-pack closers on muddy tracks in $35,000 claiming races on Tuesdays and on days that Pat Robertson calls for an assassination.

For me to be writing this is kinda like the chain smoking parents who tell their kids not to light up. I don’t keep any records despite the fact that all the pros say you should. I blame it on simply not having the time, but perhaps I’m afraid of what I might learn about the bottom line and find a less expensive pastime like gardening or bird watching. Besides the cash, it’s a huge investment just in the sheer mental energy required to devote such intense concentration to the effort, with so many different things to process, quantitative, qualitative, and intuitive. Remember when you were a kid, it was easy to shut everything out and make a ballgame or an album seem like absolutely the only thing in the world. Now, after a full day of some serious handicapping, I’m mentally spent and would have trouble comprehending My Pet Goat.

I think I have a pretty good idea at this point of what races I do well with (3 yo turf races, maiden races, mid-price claiming sprinters, races with clear false favorites like Hey Buddy horses) and which I don’t (sprint stakes, any races over 9 furlongs, the Preakness Stakes, and any races at Charles Town, Philadelphia Park, Australia (ha!), or, if last weekend was any indication, Saratoga.

Marc Cramer packed a lot of wisdom into his little 1994 novelette Scared Money, and he expanded on the idea of keeping records. Cramer distinguishes between handicapping and decision making. I imagine that me and most of you reading could probably look at most races and agree on who the contenders are and aren’t. Identifying the contenders is part of the handicapping process (for me, the races I really jump on are the ones in which I handicap that the favorite is not one of them). But then, after narrowing them to perhaps 2 or 3 or 4, comes the decision making process, when you may want to weigh the odds and determine who presents value, whom you're going to bet and how; and it’s in the final few minutes, at least for me, that the final decision making is completed. I would say that I rarely bet a race more than 2 minutes before it goes off – even for Pick 3s.

Cramer writes about keeping records of not only how he came to his decision on each race, but where.

Pouring through my own records, some valuable evidence materialized. I keep a “book of why” in which each bet on the ledger is accompanied by a complete explanation of each betting decision. Going back through my winning periods as well as the latest crash, I learned that my most inspired betting decisions had been achieved while I was standing at the rail or walking around under the grandstand. Literally, I had been thinking better on my feet.

Both of this year’s IRS payoffs had been the result of exacta inclusions made while walking from one haunt to another. A third big score had been fashioned while standing at the urinal. Meanwhile, none of my best decisions had come while seated.

I loved this idea of keeping track of where I am and what I’m doing when I make my bets when I first read the book - it just makes sense to me - but never followed through on actually keeping the records. But again, at this point I’m well aware that I also think better on my feet, and almost always make my best decisions that way, often while walking to a specific monitor or to find a betting machine. It didn’t help this past weekend, but I realized that I’d done a lot of sitting, and I started to make a conscious effort to get up out of my comfy lawn chair and head into the grandstand or clubhouse, where the greenery and serenity gives way to the racetrack, with the betting odds and the chatter and the tension building as the track announcer counts down the minutes to post.

No expert’s book would have explained that, for me, the difference between a winning and losing streak was primarily one of decision making. And decision making was linked to things like attitude and inspiration.

I do get inspired when I’m on my feet and particularly when I’m inside, where the atmosphere becomes hard core; my attitude goes from laid back and subject to distraction to total focus on the task on hand. When I’m sitting, I look at the board and think, “Jeez, they’re already on the track.” When I’m standing, it becomes “Still plenty of time.” I’ll be on my feet a lot when I return to Saratoga for Travers weekend.

Notes - August 23

- Lava Man is OK after getting “rubber-legged near the wire” after Sunday’s Pacific Classic. Pat Valenzuela commented that he “just fell apart the last 20 yards….He lost his air. I was concerned about him. I didn't know if he was hurt or not, but I didn't want any weight on him if he was." [AP] It’s certainly understandable that the horse would be so tired. He was pushed by Surf Cat to blistering fractions, and it’s a wonder he held as well as he did. Trainer Doug O’Neill said that he “looks fantastic,” and that "He didn't need the van to get back to the barn…..But we put him on just to be on the conservative side." [LA Times] I can generally use a van ride home too after a full day at Saratoga, but, hey, I’m not a Grade 1 stakes winner. His fine third place finish earns him a trip to Belmont for the Jockey Club Gold Cup on October 1.

As for the 4 yo Borrego (El Prado), he’s a consistent sort who in this case got the pace up front he needs and finally got the top spot, his first graded stakes win, just his second victory since his 2 yo season, and only the 6th this year for trainer Beau Greeley. He may be considered a hanger, but he’s hung around enough to now have earned nearly $1.5 million. He’s out of a mare by Kentucky Derby winner Strike the Gold, who you rarely see in pedigrees.

- Valenzuela was involved in a fight on Monday with Corey Naktani. He overheard a comment Nakatani made after the second race, and the fireworks began.

The fight's ignition point, Nakatani said, was when Valenzuela threw his riding helmet at him. They grappled, fell to the floor, punches and kicks were thrown before security personnel separated the 42-year-old Valenzuela, a 26-year riding veteran, and the 34-year-old Nakatani, a 16-year veteran.

Valenzuela emerged with a gouge on his left ear that required stitches. Early rumors at the track were that it was the result of a bite – giving it a Mike Tyson-Evander Holyfield aura – but both combatants said that was not true. [SignOnSanDiego]

The two riders were then involved in an incident in the 7th which was reviewed by the stewards, and when they took no action against Nakatani, Valenzuela shouted obscenities at the stewards' booth, six floors up in the grandstand, as he headed for the archway leading to the jockeys' room.

- Bellamy Road will run in the Travers, and that is just excellent news! The race was shaping up as a truly lackluster affair with just six entries, including plodders Andromeda's Hero and Don't Get Mad. I don’t think anyone was excited over a “showdown” between Roman Ruler and Flower Alley. And I personally can always do without Don’t Get Mad, who I find particularly confounding.

"Right now, he's ready to run, he looks absolutely beautiful and I'm going to take my shot," said Zito, who last year's Travers with Birdstone off a 12-week layoff. "That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

Zito believes that the Travers may actually be a better race to build on for the future for Bellamy Road than having to run a hard seven furlongs against Lost in the Fog, arguably the best sprinter in the country.

"That's what we're thinking too," Zito said. "Which race really builds? I'm thinking in a way if he comes out of that race good and everything so be it, we just keep going forward. The Breeders' Cup Classic [on Oct. 29] is still our main thing." [Daily Racing Form]

- Todd Pletcher comments on his current Saratoga meet.

"I think you've got to put it in perspective….Three years ago, if we would have won 15 races and $1.2 million in purses, everyone would be saying, 'Man, you're having an awesome meet.' When you win 35 races two years in a row, and all of a sudden you have 15 wins at the three-week barrier, everyone acts like you're having a (terrible) meet." [NY Daily News]

Pletcher now has 16 wins, Dutrow 11, and Asmussen 10, the latter two with about a third as many starters as Pletcher. Indeed, how many trainers will even achieve 15 winners for the entire meet?

Losing Weekend

- As I mentioned earlier, I didn’t cash a ticket in three days this past weekend, betting around half the races. Not including simulcasts. On Friday, it at first seemed like a continuation of my last day there the previous Sunday, with the parade of favorites resuming. In the 4th, I had to bet against the 3-5 Pletcher entry – one of his 2 yo fillies was making her debut, and the other had never been on the grass, and it was the latter, J’Ray (Distant View), getting the win easily and breaking the trainer’s “slump.” I ran second with 10-1 Fairytale Story, a Phil Serpe first timer with interesting bloodline for grass – she’s inbred to Buckpasser and to Majestic Prince, and I didn’t regret not having the value-less $21.80 exacta.

The G2 Lake Placid was a competitive six horse field of 3 yo fillies for the turf, and I liked Bobby Barbera’s Victory Lap. She was coming off 5 straight turf wins and a giant fig from Lone Star, and Barbara’s barn had been live of late. He was 5-1, as Mott’s exquisitely-bred My Typhoon (Giant’s Causeway-Urban Sea) was made the 8-5 choice. Christophe Clement had a shipper from France, Naissance Royal; she was 7-2 morning line, and was hanging around 9-2 throughout. A look at Formulator showed that amongst the many foreign shippers Clement has won with over the last five years, 9-2 is rather high for these, so my first thought was that he wasn’t really getting bet. However, a look at the show pool showed that he was getting bet squarely on the nose. I was committed to my choice though, and saved with an exacta with Clement’s filly on top of mine.

Victory Lap ran a creditable third, and it was indeed Naissance Royale holding off the favorite in an exciting stretch duel. If you take a look at the payoffs, you’ll see just how the horse got bet. Even with the favorite running second, he paid $11.20, $4.80, and $4.60 to show; the relatively generous show payoff shows that he wasn’t amongst the top choices in that pool. It was the 25th first time off the plane winner for Clement in the last five years – only once did one of them pay more (5.50 to 1) and all the others were 3-1 or less. When the two favorites ran 1-2 in the 9th, it was a lost day and back to Albany (it was a budget weekend) to regroup.

- Saturday brought my first encounter of the meeting with a sloppy track and off the turf races. We sure have been fortunate with the weather up here this year. Perhaps the rain kept some people away and/or inside, because it was a very comfortable and mellow backyard area with the crowd just under 30,000. The wet track just put me further into a daze, but at least I had a close call in the 4th, when I had MTO Hunter’s Tale, who get absolutely hammered in to 5-2 in the last couple of minutes; he missed by a neck and I would have had the exacta had not favored Wicklow Highlands prevailed in his third gritty stretch duel in a row. I thought these horses are supposed to bounce?

In the 5th, Patrick Biancone’s 2 yo Kilimanjaro was 6-1 morning line, but went off 9-5 and took advantage of a 14 second final eighth to rally for the win. The late closing style was reminiscent of his second dam, Waya, one of my favorite race mares of all time.

My only fist pumping of the weekend was in the 9th, the restricted Troy Stakes, as Graham Motion’s Funfair came up the rail with a rousing rally under John Velasquez, and I was alive in the late double going into the Alabama. The 6 yo gelding’s second dam is Kentucky Oaks winner Seaside Attraction, and her dam is a half to Cape Town and Cape Canaveral.

But no, I did not have Sweet Symphony in the Alabama - I had R Lady Joy and Dance Away Capote - and remarked to the Head Chef shortly before the race that I thought she was being overbet. And I still do, but tell that to those who cashed in on her awesome performance. The 3 yo filly division has turned over several times, with the leadership passed on from Sweet Catomine to Summerly to Sis City to Smuggler and next, perhaps Sweet Symphony? There’s also Spun Sugar and why is it that all these fillies’ names start with an ‘S?’ I think I mentioned previously that Sweet Symphony’s second dam is Sharon Brown, the dam of Holy Bull.

Mike Watchmaker in the Form(sub only) discusses a couple of ways to look at Sweet Symphony’s performance.

In reality, Sweet Symphony's main opposition was Spun Sugar, whose development has proven to be disappointingly stagnant, and Sis City, who has been, and still is, miles removed from her best form.

But even though Sweet Symphony's off-the-pace romp in the Alabama should be viewed in this context, there is reason to be optimistic about this filly, who is now undefeated after four starts. For one, the Beyer folks liked the way she ran in the Alabama, assigning her a figure of 104, although it should be noted that the Alabama was a tricky number to make. The Alabama was run over a harrowed track rated as good, while all the other dirt races Saturday were run over a sealed track termed either sloppy or muddy.

- I was optimistic going into Sunday, but then again, who isn’t optimistic in Saratoga at 12:30 P.M? This feeling lasted until the gate opened for the first, when my top selection Smoke Warning, was left at the gate. It was like my bubble was burst right off the bat as I looked ahead to a ponderous card of short-priced favorites and three off-the-turfers. I found it disappointing that the 3rd and 4th from Delaware were far more interesting than the 2nd and 3rd at the Spa. However interesting though, I still lost.

The Head Chef, who became energized there this weekend and studied the horses intently and even had me buy her a program, had a winner when Cooking the Books was put up via DQ in the 2nd. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that I have not been put up in at least 20 years. It’s like the Mets never having a no-hitter, I feel like I’ll never get DQ’d into a win.

Wayne Lukas had two winners. His 2 yo Ex Caelis (Fusaichi Pegasus) came back along the inside to nip Serena’s Cat, overbet to 8-5 after being trounced by India, in the 5th. Then, he had A. P. Arrow in the 8th, and I’d been looking forward to betting against him since his last race, in which he rallied for second in a slow last eighth against a field lacking 2 turn experience. He was facing three of those once again here, and I was looking for someone, anyone, who might be running in the final eighth. I settled on Cosmonaut, trying the dirt for Carlos Martin after two sterling turf tries. It was a guess really, and a poor one as he ran last. I wasn’t wrong though about the race nor about A.P. Arrow despite the fact that he won. The leader Spanish Mission, was absolutely dying in the stretch; he was literally wobbling home he was so tired. The final eighth went in 14.45 seconds, and it took every inch for A.P. Arrow to run him down. You could see Jerry Bailey ease up as soon as he knew he had the race right before the wire.

I watched as Offlee Wild got beat, intimidated by all the winning favorites that had beaten me in the last three days. It was a lost weekend, but only in terms of money. I'm undaunted by this temporary setback, and already itching to go back for more.

- Sweet Symphony races for George Steinbrenner’s Kinsman Stable, and if Bellamy Road goes in the Travers, he’ll be going for a sweep of the big 3 yo races for each sex. The Boss wanted to play out the question of which race he will run in to the very end.

Steinbrenner had hoped to draw out the suspense to the morning of the race, instructing Bellamy Road's trainer, Nick Zito, to enter both races.

"They do that at other tracks, but they don't do it in New York because it's a state rule," Zito said Sunday after Bellamy Road, the Wood Memorial champion, blazed five furlongs over a muddy track in a swift 594/5 seconds.

While Steinbrenner's sleight of hand was thwarted by regulations, Zito essentially told on himself Sunday when questioned about how Bellamy Road appeared to run a lot farther than five furlongs in his workout.

Zito conceded that he had instructed the exercise rider Maxine Correa to gallop Bellamy Road out strong for a mile, which he clocked in 1:40. He also sent Bellamy Road out with two stable mates, Chief Commander and Go Now, both of whom Bellamy Road easily blew by.

"Yeah, he went farther," Zito said. "It was a two-turn work, and it was like a minirace."

In fact, it was the kind of endurance workout a trainer gives a horse in preparation for a mile-and-a-quarter route like the Travers rather than a seven-furlong sprint like the King's Bishop. [NY Times]

Be Back Shortly

- Well, I lied. I said I'd next be reporting from Saratoga, but I'm already back. I tried to blog through it all as some personal family issues came to the forefront immediately upon our return from Saratoga last week, finally coming to an emotional climax as the week ended; any posts I managed during that time was mainly a case of me distracting myself from what was going down.

We were up in Saratoga Friday through Sunday, and it was more therapeutic than anything else. It was an essential getaway and as enjoyable as it could possibly be under the circumstances, and that despite off tracks and off turf, a preponderance of difficult if not downright unbettable races, weather that didn't turn delightful until yesterday, and not a single ticket cashed in three days. I probably bet on about half of the races, and except for being alive in the late double on Saturday, didn't really even come close. Yet in this case, it was, as the jingle goes, all about being there; something that the soul understands amdist the confusion and turmoil of real life. I just couldn't find the time or the energy to write over the weekend, but I'll be back soon with a brief recap of my utter futility over the three days, and then will forge ahead and resume my regularly scheduled programming as soon as I can. As always, thanks so much for reading, and please stay tuned.

Notes - August 19

- It looks like I’m not the only one in the skeptic camp regarding Lava Man, as a full field of 12 was entered for the Pacific Classic, the signature race of the Del Mar meeting, including Bruce Headley’s 3 yo Surf Cat. Apparently, it wasn’t just a mere excuse when Headley blamed transportation problems on their not coming east for the Haskell after Afleet Alex defected.

The plan snagged when the commercial shipping company transporting Surf Cat refused to let groom Juan Soto fly because he doesn't have a passport. Headley said it was explained to him as a post-9/11 aviation-security thing.

Headley decided not to pack his prized horse off to the other side of the country without his trusted handler.

"Bleeping Bin Laden," Headley said this week, "if you want to put it in a few words."
........
"Everything has gone perfect (in training)," Headley said Thursday morning on the phone from his barn at Del Mar in San Diego County. "The only thing now is whether he can take on the big boys. He's like a bull stag. That's a word for when they're maturing into bulls. That's when they try to take over the herd." [LA Daily News]

Perfect Drift had the benefit of the rail when he broke his long losing schneid on the dirt in the Washington Park Handicap, but he’ll break from the outside 12 post on Sunday, and only one horse, Gentlemen, in a five-horse field in 1997, has won the race from the outermost stall. "It could be a blessing," [trainer Murray] Johnson said. "He loads last, and if somebody along the line acts up, he won't be standing there a long time" [LA Times] That sounds like a man trying very hard to put a good face on things. Mark Guidry rides, but Johnson sounds as if the horse would do better on auto-pilot. "The horse knows what he's doing....The less the jockey does the better." [Houston Chronicle]

As for Lava Man, the former claimer comes in off his huge 8 length, 120 Beyer win in the Hollywood Gold Cup, where he has done his best racing. Funny, when I did my search for stories on this race, everything came up Surf Cat or Perfect Drift or Borrego; it seems he’s being overlooked again, at least by the press. Not by the morning oddsmaker though, who has him at 9-5. Another good performance will earn him a trip to the $1 million Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont on October 1, a prelude to the BC Classic there on the 29th.

- The G1 Alabama at Saratoga tomorrow drew a field of 7, and with Smuggler and Round Pond out of action for now, Sis City may find easier going as she tries to rebound from two extremely disappointing 4th place finishes at 3-5 and 6-5, ouch.

"She's training good, but she's been training good in every race we've headed her towards," [trainer Richard] Dutrow said. "The Kentucky Oaks was a little bit puzzling. I can see her not running good in the (Delaware Oaks) because of the track, so that's okay. She seems like she is back to her old form." [NY Daily News]

He told the Form, "This filly is going to come back and run big. She's sitting on a race." John Ward’s For All We Know is also trying to rebound from a 4th place finish, that coming in the CCA Oaks. Ward thinks he’s in better position for this race.

"I couldn't get her to Belmont before the race because of the strangles outbreak (in Kentucky)....I knew going into the Coaching Club that I was going to have to give something up because I had not trained there." [Albany Times Union]

Too bad the betting public didn’t know, as they hammered her to 5-2 despite it being just her 4th race and first in stakes. "We have circled the Alabama the whole time," Ward said. "She is doing good now and we are going to hold our course."

Spun Sugar goes for Pletcher from the outside 7 post, and the now-slumping trainer was pleased with the post. "Perfect....We should be able to allow things to happen." [Daily Racing Form] l George Steinbrenner has his undefeated filly Sweet Symphony going in the race off of a maiden and two allowance wins– a similar scenario to when For All We Know tried the Oaks.

- David Grening reports in the Form that the Bellamy Road team has indeed decided between the Travers and the King’s Bishop, and are just keeping the decision to themselves.

Ed Sexton, the racing manager for George Steinbrenner's Kinsman Stable, said he is trying to avoid the media hype the horse received prior to the Kentucky Derby, where he finished seventh as the favorite. Still, Sexton dropped hints Thursday that Bellamy Road is more likely to run against Lost in the Fog in the $250,000 King's Bishop at seven furlongs than the $1 million Travers at 1 1/4 miles.
.......
"If there's one horse that can beat Lost in the Fog, we got him," Sexton said. "It's like a boxer; everybody meets their match. We're hoping we are his match. If we run against him, he'll have to run harder than he's ever run to beat us."

Sexton didn't rule out the Travers. As of Thursday, the Travers only had six confirmed starters: Andromeda's Hero, Chekhov, Don't Get Mad, Flower Alley, Reverberate, and Roman Ruler. [Daily Racing Form]

Can you imagine that field – they’ll be three horses toward the front end with the other three about a half mile behind, hoping for the front runners to come back to them.

- Tim Ritchey got his first win of the Saratoga meet Thursday with Always Noble in the third, and today, Afleet Alex will have his surgically repaired left foreleg X-rayed and examined....by one of the country's leading veterinarians, Dr. Larry Bramlage.

"He's the guru of surgeons," said trainer Tim Ritchey, watching as the Preakness and Belmont winner took one of his four-a-day walks around the barn yesterday. "I feel very happy to have him on this case. After the X-rays, we'll come up with a strategy as to what we can do next."

Ritchey said that Afleet Alex has never experienced any soreness from the injury, a hairline condylar fracture at the bottom of his cannon bone that was repaired July 27.

"He's walking very confidently," Ritchey said. "He's very playful, and his attitude is great."[NY Daily News]

- I'll next be reporting once again from beautiful Saratoga. See you later.

Legal Laughers

- U.S. House Representative Ed Whitfield, chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee of Oversight, is not happy with the Jockey Guild’s response to his request for documents as part of his investigation into various issues, including the matter of what services exactly are being performed by Guild president Dr. Wayne Gertmenian and his consulting firm Matrix Consulting Associates in return for their annual fees of $175,000 and $400,000 respectively.

Rep Whitfield has written follow-up letters to Dr. G, noting that no one associated with the guild has been able to furnish subcommittee investigators with critical information about Matrix -- including its previous clients and the services it provides to the guild.

"Even the Guild's Chief Financial Officer could not explain, when interviewed, how Matrix utilizes or budgets the payments made by the Guild for work performed on its behalf," one letter said.

"In light of the fact that the Guild's payments to Matrix constitute such a large portion of the Guild's total operating budget, we are troubled that no one can adequately explain what Matrix does." [Louisville Courier Journal]

Whitfield also wrote:

"It is disconcerting that no one associated with the Guild has yet been able to provide a detailed accounting or basis for these fees despite the fact that they come directly from dues and fees paid by the Guild’s members who expect the Guild’s leadership and management to be dedicated to furthering the members’ health and welfare.” [Thoroughbred Times]

Indeed, the lapsing of the Guild’s insurance policy for on-track catastrophic injuries is also a subject of the probe.

In response, the Guild’s legal counsel Lloyd Ownbey replied, "The ultimate goal of this is to get Dr. Gertmenian, because he's too strong for them.…They want to have a guild that will roll over and do what they tell them to do." [Daily Racing Form] He’s too strong for them? I recall these previous comical comments by another Guild attorney and come to the conclusion that however it is the organization is spending their money, it’s certainly not on expensive legal help. I wouldn’t be concerned about any of these guys being recruited for Karl Rove’s legal team.

- Nick Zito is still teasing the press over his plans for Bellamy Road on August 27.

"I just want to see where I am with his training….If I can feel he can get up to a mile and a quarter, well, we'll see. People might question a mile and a quarter but they don't know what kind of horse this is. It's not an easy decision no matter what race we go in." [Albany Times-Union]

What do you think he’ll do? I think he’s committed to the King’s Bishop and that he’s just having some fun. On the other hand, perhaps he's looking at the prospective Travers field and thinking he just may take a shot at them. Closing Argument, last seen humiliating those such as myself who touted him for the Preakness, is nominated for the Travers, and he had his second work since that debacle, but Kiaran McLaughlin indicated [he] would likely return to the races in the Pennsylvania Derby at Philadelphia Park on...Sept. 5. [NY Daily News]

- New NYRA racing secretary PJ Campo is delivering the turf sprints that he promised when he took over for Mike Lakow, and the result has been less than inspiring. Since NY horses have no established form for these races, and with shippers from venues that do have these races scarce due to the detention barn policy, the races here have been largely unbettable. Friday’s first race is a state-bred allowance at 5 1/2 furlongs, and it’s the usual mix of dirt sprinters trying the turf and turf routers trying a sprint. Only one horse in the race has any record at the distance (an o-fer) at all. Personally, I would have preferred he conduct this experiment at another time, when we expect the races to suck and it doesn’t matter as much. The second race is a state-bred maiden race that only drew six 2 yo fillies, and that’s a really bad sign, as it’s those races that have attracted some of the biggest fields lately. I’m slated to be back up there for the weekend tomorrow, and I’ll likely be starting the action off with the early double from Monmouth.

- Highland Cat worked 4 furlongs in 49.60 this morning, 9th best of 24 at that distance. It's supposed to be his last work before a race, but we'll see.

Wednesday Night Notes - Aug 17

- Certainly no surprise to see Chekhov headed for the Travers. He’s eligible for a N1X and it could possibly give the colt a little confidence if he faced lesser horses. But his owners probably figure that one of these days he’ll get lucky and the race will fall apart like the West Virginia Derby did for Real Dandy. Then perhaps he’ll rally for the win and then they can retire him to banner headlines of GRADE 1 STAKES WINNER and start to really put a dent into the $3.3 million they paid for him. In the Haskell, he was beaten by 4 ¼ by Roman Ruler, who he’ll face again at Saratoga. Trainer Patrick Biancone said, "If you see the first half in :47, it means he'll win...He's a come-from-behind horse. He's coming (along). It's just a question of faith and patience." [NY Daily News]

I wonder if Steve Asmussen and the connections of Real Dandy have perhaps given a fleeting thought to the Travers after watching the son of Yankee Victor go last to first at Mountaineer. The Pennsylvania Derby or Super Derby seem more likely. Asmussen was prescient with his comments to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette the day before: "The timing, this race suits him extremely well......It'll take a clean trip to win with those kinds of numbers [in the field], but I think we have a very good chance." He got the clean trip, saving ground before circling the field as the field slowed to a quarter of :26.34 after going 1:11.60 to three quarters. He earned a career high Beyer of 102.

Roman Ruler, the possible Travers favorite, blazed a half mile at Saratoga in :45 4, and Bob Baffert, speaking to Bloodhorse.com from Del Mar, didn’t sound completely pleased.

"He was supposed to work only three-eighths and gallop out another furlong....But they said the track was fast this morning, and the rider had a hold of him the whole way. He just didn't know the horse. (Regular exercise rider) Dana Barnes will work him next week, and I'll be there with the radio. This is a very good horse who is just now peaking. He's doing awesome." [Bloodhorse]

Asmussen had the favorite in the 5th race at Saratoga today, a 2 yo maiden race in which none of the 9 entrants had started before. Formal Appeal was a $750,000 2 yo in training purchase by speed sire Successful Appeal, and his trainer had 3 wins and a second with 4 2 yo first timers at the meet. So you would expect him to be favored, but 7-10? Other than Pletcher’s High Cotton (4-1) and Darley’s Unification (8-1), no one else was in single digits. Formal Appeal went for the lead but Unification, a son of Dixie Union out of Grade 1 winner Devils Orchid challenged the favorite throughout, and he was nailed late by Nick Zito’s Fabled ($29.40). Brisnet’s Dick Powell had him right on the nose in his preview:

Every year Nick Zito starts a lot of debut runners and pops with one. His strike rate first time out is only 8 percent, but FABLED (Tale of the Cat), who is out of a Forty Niner mare, is training well and gets Gary Stevens.

Indeed, a look at Formulator shows that it’s Nick’s first debut winner since Indy Storm took his maiden try last New Year’s Eve at Calder; he’d sent out 19 in between. He actually had 7 last year, with the longest price being Royal Assault at 16-1; the rest of them were 9-2 or less.

Fabled came from way, way back. If you bet him and were watching on TV, it was one of those races that you’re just waiting and waiting and waiting to catch sight of him as they’re rounding the turn; he appeared just as they passed the quarter pole. Durkin picked him up in midstretch – “Fabled!” he exclaimed with some surprise, “way out of it earlier, is coming up on the far outside!”

Another 3-5 shot went down in the 6th race. Frankel’s Sagita Ra, who has burned money before at 1-2, 3-5, 3-2, and 2-1, was closer than usual as Bailey tracked Elbar Coa, who was masterfully setting a slow pace on 6-1 Dynamite Lass. Sagitta Ra torched the cash again, as he couldn't solve the front runner in a long drive and lost out on the head bob.

- Pennsylvania’s latest little guy horse story, Hambletonian winner Vivid Photo, returns to the Meadows tomorrow night to race in a $34,000 Sire Stakes trot, and the first 500 fans will get a Roger Hammer T-shirt. I'd wait on line for that before I would for those Saratoga blankets.

Tuesday Night Quickie

- Bill Mott has just 6 winners in 41 starters at Saratoga, good for a 14.4% win percentage that is below his 22% for the year. He did strike on Monday however with 3 yo turf maiden winner Warrior Song, paying an un-Mott like $19.40. Perhaps the bettors took note of Jerry Bailey jumping ship to ride Bobby Frankel’s first time starter Sir Galatyn, the 7-2 crowd favorite. Ramon Dominguez got the mount on the son of Unbridled’s Song out of Grade 1 turf winner La Gueirere, and therefore a half-brother to Lasting Approval. Frankel’s colt checked in 8th

Don’t look now but Steve Asmussen is creeping up on Todd Pletcher in the trainer standings. Whereas after the first week it looked like Pletcher could get 60, he now has just 14 at the halfway point, and seems like a longshot to make it to his usual 35. Asmussen has 9 in just 17 starts, while Pletcher has sent 50 to the post. Asmussen took Monday’s first, and then in the second, a 2yo maiden turf route, Pletcher had the entry of Dyna’s Destiny and Dancing Band sent postward at .55-1. This despite the fact that one of them had never run, and the other one had just a turf sprint to show. So you were getting 55 cents on the dollar on a couple of horses being asked to do things they’ve never done before. There has to be better value than that offered at a track (and there is of course). Pletcher's entry finished 4th and 6th.

That second race was won by a first timer, but at 4.70 to 1, you were at least getting value on a Giant’s Causeway colt from Shug McGaughey and ridden by Bailey. Carriage Trail was dead last going past the stands the first time but had already swept 3 wide to the lead as they straightened away for the stretch.

No Blanket Finish

- I’d love to write about an exciting Sunday with many thrills and chills for my final day of a week long trip to Saratoga, but the truth is that it was a disappointing anti-climax. The highlight by far was pulling into the owners lot and walking in with no wait as others had to contend with unbelievable traffic and lines at the admission gates that were beyond belief – far longer than I and many other observers have ever seen. At 70,792, it was the second largest announced crowd ever. When we left, there were still flashing signs on the highway announcing that the lots were full. The attraction was the giveaway of Saratoga blankets, and I imagine many were disappointed when they got theirs and saw that it was barely large enough to cover a pillow, no less a bed. Nonetheless, I was told that people were offering them on Ebay even before Sunday. The things people will do for a few extra bucks! I made no effort at all to get one, even when the lines subsided. They didn’t even seem worth the three bucks admission to me.

As far as the racing goes, it was pretty dismal, with 7 of the 10 races featuring favorites of 6-5 or (much) less. If you see all the favorites that won, you can figure that it wasn’t my kind of day. I was psyched coming in, especially after bypassing the big crowds, but the first race, scratched down to 5 was a harbinger of things to come. It was a parade of short-priced horses in the first 4 races, with the highest payoff Nose the Trade ($5.50) in that opener. Two 3-5’s and a 3-10 shot followed, with the Pick 3 returning $7.50. Another winner for Linda Rice with her 2 yo Metro Meteor ($3.40) in the 2nd, and Shug McGaughey’s 3 yo filly Chili Cat ($2.60) took the 4th by over 11. Her dam is a half to Country Hideaway, and her 3rd dam is Alabama winner Maplejinsky, the dam of Sky Beauty. Still, she was third in her debut at 6-1, and it's just incredible to me that people would bet a horse like this like she's Secretariat running against a bunch of retired catchers. I made a couple of small “fooling around” bets against favorites, but obviously didn’t win.

The juices started to flow a bit in the 5th, a 2 yo maiden turf affair with a wide open betting field that was really kind of unbettable itself. The 3-1 favorite was Richard Violette’s first timer Market Turbulence. a Storm Creek colt with a lot of European stakes winners, plus Film Maker and Sabin in his pedigree. But did anyone look at the breeding of the winner Kid Carousel ($36.20) for Randy Shulhofer? His dam is a half to G1 turf stakes winners Forbidden Apple, Paradise Creek, and Wild Event, and his second dam is a half to Theatrical! Guess we missed that! I tried to kick off some Pick 3s and ran 2-3-4, with 2 being 13-1 Smart Sherif, trained by Jimmy Toner. He rallied nicely against strong closing fractions. Toner sent out first time 2 yo turf winner High Yield Hunter at 17-1 at Belmont in late June, so watch him with this sort.

The 6th was a good betting race, but I ran last with 5-2 favorite Life Savior on top; and the 7th and 8th were two more dismal races with even money winners Fighting Speedy (Castle Village!) and Smokey Glacken. The feature, the West Point, was a wide open turf stakes for NY-breds, but by that point, I was wearied by the winning chalk, the heat, the crowd, and the long week of racing, and we were headed to the exits. However, the winner, Dave ($18.20) is worth some red-boarding. He’d run and won on Wednesday, and trainer John Hertler means business when he sends them out on such short rest. The Form shows that he’s 1-3, but a look at Formulator (after the race, of course) shows that he runs close with these even when he doesn’t win. Besides, the second choice, 3-1 Sicilian Boy, was coming out of N1X whereas Dave had won a class higher, so how could he be 8-1?

So, the week ended with a whimper as I really didn’t do much serious betting at all. I actually liked Sicilian Boy as well as Devilment in the West Virginia Derby, but kept my money in my pocket when they both opened far below their morning line odds; so at least I ended the week with some discipline and good sense, and the knowledge that I had more than held my own. The fact that part of that was due to a winner at the trotters did not detract from the achievement. Whatever the breed, principles like value, class, speed, and common sense still reign supreme.

Now it’s back to reality, at least until I go back, hopefully by the end of the week. In the meantime, I’m dealing with things that only readers with a 16 yo teenage daughter could comprehend, so I’ll be laying low here for the next couple of days.

- Nice to see that Megahertz’ gallant second place finish in the Beverly D at least got her to the top spot in the Blog Standings! That should be some consolation, right?

- Talk about a claim-back! The breeders of the 2 yo filly India (Hennessy), so impressive getting her first win by 12 at the Spa on 7/28, have repurchased the filly for a reported $2.05 million. She had been sold as a yearling at Saratoga for $400,000.

A Head Bob and Fat Detective

- It was another hot day on Saturday, and we went for a swim up at Lake Moreau before heading back for the last half of the Saratoga card. It wasn’t only the Head Chef that needed a little break. We walked in just before Winning Minister (Deputy Minister) took the 5th for Bobby Barbara, his second winner of the day and third in the last two. Whatsmore, it was his second 2 yo winner in that time (Win McCool on Friday) that had gotten beat at 3-5 in his prior race debut. The old Bobby Barbara second time starter off a loss at 3-5 angle.

In an earlier division of the 2 yo race, first-timer Congo King (Horse Chestnut) got the win for Richard Dutrow; this despite that the fact that he was the 7-2 morning line second choice went off at 7-1. This is one horse I can assure you I never would have had. Formulator 4.0 reveals that it was the biggest payoff for a Dutrow first-time winner in at least five years. It’s not even close; he had one at 6-1 that was first under the wire but DQ’d, and a couple at 5-1.

My day started with the confusing and wide open 6th; Willfullness was going for Castle Village, and I feel almost obligated to back their horses when I’m there. It was a tough race and I got so discombobulated by it that I just passed it altogether, which I tend to do sometimes. It was a bit like old times as Fiddlers Cat, trained by Del Carroll, who at one time thrived here but is struggling with just 7 prior wins this year, got bet hard to 4-1 from the outside post and got the win.

Then came a Pick 3 featuring the two stakes races and the 9th, a NY-bred allowance in which Hollywood shipper The Daddy looked like a lock. I knew that I would have to create some value in the first two legs and the G2 AG Vanderbilt seemed like the ticket. I didn’t like Smokume with his 1 for 7 record at 6 furlongs, nor the favorite Kelly’s Landing, getting bet at 5-2 off a 112 Beyer in his last at Churchill. I’m getting more confident at taking stands against single inflated speed figures like that. Godolphin’s Botanical, coming off an allowance win in his US debut at 2-5, was the morning line choice but he was totally dead on the board; he eventually, almost reluctantly so it seemed, went down to 7-2. I liked Frankel’s I’m The Tiger at 10-1, Jimmy Jerkins’ Voodoo at 7-1, and I had to throw in Biancone’s Pomeroy at 7-2 off his past Saratoga form, though I was sure unhappy when he balked at the starting gate.

But it was 4 yo Pomeroy (Boundary) breaking from the gate, setting absurd fractions of 21.3 and 43.4, and then drawing away in the stretch, unfortunately from I’m The Tiger, winning by daylight in 1:08.69. He’d been a disappointment this year after taking the Kings Bishop here last year as a 3 yo, but he’d demonstrated his affinity for the Saratoga track (water? air?) at 2 and at 3 and with a 46 second half mile work the other day. It used to be that the bettors jumped all over “horse for the course” types here, and in the days before the Form published Beyer figures, I can guarantee that this horse would have been the favorite.

When I looked down at my program, I realized that the 3-4-7 that I’d written down as my Pick 3 plays were in fact the first three finishers, returning a triple of $627. I felt a little silly! I mean, it’s not like I loved Pomeroy and was considering keying him in triples – in fact, if I liked anyone in particular it was Frankel’s horse – but what the hell? It’s a different mindset between picking 3 or 4 horses you think have a shot for Pick 3s and betting an individual race and I’m having some problems deciding which way to go. I do have a budget for betting y’know, and if I went heavy on the Pick 3s and the individual races, I could exceed it early in the day.

Well, it was on to the G1 Sword Dancer, and I had Frankel again amongst my three selections, but I never imagined that his King’s Drama would get absolutely hammered to be the 2-1 favorite. In fact, I was way way off in thinking I’d get some value from amongst he, Relaxed Gesture (5-2) and Meteor Storm (7-2). I tried to create some by using the favorite with Meteor Storm in exactas, as that combo was paying nice, but the latter couldn’t gain any ground despite a nice ground-saving trip as the favorite held off Relaxed Gesture.

When The Daddy cruised home in the 9th, I was almost embarrassed to inform the Head Chef that I’d collected a meager $62 for my $18 investment. Lesson: there’s really no value in these multi-races that have an overwhelming favorite that everyone singles, and it’s probably best to avoid them if you can’t see beating that favorite.

I’d felt that I’d done some nice work and had little to show for it. The tenth and final was a wide-open NY-bred turf allowance. I’d already thrown out a few bucks on a double with The Daddy and Suffolk shipper and eventual last place finisher Mattsutterrun, and I was looking elsewhere. The crowd was inexplicably betting the 9 horse Smokin John off a 13 month layoff – I swear, I think sometimes people are so wasted by then that they don’t even notice things like the year in the PPs being ‘04’ instead of ’05.’

I settled on the 6, Hunting Hillbilly, first off the claim for Dale Romans, who hits 26% on those. The problem with him is that he was actually dropping 5K off what he was claimed for, and I would generally balk at that. But again, there are no hard fast rules in handicapping for the most part (Romans is the guy who sent out the Hey Buddy horse on Wednesday, but this was a different situation), and he still seemed to fit well, especially with the other horses I identified as contenders coming from outside posts. He also had Pablo Fragoso, winless here in 43 tries; but Fragoso had delivered a flawless though futile ride on Willfulness earlier, so I figured maybe he was due - after all, even Robby Alvarado had 2 winners on the day.

I used him on top in triples, perhaps still smarting a bit over the 7th race triple I didn’t have and trying to make up for it. Hunting Hillbilly broke awkwardly and was steadied a bit, but settled into position on the hedge. They went :25 to the quarter and I shook my head, but the pace and the front-end action picked up. Fragoso hugged the rail around the final turn, and as the leaders started to fade, I saw him start to bull his way through horses. Also rallying was the favorite, Dutrow’s Holy Panache, who I had on my ticket. I saw that the 8 horse, Forget the Judge (9-1), who I also had, was going to be third and that it was going to come down to the battle for the win spot. Hunting Hillbilly was there, but the favorite would not yield and they came to the wire on even terms with their heads bobbing back and forth.

At this point, Beyer figures, trip notes, trainer angles, betting pools – all this is out the window. It’s just a matter of whose head is down at the finish. No more than a flip of a coin or a push of a slots machine button. On Wednesday, the bob went in my favor for a $35 exacta, but this time, with more on the line, it was not to be. I knew that Holy Panache’s head was down on the line and that I’d be lucky to get a dead heat. I wasn’t lucky, and it was a cruel and devastating beat - and to Dutrow no less, becoming a nemesis to me. The triple paid $140 that way, and I tried not to think what it would have paid if it came in my way. Just a little bit earlier, even with my disappointing Pick 3, a wave of euphoria had come over me and I had told the Head Chef several times how great this all was. Now, I was stunned into silence, and it was a long, quiet walk back to the car. I’d been there for 5 races, and was right about many, many things, yet walked out barely even. The thought of picking up the Form and starting all over again for Sunday seemed too much to bear.

We had a 9 PM dinner reservation, and I’d been promised a chance to finally go over to the harness track for a bit, and the Head Chef was now anxious to see me go. I figured it would be better than sitting and moping and replaying the race in my mind over and over, as if a different result there would change things. I went to school in Schenectady in the mid-70s and spent many, many a night at Saratoga Harness, so it’s a familiar scene, even with the first floor now turned into a slots parlor. There were even two drivers, Kim Crawford and Bert Belanger, that I use to see there 30 years ago! I had time for two races there, though I had my Racing Form with me turned to Del Mar. But the live races were surprisingly competitive and interesting, especially for a half-mile harness track, and I stuck with them.

As much as I’d like to, I won’t bore you, my thoroughbred audience, with the details, but I really hope that you’ll be happy to know that I hit the 4th race triple there, earning half of the $347.50 payoff. I’ll just say that was a fine piece of handicapping, and it seemed like a just reward for some rotten luck and some really good but fruitless work I’d put in earlier. The winner, The Fat Detective, is an 8 yo gelding running for a $4000 claiming tag who had earned $65,000 in his entire career. Winners come in all shapes and sizes but the cash and the satisfaction is always the same. So it's with much enthusiasm and renewal that I turn to the races for Sunday, our final day here.

- Wow, what a race the Beverly D was! I thought Megahertz had it midstretch; what an amazing race mare she is. Patrick Biancone had just won with Pomeroy before his Angara got the win. Melhor Ainda seemed to take the worst of the traffic in the stretch. "I got squeezed in there and had no place to go," said John Velazquez, who rode Melhor Ainda. "I had three horses in front of me all the way." [Daily Racing Form]

Kicking Myself

- Kick, kick, kick. That’s me still kicking myself Saturday morning over not having a buck on the $654 Pick 3 for races 5-7 yesterday. In fact, all I would have had to do is follow one of my own little betting tips that I’ve repeated here many times. I had the hard part of the Pick 3 on my tickets – Just Say the Word ($18) in the 6th and Secret Troika ($16.80) for that man Linda Rice again. So what happened in the 5th?

Magic Alphabet was taking a big drop in class for Michael Hushion, quiet at this meet thus far, and looked like he’d be tough at 6-5. Nonetheless, I picked against him. Like reader Throwaway, I noted that Scott Lake’s So Phun had some fine internal splits while rallying 4 wide in his last to get second, and the slight drop in class seemed to fit him well; Lake has 4 seconds and seems ready for some wins. Just Thunder seemed like an overlay at 7-1 having won at the same level at Monmouth two back. Those were my picks, but looking at the tote board, I noticed the “smart” money coming in the win pool on Kohut, first time for Carlos Martin and shipping from Calder. The disparity in the show pool showed he was getting bet on the nose.

This is one of my favorite tote board angles as regular readers well know, but as with any angle, it’s not something that automatically means a bet. This colt had shown some fine form at Calder, even earning a field high 91 Beyer (that looked like a flukey number). But his only win was against maiden claimers, and he had 3 seconds in 8 starts. He lost his last two in allowance company by a combined 37 lengths when well-bet both times, and trainer Martin’s record with horses running for him first time is poor. Besides, he certainly didn’t figure to have the lead against the favorite and he looked like a “need to lead” type. So I watched as the money continued to pour in disproportionately on him to win and fretted, but I had already gone 3 and 4 deep in the second two legs and was hesitant to add another combo. Besides, I reasoned, the horse is coming from Florida with owner Joel W. Sainer and maybe he brought some friends and they were drinking Genny Cream Ales since 10 A.M. after boogying in town all night and if they all bet a few hundred on their buddy’s horse, then they constitute being the “they” in “they’re betting the 4”

Kohut surely, in my opinion, would indeed have finished second again even if Magic Alphabet hadn’t come in on him and caused him to take up sharply, leading to his disqualification. If that hadn’t happened and Magic Alphabet won, I’d likely be sitting here writing how much of an idiot I am for getting greedy and not using the favorite in the first leg when I had nice longshots in the second two. Bottom line is, I lost, and I’ve spent far too much time replaying the events. Why, you may ask, didn’t I have the 6th and/or 7th races if I had the winners on my Pick 3 tickets? I find it strange to go back to these races that I’ve already handicapped for 3 or 4 potential winners and have to look at them again from a different perspective – picking a winner of the race. While I had them on my exotic tickets, I had neither one anywhere on top. The 7th was particularly frustrating because I had second place finisher Classic Marilyn right on top at 13-1; she fought gamely while wide throughout with Fernando Jara, who seems to have an affinity for the outer portions of a racetrack, but succumbed to Secret Troika.

- Performing Diva was back after head-butting Jerry Bailey earlier in the week. But whereas the first time she was bet off the board, this time she lazily drifted up to the 7-2 3rd choice. Darley first timer Bemused (Maria’s Mon) was the hot horse this time. She’s a $300K yo in training purchase and got bet down to the 2-1 favorite, but it was second choice Win McCool (Giant’s Causeway) getting the win at 5-2. Win McCool was 3-5 in his first start but ran third in the mud, and made amends at a better price here. She’s a half to stakes winners Graeme Hall and Harmony Lodge. Performing Diva was 6th. This morning at the backstretch I overheard someone ask Darley trainer Eoin Hardy if he liked their first time 2 yo Testimony in the 5th today, and he replied “Yes I do. Just one thing..” Then I couldn’t hear anymore. For all I know, he could have said “Just one thing. He prefers the turf and we’re just using this as a tuneup so today I wouldn’t be Osama Bin Laden’s money on him.”

Edgar Prado had gotten off to a slow start, as did everyone, really, other than John Velasquez, but he had 4 winners yesterday, which gives him 22 to Velazquez’ 19.

The Head Chef needs a break from racing today – and she’s done a great job of putting up with me, except that she refuses to go to the harness track – so we’re going for a swim and will join the action at Saratoga for the 5th. Castle Village had their BBQ last night and it was a great affair – thanks to Steve and Jeanne Zorn for hosting and to NYRA’s Sam the Bugler for bringing his little ensemble and providing the music. The partnership has two horses running today, including Willfulness, who they like today in the 6th. He looks good on paper, and the race stays on the turf despite overnight rain. I may even suck it up and bring a pair of pants so I can go into the paddock. The track was wet this morning, but there was lots of activity and it looks like it should be fine for post time.

Highland Cat galloped on the training track this morning and here’s the little guy in action.

Friday Fotos

A couple of ponies check out the action on the track Friday morning.



Mmmm, that feels good!




Trainer Jimmy Jerkins talks it over with Elbar Coa before sending Dina out to win the third on Thursday.



Our Highland Cat takes a stroll around the shedrow. He's on target for a start here before the end of the meet.

Seeking Clarity

- We prefaced the day at the track with a swim at Lake Moreau. It’s a state park not much more than 10 miles north on 87 to Exit 17N. It seems more crowded than I remember from the last couple of years there. Today there was a group there, the Moreau Seniors, having an outing, and they took up virtually all the picnic tables. There was a big Bingo game going on. The caller would announce the numbers, and then several others stationed about like the spotters at a horse sale would repeat the number for those who may have missed the original announcement. "B-13." "B-13." It reminded me of Johnny Carson’s Karnack routine, when Ed McMahon would always repeat the answer in the envelope and draw one of Carson’s hilarious looks - I think Carson was funnier for those looks on his face than for what came out of his mouth. “Shogun.” “Shogun.” “What’s the first thing you do when you hold up a liquor store?” Watching the Bingo proceedings, I thought of something Harvey Pack once said of his father, who told him that because of horse racing, he’ll never be bored a day in his life. Well, there’s always Christmas day. One thing I can tell you for sure; 20 years from now you won’t find me sitting in a park playing fucking Bingo!

The water in the lake is so calm and tranquil even with kids frolicking about. We take ourselves out to the swim lane and just stare out at the still lake with the trees lining its perimeter and it’s just so peaceful, making everything going on in the world seem so much more unreal. Why would we spend time trying to blow each other up when we could all just sit by a country stream? What’s most soothing about the water to me is how clear it is. In fact, everything seems so totally clear up here compared to the city; it’s like watching TV after someone wipes off the layers of dust you didn’t realize were there. The colors seem more vivid and everything becomes more distinct.

Of course, the sport of thoroughbred racing as conducted at Saratoga doesn’t always seem that clear. The track itself does and the horses take on a new individuality that doesn’t come through downstate, but the results are often as confusing as anywhere. To try and simplify things, I decided before the races on Thursday that I would for the time being go back to concentrating on individual races instead of Pick 3s and 4s. Not that I haven’t done well with them, on the contrary, I have a big profit since I recently started utilizing multi-race bets. But I felt as if I missed some good value the last couple of days perhaps because I’ve been looking at races ahead and not giving the present race full attention. In addition, the nice payoffs I’ve either had or agonized over made me a little greedy, and whereas in the past I was always thrilled with a solid $40 exacta, I was starting to reach a bit in my effort to score big.

The second race brought into play a principle I picked up in Tom Brohamer’s essential Modern Pace Handicapping. He writes about what he refers to as “Hey Buddy” horses – ones that are dropping in claiming price after a win. He says that this is the same as if someone slinked up to you at the track and went “Psst. Hey, buddy. I got a horse here that’s worth $50,000 but just for you, you can have him for $40,000.” That’s really what’s happening when a horse that has proven he/she can win at a certain level suddenly drops below it. I imagine most people would walk away from the shadowy stranger making you an offer you can’t refuse, so why would you want to wager your money on that horse in a race? Brohamer considers this an opportunity to throw out a horse that is sometimes odds on, and advises not only to bet against it, but to throw it out completely, and bet aggressively with exotics.

In the second, One Eyed Joker shipped in for Dale Romans after not one, but two wins for 50K at Churchill, but was running here for 40K with Bailey. Hey. Buddy. He also had the crummy 8 post. So as the crowd bet him down to 6-5. I came up with a cold exacta of Love to Tango, moving up in class after two straight wins over Lethimthinkhesboss (to be referred to from this point as the 3 horse), a horse that likes to run in the money but not necessarily win. There are some races during which there’s a point I think, ‘if I can’t win this race, I’ll never win one,’ and I had that thought here as they approached the final turn. Love to Tango is by himself on the lead in moderate fractions with Coa, behind him is 18-1 Lunar Man, who figured to be quitting soon since he hadn’t made the lead, my 3 horse, who had 15 out of 23 in the money but only 3 wins, is sitting reliably in 3rd, and the favorite was lagging in last. It seemed as clear as Lake Moreau. But Lunar Man proved to be a persistent foe, challenging for the lead until midstretch. That softened up Love to Tango up enough so that it took a desperate (and lucky) head bob for me to get the money. The $35 exacta won’t get me an extra night in town, but I had it cold enough times to get me through the day with a small profit despite it being my only winner.

I sat and watched as a couple of betting coups followed. In the third, the absurdly hot Jimmy Jerkins had Dina, a 3 yo Dynaformer filly making her turf debut. Jerkins’ dad Allan had the logical favorite at 8-5, but the money came in on the nose in the win pool on Dina and persisted, making him the 7-2 second choice. I’ve been following J Jerkins, but it’s at the point with him for me like that episode of Taxi when Louie knew that Rieger’s luck had run out at the craps table. So I just observed in amazement as the barn won again. In the second race, Coa had rated Love to Tango in splits of 24.3, :49.1, 1:13.2. In this race, with a 3 yo filly, he was pressured to fractions of 23.4, :47.1, 1:10.4, but was still able to come home 6 2/5 seconds for the win, Jerkins’ 7th of the meet with just 14 starters, amazing.

The 4th race featured a universal good thing. Dutrow’s My Dynomite, a 2 yo NY-bred making his debut off 4 works was 5-2 morning line, but was the heavy favorite all the way, eventually getting hammered to .45-1! To me, the people who bet all this money on 2-5 shots that have never stepped on the track, the “they” of “they’re betting the 7”, exist in some kind of mysterious netherworld. Far be it from me to criticize anyone with a winning strategy, but to wager vast sums on horse that have never run for a miniscule return is just a concept that is beyond my comprehension. My Dynomite is by Lite the Fuse, a 19% first-out sire according to the Form.

With the 5th an unplayable 5 ½ furlong turf race – these races may eventually prove to be popular here (for me), but for now they’re an unbettable mish-mosh of sprinters who have never tried the turf and turf routers who have never tried a sprint – my discipline broke down and I started betting races at Monmouth. I’d been very good ignoring the simulcast tracks up to this point. I pissed away money in the 4th there , but I got way into the 7th, and came up with another cold exacta combo with an improving winner over a horse that gets a piece but hasn’t recently won. It was well-conceived but I was foiled when I ran 2-3 to a 27-1 shot that had no business winning! Argh!! Didn’t see the will-pay but it was a 2-1 over an 8-1 with a 9-5 Pletcher horse out, and it would have made the day a solid winning one.

The 6th (at Saratoga) was the first divison of the restricted De La Rose stakes for F&M on the turf, and it was the race I was most looking forward to as a betting affair. I recalled the sharp shippers who won the other day at big prices and saw this as a similar chance. I came up with Brunilda (9-1), High Court (22-1) and Broad Hopes (12-1), and agonized over how/what to bet. I’d been looking forward to this one all day but it was quickly over. Remember the fractions from the 2nd and 3rd? John Velazquez took Pletcher’s Path of Thunder to the lead in 25.3, and that was really it. In 25.3 seconds, hours of handicapping and anticipation went up in smoke. Poof. After a :51 first half – remember, this was a stakes race - it took Velazquez and Path of Thunder just :45.4 to complete the mile, and no one in his wake had a shot in the world, that was crystal clear from the start.

A couple more futile attempts and I was done for the day, retaining my small but psychologically important profit as the 9th approached. Again, a Dutrow first time NY-bred was getting totally hammered, though this time it may have been more the fact that the 3yo, Stephanootz (Afternoon Deelites), is a half-sister to Lion Tamer than some inside info. Still, she went off at 7-10, unbelievable – that netherworld again! I had a feeling this one was going down, but I just watched as she got left at the gate and could only manage to rally for 4th. Chantal Sutherland, who made the cover of Friday’s Form, almost stole another one at 14-1, but settled for second to 17-1 Chopping Wood.

At night, we went to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center to see the Philadelphia Orchestra. It was the Tchaikovsky Spectacular. I’m more of a baroque guy myself, but I guess you can’t go wrong with stuff like Swan Lake and the 1812 Overture. The guy playing the piano for the Piano Concerto No.1 in B flat minor, Op. 20 was really amazing and had to take his jacket off halfway through. I don’t think Tchaikovsky liked piano players. The finale of the 1812 Overture was accompanied by real cannon fire; and I must say that in this day and age, a guy who warily boards the New York City subway each workday could have done without that; I must have jumped three feet in the air. More welcome were the fireworks after the show. Again, the sky was so clear that the colors seemed much more vibrant than one would normally see downstate; every light and every little sparkle seemed to take on its own life. I’m hoping for half that much clarity at the races today.

Half Day at the Office

- A lackluster Wednesday of racing meant a half day at the office, with the opportunity to enjoy the area and the nice little house we’ve rented in town for the week. I was able to check out the Tang Museum at Skidmore College. The exhibit by local artist Michael Oatman is too twisted (in a good way) to really get into here, and Weapons of Mass Dissemination is an exhibit of World War propaganda posters from a time when our leaders sent the nation into war for real reasons and enlisted the support of the public. The Tang is always worth a visit if you’re up here and into art with a bit of an edge.

As far as the racing went, the less said the better. It was a downstate-quality card, and we walked in for the 5th. Last Wednesday, there were two steeplechase races leading off the card, and yesterday, instead we had a mile and five eighth state-bred race on the turf and a maiden claiming event for 2 yos leading off the card. If there’s anything that will keep my money in my pocket as surely as steeplechase races, it’s contests at freaky distances and first time starters with a claiming tag.

The 2 yo maidens special races were both state-bred races for fillies. In the 4th, Lisa Lewis continued to send out sharp horses, with logical form horse Willshefire getting the win at 8-5 as only one first timer, Richard Violette’s Widely Acclaimed (Aptitude), took any money, finishing third.

The 6th, the second division of the state-bred maiden affair, was one of those races that the money showed, and emphatically. There were several first-timers of interest, including the morning line favorite Mrs. Chippy, an Honour and Glory filly from the Mott/Bailey team. Her third dam is Mrs. Warren, who swept the Schuyerville, Spinaway, and Matron here in 1976. She and 5-1 ML Mama Theresa, a Carson City firster from Dominick Galluscio, a low-percentage first-timer trainer, opened up at 7-2, and it was she who took the money, getting pounded steadily until she was the clear 2-1 favorite. As they loaded into the gate, I said to the Head Chef (and she will attest to this) that the way Mama Theresa was getting bet, she should win by 8 lengths. She stalked Mrs. Chippy, sent off at 4-1, and at the top of the stretch waved bye-bye, zipped home in 12.85 and won by the predicted 8 lengths. Occasionally I make myself look smart. Mama Theresa was the first winner of the meet for trainer Galluscio, who’d had three prior seconds; her third dam is the dam of Passing Mood, the producer of Touch Gold and With Approval.

Watching the money, I singled Mama Theresa to start off a few Pick 4’s on a day where I really wasn’t prepared to do much serious wagering. I got past the second leg when Dave rolled to a popular victory for John Hertler. Every time Tom Durkin mentioned his name, you could hear the crowd go “Daaave.” Even considering that every Tom, Dick, and Harry named Dave likely bet this one, he still paid a very fair $9.80 – he’s not been worse than 2nd in his last 7 starts, with this being his second win.

My Pick 4’s went out the window in the 8th, a 4 betting-entries allowance race won by the longest shot in the race, Frankel’s Taygete. Frankel seems to be warming up after a quiet start to the meet – he has not had that many starters here, really. The Overbrook Farms entry of Winning Season and Family Business got pounded to 6-5, and I assumed they were betting the latter, like I had. Something must have been wrong as she was pulled up through the stretch, I hate when that happens. It was the second win in the row for the 4 yo Taygete (Miswaki), who must have terribly disappointed her connections with her past efforts on the turf. Her female family is turf through and through; in fact, her dam is a half to the great turf mare Miesque, two time winner of the BC Mile amongst her ten Group/Grade 1 wins; she’s also the dam of Kingmambo. With her revival on the dirt, watch for this one to try the lawn again and soon.

The 9th made all my Pick 4s moot anyway, as my pick The Queen’s Stamp was caught wide and went nowhere and besides, I wasn’t going to have the winner Tropical Snow ($33.20) anyway. She was shipping in for her first start from South Africa, and it’s not even fair when those horses win like that! There’s just no way to handicap these horses, though admittedly I had noted that trainer Kiaran McLaughlin has had a decent amount of success with foreign shippers. Still, his usually get bet when they win, and I’m sure this one ruined a lot of tickets. She’s a half to Crimson Palace, winner of the G1 Beverly D (for which Frankel’s Melhor Ainda was installed the morning line favorite).

- Afleet Alex is doing well, and Tim Ritchey expects that he could be able to start jogging late this month.

"I think he thinks he is a person sometimes," Ritchey said. "He is so used to being around and being handled and being cared for by people that he is probably a better patient than a lot of horses would be. He's kind of mellow and he does whatever you want him to do."

Afleet Alex is literally having a ball at Saratoga, playing with a rubber ball that hangs from the ceiling of his stall. He all but plays tetherball by himself, and rebounds with more enthusiasm than most of the New York Knicks.

Ritchey said that the Breeders' Cup Classic (at Belmont Park on Oct. 29) remains an objective, although the BC Sprint and Mile (the latter on the turf) are options. Regardless of the race he chooses, Ritchey said he would not go into the Breeders' Cup without a prep race. [NY Daily News]

- A $3.1 million Storm Cat colt at the second and final session of the Fasig-Tipton sale here helped bring the average and median prices to better those of last year’s sale.

"We learned one or two things this evening, and we confirmed some others," said D.G. Van Clief Jr., chairman of Fasig-Tipton. "We learned that the new, condensed two-day format works and works well. We think that by condensing the sale we have increased the energy level and increased the efficiency of the sale without sacrificing any of the elegance... "What we've confirmed is that the market is still selective, but the demand at the top for the best is urgent. There is very strong demand at the top...This sale has also demonstrated that in this format, good, athletic, physical horses, well selected and properly presented sell very well." [Bloodhorse]