Steve has been covering North American
thoroughbred racing for more than three
decades. He is a regular contributor to
Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly. His
column will appear on Bodog.com in
this space each week.
Some Saratoga History, Some Handicapping Hints
Reviews of the Whitney Stakes and Five Other Important Stakes
A Column by Steve Davidowitz
Aug 1st, 2007
Saratoga Racetrack in the Adirondack
Mountains of Upstate New York is America's
oldest racetrack. It was built in 1864
during the Civil War fought between the
Union of Northern States and the Confederacy
of Southern States. While the declared
end to slavery was the central issue
that provoked armed battle for the Northern
States, the Southern mentality was to
preserve their states' rights to choose
policies without interference from Washington.
The south even insisted that this principle
of "states' rights" trumped
common decency, a twisted logic that
inevitably brought ruin to many southern
institutions while the slaves went free
anyway.
Slavery was a hot-button issue in the
mid-19th century, just as lingering racism
in America traces to the tensions created
during that era. Yet one often overlooked
aspect of the Civil War was its powerful,
totally unexpected effect on Thoroughbred
horse racing.
Cutting through much detail, the war
between the states placed a premium on
the development of very fast horses.
This led entrepreneurs and sportsmen
from the north and south to import dozens
of very fast horses and stallions from
England to fill the need.
In the waning days of the war, it became
obvious that horse racing was going to
be a popular diversion when things settled
down. That prompted John Morrissey, a
bare-knuckle boxer and Five Points gang
member in his youth and a Tammany Hall
sponsored Congressman from New York,
to clear a tract of land in the picturesque
resort town of Saratoga Springs, 35 miles
north of Albany, 35 miles south of Lake
George. Here he built the track that
still stands as "Mecca" for
the American Thoroughbred breeder, horse
owner, trainer, jockey and fan.
My first day at this track at the age
of 20 in August 1962 was filled with
awe, just as I had felt as an 11-year-old
boy venturing into Yankee Stadium, the
American cathedral for professional baseball
where Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio played.
For a European comparison outside the
horse racing world, perhaps Wimbledon's
hallowed tennis lawns or the Old Course
at Saint Andrews might suffice.
Saratoga's antique wooden grandstand,
which has been expanded to five times
its original size, has a new copper roof
this year and several million dollars
of added creature comforts that have
spruced up the place.
Nevertheless, the charm of this historic
track isn't linked to modern amenities
and can only be realized though actual
experience. Indeed, it is virtually impossible
to duplicate the ambiance in mere words.
That said, I will limit my description
to a few sentences that may provide a
hint or two before you, dear reader,
may decide someday to come to this Sporting
Mecca yourself.
When I first watched workouts from the
grandstand in the early morning Saratoga
sun, I could swear I saw the apparitions
of Man o' War and Citation thundering
down the stretch.
When I sat on one of Saratoga's numerous
park benches near the sprawling, tree-lined
saddling area, I met Andrew Beyer, a
fellow horseplayer who became an American
racing legend and my friend for life.
You meet kindred souls at Saratoga. You
feel the presence of this track's great
history and you create new memories -
today, tomorrow and every day you have
the pleasure to be on these grounds.
From a sporting perspective, Saratoga
offers the finest quality of racing imaginable
for 36 days from July 18 through Labor
Day, September 3. There will be 47 stakes
races and some days will have four, five
and six on a single card. More than 30
of these attractions will be graded events
for nationally ranked contenders to the
Breeders' Cup. Purses are pegged at a
staggering $770,000 per day throughout
the meet.
There will be approximately 70 races
for royally bred 2-year-olds, many of
whom will be involved in next season's
Triple Crown chase. There will be 80
or more turf races on the track's two
different turf courses and there will
be races for top-flight fillies and mares,
3-year-old fillies, 3-year-old colts,
male and female sprinters of all ages
and long distance races for older handicap
horses.
The best trainers in the country are
here with deep stables of fit and ready
runners and the jockey colony includes
several Hall of Famers, plus several
others knocking on the door to the Hall
of Fame and National Racing Museum located
across the street from the track. All
the trainers and jockeys who come here
hardly treat the trip upstate as a vacation
from the fast city life of downstate
New York. It's a badge of honor to win
races at Saratoga.
As usual, three-time Eclipse Award winner
Todd Pletcher is loaded with contenders
for many important stakes and the whole
racing world will be watching to see
if his exciting 3-year-old filly Rags
to Riches - who suffered a precautionary
delay last week - will actually run in
the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) at 1
1/4 miles on August 18th.
In recent years, Pletcher and trainer
Steve Asmussen have been dominant factors
in 2-year-old maiden races, while other
familiar trainers with good 2-year-olds
pointing for this meet include Rick Violette,
Kiaran McLaughlin, John Kimmel, Nick
Zito, Stanley Hough, Gary Contessa, Barclay
Tagg, Allen Jerkens and his son Jimmy
Jerkens. Most of these trainers have
already sent out live runners to first-
or second-place finishes.
The $1 million Travers Stakes is always
the centerpiece of this historic meet,
but the 138th renewal on Saturday, August
25th is expected to provide a sensational
showdown between Kentucky Derby winner
Street Sense, winner of the $500,000
Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga on
Sunday, July 29th, and Preakness winner
Curlin, who is scheduled to meet Hard
Spun and Any Given Saturday in the $1
million Haskell Invitational (G1) at
Monmouth Park on Sunday, August 5th.
Saratoga's racing surfaces and their
tendencies at different distances:
American horseplayers are most grateful
that Saratoga's main track races will
be contested on a traditional dirt surface,
instead of a tricky Polytrack surface
like the one in play at Del Mar (see
last week's Del Mar overview in the archives).
In dirt sprints, tactical speed usually
is a big plus, but there are days when
deep closers and rally-wide types will
dominate as they did on the first two
days of racing. Most often that trend
will be tipped off by slower than usual
clockings. Obviously, it is crucial to
watch races on a daily basis at Saratoga
for shifting trends that may help identify
horses that ran with or against the grain
of the prevailing track tendency or bias.
At nine furlongs, the Saratoga main
dirt track plays well towards speed types
in two-turn affairs that begin near the
finish line. The same is true for turf
races contested on the narrower, tighter
turning inner course which measures about
7 1/2 furlongs. The outer (Mellon) turf
course is slightly longer than a mile
and plays towards traditional stretch
runners. Yet this tendency will shift
towards front runners and pace pressers
when the grass thins out late in the
meet.
Trainers and jockeys to watch:
Noted turf trainers Graham Motion, Billy
Mott, Christophe Clement and Bobby Frankel
are always capable of sending out live
horses who match up well against Pletcher's
best grass stars in stakes and/or allowance
races.
Other trainers likely to be sending
out fit runners here include Shug McGaughey,
Wally Dollase, Neil Howard, Michael Matz,
Carl Nafzger, Ian Wilkes, Ralph Nicks,
Helen Pitts, Tim Ritchey, Jonathan Sheppard,
Michael Trombetta, Tom Voss, Ronny Werner
and Gary Contessa.
As hinted above, the jockey colony is
quite strong, with 2006 Saratoga meet
leader Edgar Prado seeking a repeat from
John Velazquez who was injured last year,
plus Garrett Gomez, Cornelio Velasquez,
Julien Leparoux, Eibar Coa, Kent Desormeaux,
Rafael Bejarano, Ramon Dominguez, J.J.
Castellano, with the vastly improved
Alan Garcia and steady Mike Luzzi certain
to get live mounts. Kentucky Derby winner
Calvin Borel - off to a good start -
is also here for the meet.
Major stakes recap:
There were four graded stakes at Saratoga
on Saturday, July 28th - all of which
included automatic berths into different
Breeders' Cup races at Monmouth on October
27th.
Diabolical scored a workmanlike stalk-n-go
victory over the very fast Attila's Storm
in the $260,000 A.G. Vanderbilt Handicap
(G2) at 6 furlongs to earn a spot in
the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint.
My Typhoon, ordinarily a stone-cold
miler, was a gritty pace pressing winner
over longshot Argentina and favored Makderah
in the $520,000 Diana Stakes (G1) for
fillies and mares at nine furlongs on
the turf. While she earned a berth in
the 1 3/8-mile, $2 million Filly and
Mare Turf, she isn't likely to run in
that spot.
Ginger Punch earned a berth in the $2
million Breeders' Cup Distaff via her
6-length romp as the heavy favorite in
the $250,000 Go For Wand Handicap (G1)
at nine furlongs - the same distance
as Lawyer Ron's track-record performance
in the $810,000 Whitney Handicap (G1).
Settling nicely behind a relatively
fast middle quarter-mile split, a more
mature, obviously relaxed Lawyer Ron
exploded in the upper stretch to soundly
defeat front running Wanderin Boy, with
the lightly raced Diamond Stripes checking
in a credible third, with room to improve.
Lawyer Ron's race was freakishly good
but not a real surprise, given that he
always seemed more suited to two-turn
racing (see archives for Met Mile recap
on Lawyer Ron in June 1 column). The
1:46.64 clocking was so fast that it
invited questions about its accuracy,
but extensive checks proved it to be
100 percent correct. Thus, Lawyer Ron
earned an exceptional speed figure for
this race. He also earned an automatic
berth into the $5 million Breeders' Cup
Classic.
In two other noteworthy races of the
weekend, both on Sunday, July 29th, the
Florida shipper In Summation eked out
a hard-fought, very narrow win over Greg's
Gold in the $300,000 Bing Crosby Handicap
(G1) at 6 furlongs, and Kentucky Derby
winner Street Sense had a useful prep
race while defeating CP West in the nine
furlong Jim Dandy (G2).
In the Bing Crosby, In Summation was
making a positive transition from turf
sprints on the east coast to the Polytrack
at Del Mar, a successful turf-to-synthetic
move we have seen during the first two
weeks there.
For his part, Greg's Gold, on the comeback
trail, emerged from the Bing Crosby as
a serious threat for the $2 million Breeders'
Cup Sprint after having won the Crosby
two years ago.
In the Jim Dandy, Street Sense rated
kindly along the inside until the top
of the stretch under Calvin ('Bo-Rail')
Borel and took the measure of CP West
with a steady drive that probably added
to Street Sense's relative conditioning
for the 1 1/4-mile Travers on August
25th. The third-place finisher, Sightseeing,
did look good passing both the winner
and second-place finisher in the gallop
out to the clubhouse turn. Further improvement
is likely, but will it be enough to handle
Street Sense and Curlin, Any Given Saturday
and/or Hard Spun pending their respective
performances in the Haskell?
Next Week: A review of the Haskell and
a preview of the world-class races at
Arlington Park, including the $600,000
Beverly D. (G1) for fillies and mares
and the internationally popular Arlington
Million (G1).
Steve Davidowitz has been covering major
American stakes for more than three decades.
He is the author of the seminal handicapping
book, Betting Thoroughbreds (Dutton/Plume),
first published in 1977 and substantially
expanded and updated in 1997. Steve is
also a regular contributor to Daily Racing
Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus
and is the author of the recently released,
highly acclaimed book, The Best and Worst
of Thoroughbred Racing (DRF Press), a
collection of historical lists and essays
about every facet of the American racing
game. His columns will appear on Bodog.com
in this space each week.
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