MMQB

Tweet As Saratoga week three comes to a close with three great graded stakes-filled weekends left we pause to do a quick anti-rain dance for the coming week and weekend. Picture me dancing. Waiting, waiting. *Thunder crack* Oh well...maybe by the weekend.


- Maybe NYRA should have replaced the bobblehead with the Toga umbrella on Day 2, would have been much more practical.

- Newly appointed New York Racing & Wagering Board Chairman John Sabini had some harsh words for NYRA in his comments following his confirmation hearing on Friday. Sabini criticized them for not doing a better job at promoting the Man o War turf race at Belmont Park featuring Curlin, which he said "attracted only a lackluster audience."

- Wonder if he misses the Clydesdales too? In a definite money grab situation, NYRA left the local Anheuser-Busch distributor high and dry (a long time institution at the Spa) for Coors Light and Heineken. Funny, how A-B has a major plant in New York State (Baldwinsville, near Syracuse) and the local distrib is building a multi-million dollar plant in Saratoga Springs, creating jobs and tax dollars in New York, but NYRA takes the short term cash.

- The jockey race is hotly contested with Johnny V (19) holding off Cornelio (18) by one win, but leads the earnings by over $500k. The Toddster has opened a three win lead over Stevie A. leading the trainers with 10 wins. Some big points available this weekend with the Alabama and Sword Dancer at stake.

- As pointed out by Handride on Saturday, an old angle taught to me by the Saratoga Resident back in 2004 in my first handicapping lesson surfaced, when the foreign horses swept the exotics in the Secretariat and Million at Arlington Park's feature day. I remember it oh so well in my first time at the Spa. It seems to me like less foreign turfers have been to the Spa this summer when compared to the past few years. I'm sure we'll see a few, including Red Rocks, on Saturday in the Sword Dancer.

- The Big Tuna (and frequent Spa visitor), signed the spurned Chad Pennington from the Jets in the aftermath of what was the Brett Favre circus. Wait til the Tuna finds out his arm isn't the same as when he drafted him seven years ago. Just what Florida needs another hanging (arm) Chad.

- Played Toga from home yesterday, two late scratches (Tasha's Star freaked at the gate and Gansevoort threw Julien Leparoux off in the paddock) threw havoc into races six and nine. Started out hot hitting the trifecta in race one and exactas in races two and four, and cooled off for the rest of the day, making one killer bad decision crossing out Classic Pack in the sixth in the two hole. I should know better to go with my gut and not listen to the TVG bots. After Sunday, I am right at the Mendoza line for the meet and looking for a big finish in the next three weekends. I started analyzing my patterns and I've been very good on the exacta plays and not so good with the tris. Gotta go with the gal you brought to the dance they say...

- If you haven't seen the comeback 4x100 free medley relay by the USA last night, it's worth watching, just for the enjoyment of watching the Frenchmen's faces. When are folks gonna learn that bulletin board fodder only motivates your opponent. The SpaceGal let out a scream at anchor man Jason Lezak's touch .08 seconds ahead of the French, that would have woken most neighborhoods. Great stuff.

- George Weaver's My Man Lars, a big DQ winner on the fourth of July (as called by Power Cap) ran a pretty big race yesterday grabbing the bronze in the $100k West Point Handicap at 18-1, just being nosed out by the aforementioned Classic Pack, paying $6.30 to show. You can't count Weaver out in the big races, even when on paper it looks hopeless, if he puts them in --they have a chance.

Five days to visit number 2....can't wait.