NYRA or NYRAIN?

Tweet The long range forecast for Wednesday (and Thursday) afternoon shows a 40% chance of rain for the Spa. After losing so many turf races to the Spring/Summer of Rain here in New York State, NYRA sure could use a break from the weather as racing moves north (I could say upstate - which some folks think is anything other than NYC) to Saratoga Race Course. With the extraordinary amount of races pulled off the turf (over 60 before the 4th of July per Steve Crist) during the Belmont spring meet, I decided to add a new twist to the Toga Party contest, adding number of turf races for the entire meet, as a play on the weather. Note: First 10 selections due by Tuesday midnight (so I can get the spreadsheet up before I leave Wednesday morning).


Contest News and Notes
- Will we have to bring back the gray skies/gray horse hypothesis for the opener? It worked last year as three gray/roan horses won on a rainy opening day in front of 18,127 rain-soaked patrons.

- Prognositicating the meet's leading jockey is tricky. Dominguez is rolling downstate, setting records and looks to get better mounts for this meet than last year. Maragh had a solid Belmont meet, a risky proposition though? Do you go with mainstays Prado or Johnny V? How about defending champ Alan Garcia, who should get some decent mounts? Julien Leparoux is a great turf rider, but will the weather hamper his win totals?

- How about the Travers attendance? Last year's was 40,723 without a Derby winner. It's a total crapshoot right now, not knowing if Rachel Alexandra will show up. We should have two of the triple crown race winners Mine That Bird and Summer Bird (God-willing) which should boost attendance also.

Monmouth Survival at the Shore update: 19th heading into Sunday's three races (269 contestants remain out of the original 4,226) and will obtain second life preserver by making it through today. Still a ways out, although the leader lost a life preserver yesterday, he/she will obtain a new one today. Still too early to be taking huge shots, but with two preservers in hand, we're getting closer.

OK...now that it's possible that we'll have a wet track, we'll have to get at the handicapping earlier than normal....

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