Saratoga Opener: Day in Pictures

Tweet

It was somewhat prophetic when I snapped the above picture in the paddock prior to the 95th running of The Schuylerville Stakes (G3) on Friday afternoon. The jockey statues of the two horses that dead heated in the 2012 Travers are prominently displayed in the paddock at the Spa, in addition to the two canoes in the infield pond. The feature race of opening day ended in a dead heat between the Bret Calhoun-trained Bahnah and Brazen Persuasion trained by Steve Asmussen.

We spent the day on The Porch, a very nice spot to watch the races, even in the oppressive heat that has been bearing down on the Capitol Region over the past few days. There was a nice breeze blowing through our area so it wasn't as overbearing as it could have been. After the track we ventured up to Saratoga National for some drinks and appetizers on the patio that was very relaxing. We ended the evening at the Merry Monk (formerly Tiznow) where I tried the pomme frittes with chipotle mayo that hit it out of the park.

My advance on the meeting for The Buffalo News focuses on some records, the big races of the meet and the historical perspective of the 150th anniversary of racing in Saratoga. Today's big race is the Grade 1 Coaching Club American Oaks which has attracted only five fillies including the Kentucky Oaks winner Princess of Sylmar and Unlimited Budget, last seen finishing sixth in the Belmont Stakes against the boys. I think Unlimited Budget will defeat the Oaks champion, who likely won't get the pace scenario that favored her late closing style in Louisville.

Here's a look at the day in pictures, primarily of the 2-year-old maiden race won impressively by Stopchargingmaria and the Schuylerville....

Donna Barton Brothers interviews
Todd Pletcher

 

Hall of Fame trainers Zito and Lukas
shoot the breeze

Second place finisher in the 3rd
22-1 shot J. Quirk

Trainer Gary Contessa

Maggie Wolfendale chats with
Mike Repole

Rare visit by Toronto-based jock
Emma-Jayne Wilson

Zito and Joel Rosario
discuss strategy

Johnny V aboard Stopchargingmaria

Stopchargingmaria romps

Win Photo - Repole Stables
Stopchargingmaria

Bret Calhoun saddles
Bahnah

Jose Lezcano and Johnny V

Javier Castellano aboard Elena Strikes

Johnny V up on Yes Liz

Rosie Napravnik on Brazen Persuasion

Corey Lanerie on Bahnah

Head bobbing to the wire in the Schuylerville

Dead heater Bahnah

Dead heater Brazen Persuasion

Toga Party V: The Beer Man Cometh

Tweet

In one of the most exciting finishes in contest history, Beer Man (aka @chad_roth) took down Toga Party V with a late flourish of victories.

After guessing the Woodward $2 exacta within 20 cents (!!) on Saturday afternoon, he parlayed a Hopeful double point victory with Shanghai Bobby and Todd Pletcher's 36th training win of the meet to all but clinch this year's contest.

All that stood between he and Schenectady Daily-Gazette sports columnist Mike MacAdam was a horse named Never On Time, Pletcher's last horse entered in the meet in Race 10. A win by the Any Given Saturday gelding in an $87K NX1 would also geld the Beer Man and proclaim MacAdam the champ via tiebreaker. After a few anxious moments for the Beer Man when Never On Time was in the lead after first call, it was soon over for him in a race won by Burn The Mortgage. He finished with a record eight points (including two double-pointers).

On Travers weekend, the Beer Man approached me and was sheepish about potentially being blanked in his maiden voyage in the contest. Prophetically, I told him, "Anything can happen at a Toga Party!" So the Beer Man's chart line reads like this, "Stumbled at break, bumped repeatedly into first turn, steadied on backstretch, swept four wide around the far turn and closed like a freight train to capture Toga V."

Kudos to Mac for finishing a game second in his first Toga Party, completing the virgin exacta with Chad. He was the only contestant to pick four of the five contest stakes races.

Completing the trifecta was the ever present Green But Game who shot out of the gate early with the opening attendance victory, but heartbreaking defeats in several categories cost her winning her first title. She nailed the trainer wins (36) for double points and had the jockey wins also (58, closest to Dominguez' record 68 wins).

Robert (Toga II champ) was in the final group on Monday, the contest leader going into the final day, but Bern Identity didn't fire and left him to cursing Rosie over the interwebs and a fourth place finish.  Buffalo represented in the Super High Five as Boz nailed the trainer wins and picked Alpha twice to finish in fifth. Positions 3 through 5 were determined via tiebreaker.

As for yours truly, I was sniffing it with a chance to win it all if Fortify won the Hopeful. Pletcher would have been stuck on 35 and I would have come away with four points and stole the Party with a total of seven points. Oh well, there's always next year.

When approached about his win, the Beer Man was looking to collect his winnings..."I will take free tax preparation for 10 years, week at Del Mar with the SpacePop, Sabres/Bills season tickets, $100K in cash and a key to the city of Buffalo." After I explained the fine print rules clearly outlined here, he selected "Betting on Thoroughbreds for the 21st Century" by Steve Davidowitz as the grand prize.

Congrats to Chad and breaking his maiden with the late closing move on Shanghai Bobby!

Any suggestions for next year's contest will go before the Board. I think this year's additions of the double points for the Hopeful and the exact call of any item added some drama and strategery to this year's contest.

Thanks to all for playing!

Toga Party V: Let's Get Ready to Rumble

Tweet

Mr. Blutarsky, 0.0

If you've been around this blog (or you just stumbled upon it by googling "toga party") you know there are several constants: (1) the annual Derby spreadsheet; (2) the annual Saratoga meeting Toga Party contest, (3) the Derby Degrees of Separation post and lastly (4) the annual Kreskin post around year end.


We had 19 entrants in last year's contest won by none other than The Space Gal, who penned a guest post for her winning prize. She took Toga IV with six wins, which also was the lucky number for Toga Parties II and III. Last year's final standings and correct answers can be found here. Please, everyone, don't let her win again, for my sake.

So here are the Space rules:

Rules: I've broken it down to 5 meet questions, 5 race or raceday specific questions and 5 winners of major stake races for this year's Saratoga meeting. 1 point per correct answer. Stakes race winner selections are not due until midnight on the Friday before the race. I will have the spreadsheet up and running on the right side bar before opening day. Remember there's no Price is Right rules in effect (you can go over - it's closest to the correct number), except for item 8, which has to be right on the number. Either email me: budmanbflo [at] hotmail.com your selections for question 1-10 items only and the tiebreaker or leave them in the comment section by next Thursday at midnight (opening day eve) with your email address (if I don't already have it). I will email the group on Thursday before the stakes races to remind you of the race selections (items 11-15).

New Rules: If you nail any of the items on the number (other than item 8) you get Double Points (items 2,4, 5,6,7,9,10). And for the last graded race (the Hopeful) we'll give you 2 points for the winner, which can keep some folks in the game going into the final weekend (h/t to Green But Game for that suggestion).

So here goes (open to all, we don't discriminate here in the Space Lab):

Meet questions

1) Leading Trainer (this one's a gimme)
2) # of Wins - Leading Trainer
3) Leading Jockey (wins)
4) # of Wins - Leading Jockey
5) Total turf races for entire meet

Race/Raceday questions

6) Opening day attendance
7) Travers day attendance
8) Wins by #8 horse on 8/8/2011 (It's a Wednesday)
9) $2 Trifecta payout on the Travers
10) $2 Exacta payout on the Woodward

Stakes Race Winners - Do not send these to me now (due via email the Friday midnight B4 the race)

11) Jim Dandy winner
12) Whitney winner
13) Alabama winner
14) Travers winner
15) Hopeful winner (double points)

Tie-breaker (changed this up a little this year)

XX) Top Jockey's earnings total at end of meet (i.e. $3,500,000)?

Grand Prize: 2 Tickets to Bills game in December or in Toronto (just kidding)
Real Grand Prize: Choice of Handicapping or Racing Book currently in print (not kidding) or Guest Post on the EquiSpace blog.

Defending Champs:
Toga I: Foolish Pleasure (2008) Runnerup: Green But Game
Toga II: EquiSpace (2009); Runnerup: Saratoga Spa (*)
Toga III: Tony Bada Bing (2010); Runnerup(s): SpaceBro, Floppydog
Toga IV: Space Gal (2011); Runnerup: EquiSpace, Saratoga Spa

(*) Your host deferred victory to runnerup SS who won tie-breaker over Triple Dead Heat and Green But Game.

Toga Party IV: It's Time to Tango

Tweet

Cheers! It's Toga Party IV!

It's time to tango, Space Cadets! We're opening up Toga Party IV for submissions right up until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday July 21st. Everyone loves a Toga Party, right?

If you've been around this blog (or you just stumbled upon it by googling "bird poop good luck") you know there are two constants (and neither one is baseball):  (1) the annual Derby spreadsheet and (2) the annual Saratoga meeting contest.

We had 17 brave souls enter last year and the winner had six correct answers out of 15. Six correct also won Toga Party II, so it seems to be the magic number.. Last year's final standings and correct answers can be found here.

So here are the Space rules:

Rules: I've broken it down to 5 meet questions, 5 race or raceday specific questions and 5 winners of major stake races for this year's Saratoga meeting. 1 point per correct answer. Stakes race winner selections are not due until midnight on the Friday before the race. I will have the spreadsheet up and running on the right side bar before opening day. Remember there's no Price is Right rules in effect (you can go over - it's closest to the correct number). Either email me: budmanbflo[at]hotmail.com your selections for question 1-10 items only and the tiebreaker or leave them in the comment section by next Thursday at midnight (opening day eve) with your email address (if I don't already have it).  I will email the group on Thursday before the stakes races to remind you of the race selections (items 11-15)

So here goes (open to all, we don't discriminate here in Space Land):

Meet questions
1) Leading Trainer
2) # of Wins - Leading Trainer
3) Leading Jockey (wins)
4) # of Wins - Leading Jockey
5) Total turf races for entire meet

Race/Raceday questions
6) Opening day attendance
7) Travers day attendance
8) Wins by #8 horse on 8/8/2011 (It's a Monday)
9) $2 Trifecta payout on the Travers
10) $2 Exacta payout on the Woodward

Stakes Race Winners - Do not send these to me now (due Friday midnight B4 the race)
11) Jim Dandy winner
12) Whitney winner
13) Alabama winner
14) Travers winner
15) King's Bishop winner

Tie-breaker

XX) Which jockey will top the jockey earnings for the meet?

Grand Prize: 2 Tickets to Bills game in December (just kidding)
Real Grand Prize: Choice of Handicapping or Racing Book currently in print (not kidding)

Defending Champs:

Toga I: Foolish Pleasure (2008) Runnerup: Green But Game
Toga II: EquiSpace (2009); Runnerup: Saratoga Spa (*)
Toga III: Tony Bada Bing (2010); Runnerup(s): SpaceBro, Floppydog
Toga IV: Insert Your Name Here

(*) Your host deferred victory to runnerup SS who won tie-breaker over Triple Dead Heat and Green But Game.

Did you know: William Hill offers in play betting on a huge number of markets especially on soccer.

Saratoga Hangover

Tweet Have you been walking around like you just drank a bottle of Jack last night? Is it someone's cruel joke that there is actually a hangover remedy named Jack's? Ever since the Spa meet ended on Monday it's been like that for me. I can't seem to focus ever since Voodoo Queen crossed the wire on Monday to complete the 40th day and 192nd turf race at the Spa. To boot, there doesn't seem to be any decent races on tap for the next few weeks (there probably is, but it feels good to whine a little). Not only that...I think somebody stole my snark. I've been Mr. Nice Guy all summer long and nary a word that would make your average blogger in the basement proud. That's right, we're not here to report on the sport, we're here to have fun with it as it sinks further and further out of the main stream.

To make matters worse, the Space Gal has been taunting me that I can't go a month without a wager. Tonight I was checking the internet on my phone and was teased that I was sneaking in a show bet on the Presque Isle Mile (I didn't...although if I did it would have been on the #8 horse - he came in third). Of course, my inner discipline can handle it, so I'm not worried, although she picked the worst time to challenge me, since I've been hotter than a two dollar pistol. But I never back down from a Space Gal challenge.

Anyways, here's a few things to try and get my snark back.......


NYRA's suggestion box.









How to perfect the 3:59, Buffalo to Saratoga style (courtesy: Saratoga Resident)











How not to perfect the 3:59 (courtesy: Saratoga Resident in traffic jam)












We've also been hearing a lot about how recent Derby winners have been lackluster at best subsequent to donning the roses on the first Saturday in May, and some have even suggested that the Derby is losing its luster. I say Poppycock (that's right, with a capital P). So what if Mine That Bird or Super Saver don't do donkey for the rest of their respective careers, they won the big one and you can't take it away. People remember the Derby winner and don't give a rat's arse about what they do after the Triple Crown. The only ones that do are nerds like us who follow the sport full time. No way it takes away from the Derby, which for all intents and purposes is an event, not a race. Not to mention, those horses are spent running back 2 weeks after the Derby in the Preakness and the TC trail can definitely take it's toll. For me, you have to respect the Derby winner no matter what. He (or she) did it at the classic distance on the dirt (or slop) and while it may take a little luck (and the right post position) it's still the hardest race to win in America. For every horse that struggles after the Derby, there's a Street Sense or Big Brown that did very well, thank you. The last two were run in the slop and had pre-race defections from the probable favorites (if they ever saw the gate), so basing an argument with those horses in mind, in my opinion is weak at best.

How 'bout that Gayego, track record tonight at PID. Where's he going? Dirt Mile? Mile?

Have a great weekend, I'll be popping aspirin trying to get over this Saratoga Hangover whilst I locate my snark.

Easy Money

Tweet I'm still not sure if I'm cool with joining the TwinSpires Players Pool yesterday, but hey if you can get 5x or 6x (depending how you're looking at it) on your dough, that's not too shabby (as one, Adam Sandler, would say). As I stated yesterday, I threw a few bucks ($30) into the $60K pool, the equivalent of .0005 and hoped for the best. I'd say it worked out okay, when the 10 horse Slick Wheelie ($16.80) roared home for the win and a $377K hit for the Players Pool. My cut was $204 (pretax) and $157 (net) as they also cashed 31 consos at $983 each. I was a little surprised (didn't read the fine print about the taxes being taken out) as I thought the "rules" stated that I was responsible for my own taxes, totally forgetting about the required withholding on a ticket that large.

My own picks (which I decided not to play since the 8th was a real mindbender) hit only 3 of 6, my single Peat Bay ($4.80) in the 5th, Power Dreams ($10.60)in the 7th and Crowned General ($21.40) in the 9th, so it was a good idea to sit out and just watch the TS PP ticket roll. I was proud of the Crowned General selection at 10-1, but my single in the nightcap, The Roundhouse didn't come through. I ended up playing the Pick 3's in and around each of the races and nailed the 5-7 sequence and lost the 8-10 sequence (missing only the aforementioned 8th in both bets). So all in all I feel my handicapping is still sharp and my bet construction and wagering decisions have made great strides in the past six months.

Will I participate in the Players Pool again? Maybe. It was fun being live to 6 horses in the finale, with 4 of them paying greater than 3x investment. Plus it kept me interested in the card playing my usual exacta and/or Pick 3 wagers, so maybe they're on to something with this?

Pop the Top on this Bad Boy

Tweet Yeah, I admit it, it's corny...but do you have a better picture of a Saratoga Opener?

Tomorrow my four year streak of Saratoga openers will come to a screeching halt. Business and family responsibilities will keep me from my annual visit, but we'll be watching (somehow) from the other side of the state as the 40 day meet opens under potential ominous weather conditions. Afternoon thunderstorms are predicted my weather.com and the chance of rain is currently 70%....same as we are projecting for the Queen City.

While the haters will complain about the quality of racing, there will be quality racing every day of the meet and plenty of opportunities to pick your spots for that potential life-changer (still waiting on this end).

I looked at the entire card and these are the more interesting races in my humble opinion for tomorrow with my race thoughts....

RACE 1 - 1 1/16 miles on the Inner Turf $43K Allowance (3 yo's and up)

Sackatoga Stable sends out Seattle Mission third off the layoff and 1-1 on the Toga turf. My pal Jeff is part of this partnership and I like his chances for trainer Barclay Tagg. Tapitdar shows a couple nice works and you always have to pay attention to Javier Castellano's mounts on the grass. Jose Lezcano jumps on Kuggerand and gets a 4 lb weight break and sports a win at Saratoga on his ledger. Off turf considerations: Steal the Shot (#15) has a nice wet Tomlinson and warrants consideration.

Selections: 1-3-8

RACE 2 - 1 1/16 miles on the Mellon Turf Course $51K Mdn Sp Wt (F&M 3+)

If this stays on the turf, I think Home Rule is my best bet of the day (and my probably early P3 single). Javier rides her for the fourth straight time, beaten by a length and a half as the favorite last time out. Simply Carina and GoGo try and tackle Home Rule, beaten by a length and a half for third in the same race. At 8-1 ML this horse could have some real value. My third selection, Holy Place, is running her second career race and Johnny V rides (Javier had the first mount - take note) for Todd Pletcher. Off turf considerations: #15 Gold Collection and #16 Gold Collection should both be solid in the slop.

Selections: 11-8-9

RACE 3 - 6 1/2 furlongs, $52K Allowance N1X

First race scheduled on the real dirt (hopefully) and my first longshot selection of Footcandles (15-1 ML), I love this colt by BC Sprint champion Speightstown whose sportings some nice works in this short field. Aspire and Bonavento should take all the money based on their connections so we'll throw them in our P3 play as well.

Selections: 7-1-5

We'll jump ahead a few races to the baby race and the 2 stakes races to complete our opening day card thoughts......

RACE 7 - 5 1/2 furlongs, $50K Md Sp Wt (2 yo fillies)

Obviously I have a penchant for anything pirates, so naturally I love Playing Pirates in this one. Sir Calvin rides for D-Wayne and has a string of bullet works gracing the PP's. The Malibu Moon filly Malibu Cougar is my second choice. She's the most expensive filly in the field ($325K) for Steve Asmussen who is striking at 21% with his 2yos. The Pletcher/Johnny V combo will again take the locals money at the window and we think With the Current will hit the board for the Toddster (hitting at a whopping 26% with his 2 yr olds).

Selections: 1-6-8

RACE 8 - 7 furlongs, $75K James Marvin S.

This race always seems to attract the name horses on opening day. Last year Pyro came in 2nd and went on to win the Forego later in the meet. This year a couple of oldies but goodies grace the Marvin. I'm going with Vineyard Haven off the layoff (he also won in the slop on Travers day last year in the King's Bishop only to be DQ'd). bin Suroor Saeed has been successful off long layoffs in the past and had a monster 2009 meet. I like Discreet Treasure on a bit of a cutback in distance and decent wet Tomlinsons, especially if the late afternoon thunderboomers show up to spoil the party. It's hard not to include Cool Coal Man or Le Grand Cru in the mix here, and at this point I'm still up in the air.

Selections: 4-5-(?)

RACE 9 - 6 furlongs, G3 Schuylerville S. $100K (2yo fillies)

The first graded stake of the meet features 7 competitive fillies vying for the first graded winof their respective careers. The Bandini filly Let's Get Fiscal (oh, Olivia Newton John, you take me back), an impressive maiden winner last month at Belmont also has some nice works to show and Alan Garcia is in the irons. Final Mesa will take a lot of dough at the windows and for good reason for trainer Wesley Ward, looking for her fourth straight win. She'll definitely be on the P3 ticket. Show Me the Bling (I loved her daddy Too Much Bling) will try and move forward off several bullet works to catch a piece.

Selections: 3-7-6

Well there's my thoughts for a few of the opening day races. Looking forward to getting there next week for Dandy weekend and seeing some old (and new) friends. The Toga Party III Contest selections are posted on the upper right sidebar and the first contest point is up for the taking tomorrow (opening day card attendance number). The prognostications range from Railrunner's 18,500 to Tony Bada Bing's 32,185......we'll know soon enough.

Let's keep those storms away!

Insert Olivia Newton John - Let's Get Physical You Tube Here (I couldn't do it....after watching the first 30 seconds, I just couldn't do it.......sorry) in honor our The Schuylerville Selection.

I Wanna Be Your Superhero...

Tweet As I was having some dinner last summer at Max London's on Broadway in Saratoga Springs with the Saratoga Resident, we struck up a conversation with the gentleman next to us. We found out soon enough that he was one of the five owners of the Saratoga institution, Siro's Restaurant. He hailed from NYC and was enjoying a nice meal on the town, away from the bustle of Siro's. We made a few offers for the restaurant, but we couldn't quite seem to meet his number. Unfortunately, it had a few more zeroes attached to what we were offering.

Well, it looks like the former owners finally made a deal based on the following article in the Saratogian (hat tip to reader Dan D) and the roster includes various celebrity ownership including the two Entourage stars shown above (Kevin Connolly and Kevin Dillon) who play E and Johnny Drama, respectively on the HBO show.

Also included in the celebrity owner ranks are jockey Johnny V, Terry Finley of West Point Thoroughbreds and head designer from Calvin Klein to name a few. The managing partner triumverate includes Paul Carlucci, the publisher of the New York Post. Very interesting, indeed.

It'll be interesting during the meet, with the track keeping The Paddock Bar open after the races, to see if Siro's is affected by this. Looking forward to my first Siro's cocktail under new management....



NOTE: Don't forget to send me your Toga Party contest picks before Thursday! 4 days to go.

Things About Racing That Don't Bug Me....

Tweet I've designed a one-part series on "Things About Racing That Don't Bug Me," just to show that I'm not always harping on the negative. It's not healthy to be all pissy and moany all the time, if you know what I mean. I started to draft a blog that was about things that bug me, but I figured why be all negative and uptight. So the happy me is editing today's number......

1. Saratoga. Opening day is a couple weeks away. I've already started to thing about Toga Party 3, the lone contest run here in the Space Station. 40 days watering down the meet? Hrrmph to the haters, I'll take the extra few days to enjoy the additional racing and the quaint little town in the Adirondacks. I also have a super secret back roads route that a new reader and former WNYer emailed me (and he's an ex-copper!) to help me get about the mendoza line of 4 hours.

2. 50 cent pick fours. Not gonna hate on the $2 pick six cuz that would just be negative. I'm not a huge player, but give me some 50 cent love and I'll rock that bet all day long. Memo to tracks that carry this: I will play your track (especially if the takeout is decent).

3. Fort Erie's day in the sun is approaching. With Ft. Erie trainer Nick Gonzalez winning the Queen's Plate with Big Red Mike, the Prince of Wales is around the corner and should draw a pretty decent crowd with the added local flavor. With Big Red's Disney flick coming out this year and Signature Red winning on the undercard, what more did you need to make a hunch bet on Mikey? Nice Plate Trial/Queen's Plate double for the big guy.

4. Late bloomers. I was sitting behind Kiaran McLaughlin on Belmont Day when Trappe Shot won his allowance race convincingly. I saw a very wry smile come over the trainer's face and a few fist pumps to boot. Yeah, he's a buzz horse now, but I liked what I saw at Gulfstream and he'll be running this weekend at the Shore in the Long Branch Stakes as perhaps a prep for the Travers.

5. Omnisurface star list grows. Franny Freud added a graded dirt win by winning the G1 Prioress and is part of the omnisurface stars list as the filly has won on all three surfaces. Of course, if Big Red Mike can pull off the Canadian Triple Crown, he'll join the winner of all 3 list. Only 5 horses are currently on the graded list. Great site.

6. Babe Ruth style wins. On Friday I commented to TKS that I was taking down his contest this weekend (*pointed to the right field bleachers*). Sure enough I nailed the United Nations with a mythical $50 win bet on Chinchon (IRE) using the Saratoga Resident's "bet on the foreigners on turf" angle. Unfortunately in the HRF contest, I boxed the two foreigners and took it on the chin. Moral of this story: Free contests don't bug me.

7. New Bloggers and Educational Sites. When I started blogging a few years ago, I think there were maybe 25 of us in the TBA. The number is something over 50 now and growing. The enthusiasm that our sport and that people want to write about it is growing and sites ThoroFan and HRF try and assist the newcomers to our game is encouraging. Thumbs up! While I'm at it I'll welcome two of the newer TBA bloggers, Tony Bada Bing from A Leg Up and Fionnuala from Calvados Bloodstock.

8. Tracks Not Afraid to Change. Monmouth took a big gamble, it seems to be working out, but even if it doesn't, they took a shot. NYRA does a nice job with it's social networking and uses popular people to promote the sport. The Cali tracks and Churchill have used night racing as a way to develop new blood and new forms of entertainment for Gen X and Yers.

9. Older horses staying in training. A big theme when I first started blogging was the defection of many "big name" horses after their 3yo season directly to the breeding shed. Take a look at the star power we now have currently racing. It's pretty damn good. It sparks good, healthy debate on how and when these stars will actually race each other, and should climax with some great racing at the Breeders' Cup (if they all stay healthy, God willing).

10. The Winner's Circle. Hey, who doesn't like the winner's circle? Would be even more fun to be in one someday.

What gives you hope or takes you to the racing happy place?

Top Ten Reasons Zenyatta Won’t Come East

Tweet With all due apologies to David Letterman…..

10. Doesn’t wear watch, trouble dealing with time zone change.

9. Figures Rachel will run in the Zenyatta Stakes if she comes east (just to spite her).

8. NYRA won’t print Go Zenyatta banners without government subsidy.

7. Moss doesn’t know Manny, can't get any love in the Turf Terrace.

6. Miffed there’s no Zenyatta giveaway day at the Spa.

5. Thinks detention barn is for the birds.

4. Can’t get a table at Siro’s.

3. Figures she’ll be there in a few years anyway (Hall of Fame Ceremony)

2. Has a Dodger autograph session scheduled on Woodward Day.

1. Prefers Kimmel to Letterman.

Talkin' Toga

Tweet With a lull in the racing schedule until Lava Man's comeback race next weekend, I thought I'd talk a little Toga....

One up, one down. Basically, that's the effect that the AGSC had on the graded status of stakes races for the Saratoga 2010 meet. It looks as though the Alfred G. Vanderbilt handicap has been upgraded to Grade I status. The six furlong sprint for 3yos and up, has been run since 1985, and lists the following notable champions: Fabulous Strike (2009), Diabolical (2007), Pomeroy (2005), Speightstown (2004 - race record time of 1:08.04), and Orientate (2002) to name a few. This seems to be a good decision on behalf of the committee and will add to the prestige of the race.

On the other hand, surprisingly (in this corner anyways) the Go For Wand Handicap was downgraded from Grade I status to Grade II by the Committee. Won by former Horse of The Year Azeri (owned by Bills owner Ralph Wilson) in 2004 and Ginger Punch in 2007 & 2008, this race was renamed for Go For Wand in 1992 (formerly known as the Maskette Stakes). Since 1994, the race for fillies & mares 3yos and up has been run at a distance of 9 furlongs. The list of race victors (going back to 1954) is a who's who of the ladies handicap division: Lady's Secret (twice), Go For Wand (1990), Tempted, Ballerina and Personal Ensign. It hasn't been the best of year's for Lady's Secret, I presume. So I'm a bit dumbfounded at the Committee's decision to downgrade this one. I'm curious to the reasoning behind this, so if anyone has any information or can point me to it, I'd be grateful.

I've been silent to the decision made a few months ago to expand the Toga meet to 40 days and I've had a few inquiries as to my thoughts. Selfishly, I'm not thrilled with it, because it moves opening day from a Wednesday to a Friday and will probably cause me to miss my first opener in five years. From the sport's perspective, more Saratoga is probably not a bad thing. I know a lot of you think it dilutes the racing product, but it may also give turf horses more opportunities to run in between thunderstorms in 2010 (even though only 28 of the 164 scheduled turf races were washed off the grass). So I'm 50/50 on the move to 40 days, but what's four days in the grand scheme of things?

DeTogafication

Tweet We're in full Toga Detox here in the Space Station. What a meet it was. I had my some of my most memorable trips this summer, since making the four hour plus jaunt up the Thruway from headquarters for the first time five years ago. The 3:59 eluded me for another year, but on the bright side, I was on the right side of the wagering ledger for a change. Good times. Well, now we should get down to some official business. The winner of the 2009 Toga Party is none other than fellow TBA'er Robert from They're in the Gate. The contest finished in a four-way tie decided by the tiebreaker of most jockey earnings as follows:

Win: They're in the Gate 3 pts (Dominguez)
Place: Triple Dead Heat 3 pts (Leparoux)
Show: Green But Game 3 pts (Garcia)
Completing the superfecta was Dollar Bill (Prado)

Amazingly, all four selected a different jockey for the tie-breaker as Robert's selection of Ramon ended up carrying the day. Dana from GbG hit the board for the second straight year with the show. Keith from TDH made a late close, scoring with the Woodward exacta, and almost dead heated Robert at the wire. Unfortunately for our friend from the North, Leparoux fell $367K short of Dominguez in jockey bucks. The book "Graveyard of Champions" by Bill Heller has been sent special delivery to the winner from Saratoga County. Congrats and thanks to everyone who participated, I hope you all had fun with it this year. Any suggestions for next year will be welcomed, filed and taken under consideration.

So another Spa meet concludes, but there is still a lot of quality racing left in the fourth quarter with the Belmont fall meet, Keeneland's boutique October meet, and the "world" championships at the Oak Tree meet to cap it off. I'll be making a special guest appearance and my first ever trip to Santa Anita for the BC. Any suggestions on what area to stay would be much appreciated...

I finished the Monmouth contest in 88th place after going out in the 72nd day, via "go big or go home." I waited until the last two weeks to play longshots and I went for it versus trying to make it all the way through the contest. I got as low at 18th, but needed to make up too much ground in the long run. It was a fun contest and very savvy for the folks that run Monmouth, as now I know the horses, jocks and trainers running at a track I never really followed. Kudos to the marketing guys at MTH. I'll be giving it another go again next year.

I'm taking a few weeks off from the ponies to recharge the batteries and detox from the Spa, but unfortunately I'll still be posting fairly regularly, so you're stuck with me. Big college football weekend with my beloved hometown Orangemen travel to State Penn to take on the Space Gal's alma mater. Good thing she's headed to Vegas as we'll have the Space Kid dressed in his best orange attire for the big game on Saturday, and some brainwashing while she's away. Locally, the Pitt Panthers will be in town to take on the 1-0 UB Bulls and the Kid may take in his first ever live pigskin game, grandfather in tow.

My favorite line of the summer came from the Saratoga Resident after spending the opening two days of the meet with him: "Thanks for the vodka. Thanks for the golf balls. And thanks for leaving." Indeed.

Never Gonna Get It

Tweet I hate taking shots at the World Wide Leader, but I just can't understand why they wouldn't have two broadcast teams (other than cost) one at Arlington and one at Saratoga on Saturday afternoon. By far the best 90 minutes of racing all summer long took place between 4:30pm and 6:00pm EST when you had four (count em 4!) grade I races take place as follows: (1) Beverly D. from Arlington [off at 4:54]; (2) the Test from Saratoga [off at 5:15]; (3) the Arlington Million [off at 5:45 and finally (4) the Whitney from Saratoga [off at 5:50]. Talk about a great show that could have been. Instead you had race fans across the country flipping back and forth to TVG or MSG+ for the SAR races and missing any commentary ESPN might have had after the Beverly D. or the Million. So if they were trying to push their Breeders Cup racing series, they probably lost a good portion of their audience that wanted to watch the Grade I's from the Spa. They'll say it's a cost issue, but you only can look back a week and say, did they really need to show the Eddie Read from Del Mar. To be honest, I can't even remember who ran in it, not to mention who won it (and I like racing). They had some huge potential public interest stories with Commentator trying for his 3rd straight Whitney available to them, but again they just don't seem to get it. They may not receive another 90 minutes of great racing from two different locales again this summer. What a shame.

Keep an eye on Dick Powell's "Play of the Day." He's on fire and had a 6-1 winner on Saturday afternoon in Exclusive Scheme ($15.60) and I used on of his POD's on Day Two to complete a sweet baby exacta. He's a tremendous handicapper and has some excellent thoughts in this column on the Inner and Mellon turf courses at the Spa. [Today's selection William T. paid $5.50 to place and $3.60 to show].

The Toga Party contest is heating up with two points being handed out on Saturday. Keith at Triple Dead Heat he anonymous Dollar Bill each earned a point with longshot Bullsbay. In the crazy eights question in honor of my daughter's and Jelly Roll's birthday, only one #8 came across the wire first (Maram in the John Hettinger Stakes). Robert of They're in the Gate, the Saratoga Resident [leader at the clubhouse turn] and yours truly all are on the board. Todd Pletcher is atop the trainer board with 8 victories and Dominguez and Garcia (14 each) are tied on top of the jockey colony. Through week #2 there has been 48 turf races with four full weeks to go.

The Bills debuted last night in Canton and were surprised by a pretty cool fake punt play by the Titans. Don't ask me why they unveiled it in the preseason, sure didn't make much sense to me. Other than give me nightmares remembering Homerun Throwback. I almost peed myself when the Bills came out with the no huddle in the first series throwing to TO twice. Man, it was a nostalgic weekend for the Bills and hopefully we have some exciting football to look forward to in a month. Hey, I guy can dream can't he?

Here's my dedication to the WWL....

Ready to Rumble?

Tweet Tonight it's all about making sure all of the essentials are packed, so there's no time to waste in the morning. Fedora - check (not really). Ugly orange shirt - check. Cooler - check. Macanudo - check. Pens - check. Racing form - check. Space Gal's pink camera - check. Co-pilot - ummm....you're cancelling?? What?? Looks like I am flying solo down the great New York State Thruway tomorrow. Some unavoidable personal issues has my pal G-Money staying at home for the opening two days. At least his Abe Vigoda-like bladder won't hold up my commuting time (and secret new route) into the Springs. I'm officially calling it the Springs from this point on.

Looking forward to some blogger meet ups over the course of the day, as well as seeing many old friends from the greater Albany area. We have an interesting golf match set up with some industry folks (former and current) on Thursday morning at the lovely Ballston Spa CC, which should provide some good blog fodder for the weekend and then to the track for afternoon festivities at the top of the stretch.

The card is a tough one. I'm through the first five races and wow...there will be boxcar payoffs tomorrow, there is no doubt. Value hunting galore. The hunch bet exacta (courtesy: the Puma) is in the Schuylerville: Wild Without Wine w/That's How I Roll. And if you're the Saratoga Resident you toss in Hot Dixie Chick for good measure. Seriously, the James Marvin (Race 3) is a complete brainteaser. I'm currently hoping Pyro takes a lot of dumb money and that a longshot like Cassoulet (anytime you can get Leparoux at double digit odds...whoa) or the Sheikh's Honour Devil runs a big one and makes a big score. I think I am going to stick to straight win betting and rolling doubles tomorrow. We'll see if I can stick to the plan (unlikely).

I received a tweet directed at me by monmouthpark stating that Rachel Alexandra will be carrying 5 less pounds (117) against her nine rivals (notice the use of the word "rivals") in Sunday's $1.25M Haskell Invitational. Like she needs that kind of advantage. I wonder why it wasn't in the stakes conditions, guess they never figured a filly to enter this race....seems odd to me....but what do I know? (Don't answer that last question)

Kevin at Colin's Ghost has a super post up about opening day Saratoga 1919, make sure you check it out. Drop me an email if you'd like to say hello tomorrow or Thursday. And don't forget to get your Toga Party picks to me tonight! Looks like we'll have a full gate, as Val at Foolish Pleasure looks to defend her crown. Good luck and thanks for reading. Back in a couple of days with full reports from the Springs (kinda like the ring to that).

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....

NYRA Theme Song....