Vic Zast Saratoga Diary

Last Gasp

aspradling — Tue, 03 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMT

by Vic Zast

If anyone had doubts about what kind of racing surface awaited the 129 horses listed in the overnights for Saratoga’s final day, those doubts were obliterated at 6:25 AM Monday. A morning storm passed through the region in an hour and a half, but all hell broke loose in the first 15 minutes.

The rain fell so hard it created the sound of an earthquake. The racket, like nuts and bolts being dropped on a cookie tin, wasn’t unusual for America’s noisiest small city, especially at dawn. But its jarring effects were responsible for compromised competition in the PM. Eventually, only 76 horses ran in 10 races.

NYRA waded through four races involving $20,000 claiming horses before getting to the good stuff. Then the fifth race, a non-descript non-winners of one other than/optional claiming race for $25,000 animals, became legend. The first two horses dead-heated and the next two horses dead-heated, too. It was stunning, the outcome. Two well-bred maiden colts, each with a race under its belt, won the sixth and seventh.

Rare double dead-heat results board on TV monitor.

After the front-running Lady Cohiba won an ersatz Glens Falls Handicap (gr. III) for which seven turf-loving entrants scratched because the contest was held on the main track, Saratoga ran the 108th Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) for two-year-olds. Only NYRA knows why the Glens Falls wasn’t run on the turf course. There was no reason to save the grass from damage and, even though there was a cut in the ground, it didn’t seem dangerous. Europeans run on bogs without incident.

D. Wayne Lukas won only three races all meet, but the races were noteworthy. He won the Travers (gr. I) with Will Take Charge and two races with Strong Mandate, the Hopeful winner. It was an impressive Hopeful victory, achieved on the Hall of Fame trainer’s 78th birthday by a promising colt with a Tiznow pedigree. Yet, the race didn’t compare with the 1947 Hopeful in which Satan, a son of The Black, defeated Desert Storm at Belmont Park, college freshman Alec Ramsay in the saddle.

More track proceeds were donated to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund in Ramon Dominguez’s name. Jockeys gave of their time between races to sign autographs for donations. In what a cynic might interpret as a clever plot to keep backstretch workers on the job 24 hours, Dunkin’ Donuts, a company that’s gone all in with NYRA on a promotional basis and sells excellent coffee – the best coffee by some people’s reckoning, donated a pound of “joe” per victory by the meet’s leading owner, trainer and jockey to B.E.S.T. That total amounts to nearly 120 pounds, thanks to Ken and Sarah Ramsey, Todd Pletcher and Javier Castellano.

Jockeys signing autographs to benefit PDJF.

Retired jockey Ramon Dominguez leaving the racecourse.

With Labor Day’s last gasp and the refrains of Auld Lang Syne sweeping through the stands, the celebrity of being a member of the horse racing community began to subside for another year. Owners became drivers of fancy cars. Horse trainers became faces in the crowd. Jockeys became short people.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He fell in love with horse racing when reading The Black Stallion series of children’s books by Walter Farley.

What Was and Could Have Been

aspradling — Mon, 02 Sep 2013 12:00:00 GMT

by Vic Zast

How will Saratoga’s 150th year of Thoroughbred horse racing be remembered? Probably not by the cumulative effects of the many minor events that were organized. But by the few standout days on which something out of the ordinary happened.

No doubt this was the summer of Marylou Whitney. She established her rightful place in history with a dazzling array of contributions. Undoubtedly, her appearance at the ribbon-cutting for the Whitney Viewing Stand at the Oklahoma training track stands out for the way it connects to a new tangible asset. The Floral Fete and Ice Cream Social she spearheaded for the community drew 35,000 admirers. It was generous of her and her husband John Hendrickson to put up $75,000 so five lucky fans could wager in $15,000 installments, but more generous on her part to show up in person over and again each time she was called upon.

Marylou Whitney at the Ice Cream Social. Her vintage dress was placed inside the Sesquicentennial time capsule.

It was a shame that NYRA Board Chairman David Skorton couldn’t prevail upon Gov. Andrew Cuomo to make an appearance just once during the historic season. The last governor to visit a New York track was Alaska’s Sarah Palin, and she wasn’t even the Empire State’s own. Like the 24-day August meet, the tradition may soon enter the realm of the unimaginable.

Missed opportunities? How about one spectacular, commemorative Sesquicentennial Day of Racing on which each of the 10 races offered its own purse of $150,000 and each bore the name of a discontinued Saratoga race such as the Flash Stakes, United States Stakes and Kenner Stakes that was linked to the racecourse’s history?

If the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame can curate a show as impressive as the Alfred Z. Solomon Sesquicentennial Exhibit on its own turf, why hadn’t racecourse leaders asked the museum to outpost a grander display of the track’s history in the grandstand, one to which bus tours could be directed all summer and the faithful could visit during the season?

Alfred Z. Solomon Sesquicentennial Exhibit at the Racing Museum.

How much fun would it have been to be able to bet with a bookmaker on the racecourse apron the way people bet before pari-mutuel wagering? Or to stand in the infield again, looking inside-out as people did when Kelso and Gun Bow ran?

Fans in the Saratoga Racecourse infield. Credit: Bolster Collection.

As it is, NYRA officials and operatives are so taxed to perform the mundane that the exceptional is beyond their creative capabilities.

Despite being the second last day of sport, the fans aren’t giving up easily. The crowd numbered 56,579. Three stakes, several salty optional claiming/allowance races and a few chances for horses to break their maiden were on tap.

The first stakes was the Speed Boat Stakes won by Samitar. Samitar, a British filly trained by Chad Brown for Martin Schwartz, won by a neck.

The second stakes, the Grade III Saranac, made golfers pleased. Five Iron beat the favorite Notacatbutallama by about the length of a long putt.

Sweet Reason provided trainer Leah Gyarmati with her first graded stakes win in the Spinaway (gr. I). The juvenile filly by Street Sense swung five wide before sweeping to a commanding lead that she didn’t give up.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 consecutive years. He has ideas for celebrating his 50th year.

Twice Upon a Time

aspradling — Sun, 01 Sep 2013 16:39:00 GMT

by Vic Zast

Once upon a time, a little racecourse with brown wooden stands, a white linen table-clothed dining room and a winner’s circle drawn in chalk stood among the cooling pines of a quaint Victorian city at the edge of the Adirondacks.

The racetrack's red and white trim was added recently, perhaps only 50 years ago.

Gentlemen wore suits to the Clubhouse and waiters tuxedos on the porch where breakfast was served as the horses worked out. There were races each day, except Sundays, and only in August, when the tomatoes and melons were ripe.

Even a $2 better could study a horse up close. In 1953, it was reported that fans swiped souvenir hairs from the great Native Dancer’s tail as the colt walked from the oak under which he was saddled along a path to the track.

Horse racing belonged then to royalty – not the kind that wore crowns but the kind that controlled the world’s economy.

Families rented homes on Fifth Avenue and moved in with their families and staff into mansions on Union Avenue and North Broadway. Women ate watercress sandwiches and sipped ice tea for lunch at the Reading Room and rode there in horse-drawn carriages.

Mansions that rich people rented still stand but many have year-round residents.

The season isn’t like that anymore, even in memory. The feeling you get is that money means more than experience. Saratoga has always been meant as a small plate. That’s when it’s tastiest and does most for the sport it represents. The portion this year got away from the servers. On Saturday, again, the starter called horses to the gate on 11 exhausting occasions.

The gray cover made the Saturday afternoon seem like a Wednesday at Aqueduct. But the crowd was big and enthusiastic. It rained, thundered and blew through the night – so hard that at times the weather woke you. The conditions were sloppy. By 8:00 AM, four or the five turf races, except for the Bernard Baruch Stakes (gr. II), which was won by the favorite Silver Max, were moved to the main track.

Honor Code, a classic-named son of AP Indy that Shug McGaughey had out for exercise, won the fourth race portending greatness. He is bred for the grass and for longer distances. But the Champagne Stakes (gr. I) at a mile on the dirt is next up.

The seven-furlong Forego Stakes (gr. I) was the second of three stakes and perhaps the most uplifting one. Strapping Groom won at 15-1 for Drawing Away Stable and David Jacobson. These were the connections for Saginaw, the popular warrior that was euthanized 24 hours earlier after breaking two bones in a ballyhooed showdown with Caixa Eletronica.

Alpha, one of last season’s two dead-heat Travers (gr.I) winners, caught a break when the California-based Paynter, the favorite determined by emotion and investment, failed to fire as the horses broke. Alpha had the pace to itself and won the $750,000 Woodward Stakes (gr. I) from gate to window, outlasting Flat Out, the choice of the guy who wagered Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson’s $15,000.

Walking ring after Alpha dead-heated in the Travers.

Once upon a time, Alpha won the Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II) on a similar sloppy track.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. His favorite race in all that time was the Woodward won by Rachel Alexandra.

Burials

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 31 Aug 2013 01:06:00 GMT

You can turn on your TV as early as 9:00 AM to begin hearing tips from the handicappers. There are several shows on Channel 12 with two hosts who rarely agree on selections. Depending on how many horses they choose – three or four, each show is different – you are most likely to collect six or seven names to bet, which is like collecting no selections at all. Why does anyone watch?

Well, the answer is horseplayers can’t turn their back on information. Here, in Saratoga, picking winners is tough enough to go it alone. Only two favorites, including Midnight Watch in the featured $100,000 Riskaverse Stakes, won on Friday. Poor John Pricci, a horseplayer par excellence, for example, hasn’t had much luck with his Bet of the Day on Channel 13’s evening news show. But, no doubt, he’ll be renewed for next season.

There are shows on which hosts interview horse racing insiders, too, and it’s amazing how the producers are able to attract top shelf people. Last night, for example, a NYRA radio host was able to convince trainers D. Wayne Lukas and Todd Pletcher to appear on a broadcast from the Parting Glass tavern on Henry St. – quite a coup. Next Monday morning, Seth Merrow, the host of Racing Across America on OTB-TV, will have Ken Ramsey on – happens all the time.

Post time for the first race was 2:30 PM, causing a few disgruntled restaurant owners in town to complain that they missed turning their tables twice. Another special ceremony (Saratoga Racecourse has hundreds) took place shortly after 4:00 PM. Items commemorating the 150th year of horse racing were placed in a time capsule that is to be buried at the racecourse. Robert Clark, the artist who decorated the fiber-glass horse which stands at the West clubhouse entrance was given his due.

Array of sesquicentennial mementos in the time capsule. Credit: NYRA, Adam Coglianese

Robert Clark, artist of the new fiber-glass sport at the entrance to the Clubhouse.

The first race was an overnight stakes named the Law Enforcement. Three runners attempted to escape from two others, setting the end up perfectly for jockey Luis Saez aboard the closer Free Mugatu. NYRA ran a video about the late Hall of Fame trainer T.J. Kelly afterward. Saez doubled in the Double aboard Sidearm.

How nice, albeit short-lived, it was to see veteran campaigners meet in the third race and to have the public as excited as it was for horses that weren’t Eclipse Award or Breeders’ Cup candidates. The race set up ideally for Ramsey’s 20th winner of the meet Bernie the Maestro, as opposed to the more celebrated participants Caixa Eletronica and Saginaw, and when Saginaw pulled up on the turn, the race ended prematurely. Fans of the 7-year-old NY-Bred gelding on Facebook and Twitter immediately set off the alarm and prayers began.

Saginaw put down after third race accident.

There was much concern for the policies of NYRA regarding the welfare of horses and jockeys when the Governor of New York pulled off his takeover. Still, not a peep as equine deaths pile up and people lie in hospitals while the State is in charge.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers.

Cut from the Same Cloth

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 30 Aug 2013 12:04:00 GMT

NYRA held two off-campus gatherings this week – the first which was billed as a public forum and the second a board meeting. It was the first opportunity for new CEO Chris Kay to present what he’s done in his first 60 days.

Despite his non-racing background, Kay seems to indicate that he’s cut from the same cloth as his predecessors, guys who always placed profits before pleasure. Locals cringed when the franchise’s leader dismissed their concerns that the meet runs too long with a reply that was rooted in bean-counting. Hope existed that Kay, an outsider, would bring change. But he’s listening too much to the left-brained staff he inherited. Beware of a longer season.

Ushers are serving as bean counters for Chris Kay, keeping track of fluctuating attendance during the long afternoons. Kay is hinting that there are even more races in Saratoga's future.

Two jump races initiated Thursday’s 11-race program. The first, won by Bluegrass Summer, took on noteworthy consequences when Constant Contact dumped his rider and Call Me Sonny, after hitting the support railing of a hurdle on the backstretch, knocked another railing off its moorings on the next hurdle trying to squeeze through a hole that didn’t exist.

The second race was a $75,000 stakes called the Mrs. Walter M. Jeffords. Mrs. Jeffords had her own name. But, unless you knew her personally, no one knew what it was. The winner, British-born The Grey Express, was conditioned for the 2 1/16 mile race by Hall of Fame trainer Janet Elliot, who was wearing a neck brace.

Paddock analyst Maggie Wolfendale, dressed in a tempting off-the shoulder top that you don’t see very often before cocktails, worked the jump races with steeplechase expert Joe Clancy from the NYRA handicapper’s kiosk instead of somewhere off to the side where she usually does. She made up only a few words (e.g. “appeasing to the eye”) in a flattering stint reminiscent of Jan Rushton.

Sheryl Schwartz, aka Mrs. Barry K Schwartz, the owner of Little Rocket – the third race’s fastest competitor – brought pizzazz into the winner’s circle, as well as the 21st century, by wearing tight black cropped leggings and a leopard print tunic and fabulous earrings. Mike Luzzi rode his first winner since returning to riding last week after being injured in May.

Then things reverted to ridiculous. A guy from Everything’s Cricket Racing, the stable that owns Jess Not Jesse, winner of the sixth race, wore a shirt that looked just like the jockey’s silks – only bigger, much bigger and uglier.

The $300,000 With Anticipation (gr. II) has a brief but successful history. Horses that have run up the track have become serious Triple Crown contenders. It’s your guess if the winner Bashart will travel in that direction. But the two-year-old son of War Front made his mark at Saratoga. It was his second win here.

Don’t be shocked if trainer Mike Maker, with 11 winners at the meet, wins for the first time on dirt in Friday’s third race, a seven-furlong sprint that brings Saginaw up against Caixa Eletronica, two horses with a record of 43 victories in 103 starts. He’ll saddle Bernie the Maestro. Friday’s card is a twilight event, with a first post at 2:30 PM.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight seasons.

Newsmaker of the Meet

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 29 Aug 2013 01:17:00 GMT

Ideal summer weather greeted fans at the racecourse again. Despite pop-up showers in the Berkshires and Mohawk Valley, Mother Nature seemed to prefer sun and mid-80s temperatures for Saratoga and, no doubt, so do horsemen.

It’s tough to remember a sloppy track or a race that’s been pulled off the turf course. Owners and trainers can pretty much plan a course from the conditions book and expect to follow it.

Several races on Wednesday presented opportunity for trainers who rarely start horses. Unfamiliar names such as Patricia Farro, Manuel Gomez, Marialice Coffey, Stacy Torelli and Anthony Quartarola were listed in the program. Only Quartarola broke the ice with a winner.

Souper Lucky was persistent against Commissioner in the first race but simply not good enough. The Todd Pletcher-trained WinStar Farm juvenile colt came from Monmouth to break his maiden going long. There was nothing about his performance, however, to suggest she will be something special, even though this was only his second start.

One of every four runners that trainer Rudy Rodriguez claims from a race is a winner the first time it runs for him. Yampa River began cutting into Talent N Passion’s seemingly insurmountable five-length lead with only a furlong to go, but managed to record a victory. Apprentice Manuel Franco hung on for dear life during blast-off.

When Finger Lakes invader Jupiter Moon took the place by a nose in the third, she created an $888.00 exacta. Selecting the winner was the easiest part. Kimmies Lucky Star is by Patriot Act and it was, after all, Veteran’s Day. The names of several races had suitable themes – the second was the Leatherstocking Honor Flight purse, the ninth was the War Horse and the co-feature stakes the My Flag.

Speed crazy horses made an impression. Some won and others didn’t. In the sixth race, Miss Narcissist drew in from the AE list and triumphed, giving up half the lead she had on her opponents but not all. That wasn’t true for Rosie’s Song in the third and John Bailey in the fifth.

The $2 Pick 4 paid $156,761. Irad Ortiz, Jr. rode two of the four winners.

In what has been one of the meet’s recurring themes, one of Kitten’s Joy’s babies won a turf stakes. Owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey broke the track record for races won in a season – 19, as Granny Mc’s Kitten took the $100,000 P.G. Johnson.

Lawyers for the Wandering Dago, a Schenectady, NY food truck operation that NYRA granted a license to operate on the concourse and then withdrew permission at the start of the meet because someone complained about the name, filed a lawsuit for $350,000 in damages claiming a first amendment violation of their rights.

Augie’s, the popular Italian restaurant in Ballston Spa, NY that burned to the ground recently, has found a temporary location where it will begin serving food again. Unfortunately, Augie’s can’t re-open quickly enough to host horse racing fans.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers.

Veteran Days

Jennifer Whittle — Wed, 28 Aug 2013 12:05:00 GMT

The public may not know how well new NYRA CEO Chris Kay will do in leading the franchise toward an exciting new future, but by now it has a good read on how often he’ll preside at a ceremony. Kay seems to enjoy the job of showering praise and leveling platitudes. He has but one speech and it goes something like this – “On behalf of the men and women of the New York Racing Association, we are pleased to be honoring you.”

Honoring people is a Saratoga tradition more secure than the Travers Stakes (gr. I). To wit, veterans and active duty service personnel will be honored on Wednesday with free admission and two ceremonies – one when the National Anthem is sung and another that will be organized in the winner’s circle following the Daily Double. Men and women in uniform – well, in ball caps with military insignia, at least – will dress up the crowd. It’s a good thing.

Two veterans of clubhouse service, Dave Smith and Fred Quackenbush, wear caps that honor veterans of military service.

America’s servicemen and women should add to the track’s dwindling body count, which on Monday was announced as 10,300. At least 3000 of the bodies were invisible. It’s too bad because the 10-race program was strong with several wallet-padding betting opportunities, especially in the middle races.

History of sorts was made. Go Unbridled posted her second consecutive Saratoga Dew Stakes victory for 84-year-old Hall of Fame trainer H. Allen “The Chief” Jerkens. Raced caller Tom Durkin announced, “Allen Jerkens has been winning races at this racetrack since Harry Truman was President of the United States.” Now, there’s another definition of veteran.

Allen Jerkens (left), his wife, Elisabeth, and jockey Junior Alvarado accept the winning trophy for the Saratoga Dew Stakes. Credit: NYRA/Adam Coglianese.

“Take the concrete out of the track,” a fan in the back row of Section J shouted, as Spring to the Sky flashed to a narrow victory in a 5 ½ furlong dash on the grass to get things started. The brown colt by Langfhur addressed fractions of :21.15 and :43.11 to post a final time of 1:00.81.

Who doesn’t bet a 4-1 Todd Pletcher-trained filly in her maiden start? The trainer wins 32% of the time with this type. The answer, of course, is the Aussie Ian Wilkes, a protégé of Carl Nafzger. Wilkes saddled Ocean Boulevard to beat Domino Derval in the second race. Perhaps the name Domino Derval was too much burden to overcome for the second place horse.

Repole Stable’s $350,000 gelding by Bernardini was claimed for $20,000 from the fifth race. The financial loss doesn’t seem as bad as it sounds. So Outspoken won $33,000 over his latest two starts and picked up another $10,000 for finishing third in the race he was haltered. Pletcher obviously knew So Outspoken was worth only 1/7 of his purchase price.

In the next race, Repole lost another horse via the claiming route. This one, costing only $140,000 at auction, went for $45,000. Sneaky Blowout, a son of Lawyer Ron, ran well in defeat, taking a second to Dedicated Deal.

Anticipating that the fans would remove the ferns from the upper Carousel on the day that the meet ended, management had the florists remove them early.

There have been complaints that the Travers canoe in the lake can’t be seen from the cheap seats.

The Travers canoe at the side of the infield lake in which it is moored on race days.

Vic Zast is a 49-year veteran of the races at Saratoga. He is a seven-year veteran of the Saratoga Diary at bloodhorse.com.

Transformation

Jennifer Whittle — Mon, 26 Aug 2013 12:20:00 GMT

Only one week of Thoroughbred racing remains and for the thousands of visitors who descended on Saratoga Springs, NY for the sport, the 150th season has practically ended. After waiting so long through the build-up, Saturday’s Travers, with its startling and wan denouement, was justifiable cause for a hangover. Pass the aspirin, please.

On Sunday morning, one sensed an unusual vibe in the air, a kind of don’t talk too loudly or you’re likely to wake me mentally. Renters are gathering their things and surrendering their homes to their actual owners. At Five Points Grocery, the Sunday New York Times doesn’t disappear from the shelf before you can get there to buy one. Summer’s having its last gasp - transformation.

The morning activity is slowing down at Five Points Grocery.

Except for temps in the 40s from sunset to dawn, these upcoming days will be dog days – at least in the size of the crowds. Attendance below 10,000 people will be the new normal. Sunday’s program, with less than a handful of races worth watching, was a precursor of the less than stellar competition to come on Wednesday through Friday.

Bad racing luck struck Starlight Racing with another of its promising two-year-olds. In the day’s second race, Potosi’s Silver swerved sharply right from the gate, looked okay for awhile as she followed the pace and then was reigned in at the rail as the winner kept on. The winner was Gracer, a filly with one failed attempt to her credit. Credit jockey Joe Rocco, Jr. for nifty work and surviving the inquiry.

After the fourth race, NYRA honored retired jockey Ramon Dominguez in a ceremony that lasted as long as his riding career. Keith Chamblin of the NTRA gave Dominguez his Eclipse Award and Richie Migliore presented him with the Mike Venezia Award. The Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund grew by $15,000, as NYRA CEO Chris Kay handed Dominguez one of those checks made for giants.

Dominguez receives a big check for PDJF. Credit: Adam Coglianese, NYRA

Favorites won the first seven races and it began to look as if they might sweep all 11. Then it happened. Zimzay upset the 4-5 Hillhouse High, paying $41.80, in the eighth race.

Gentlemen’s Kitten nipped Share Out at the wire in the ninth race. Two tragic accidents occurred – the first on the backstretch where the frontrunner Sarava's Dancer snapped his leg and then on the final turn where Kris Royal stumbled. Both horses were euthanized. The impact of these incidents, now numbering four, is being felt like a punch in the stomach.

Cal-based jockey Mike Smith was all smiles in the winner’s circle a race later aboard Royal Delta. The champion mare ran away with the Grade I $600,000 Personal Ensign Invitational. The Hall of Fame rider took the Bill Mott-trained runner to the lead midway on the backstretch and didn’t seem to care that she sped six furlongs in 1:10.76 even though she had nine furlongs to cover overall.

Cross Traffic, Mucho Macho Man and Shanghai Bobby registered good morning workouts.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers.

University of Lukas

Blood-Horse Staff — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:23:00 GMT

Party people who witnessed the last cocktails poured in the Caroline St. bars must have loved that some pilot in a Piper Cub airplane was buzzing the skies above Saratoga Racecourse at 6:00 AM. Whoever scheduled the noisy reconnaissance had no knowledge that horseplayers asleep in their beds would soon be handicapping a 14-race card and that they needed their rest.

Peace was to be found among the 47,597 fans at the queen mother of all racecourses, where the pace was relatively slow compared to the throng that was gathered. Jack Spagnola of Schodack, NY escorted his family of five through the Union Avenue gates at about 12:35 PM, an hour after the first race was run. “I didn’t realize that they were starting so early,” Spagnola said. “What’s the reason for that?” he asked.

Fans jammed the concourse.

Sam the Bugler Grossman missed the day of calling the horse to the post entirely. He was set down by the chief steward in charge of good behavior, NYRA CEO Chris Kay, for incurring a DUI arrest at 1:30 AM. Bethanny Dixon of Baltimore, MD and Ryan Resky of New York, NY were called in to play their musical breathalyzers without him.

Bugle players Ryan Resky and Bethanny Dixon.

The way things have been going, if you don’t bet a horse with a kitten name when in a turf race, you are squandering a winning opportunity. The third race, won by Bobby’s Kitten, a Ken and Sarah Ramsey two-year-old colt, performed in the manner of future greatness. He outclassed his rivals by a comfortable margin on the backstretch, eased a bit on the far turn and ignited the afterburners in the homestretch.

Jockey Jose Ortiz was the replacement for Joel Rosario on the winner. Rosario’s tumble from the saddle on the day before proved a costly proposition for the foot-injured rider. In addition to Bobby’s Kitten, Mike Smith triumphed with Celebrated Talent in the second and David Cohen with Frac Daddy in the eighth, two additional horses he was scheduled to ride.

Trainer Jerry Hollendorfer brought a very fine filly with him from Del Mar. Sweet Lulu remained four-for-four perfect following the Grade I Test Stakes. She battled back after being headed at the 1/16 pole. Three longshots shocked the odds board, producing a $16,639.00 trifecta, in the King’s Bishop (gr. I), as the unlikely winner Capo Bastone, trained by Todd Pletcher, produced an electrifying run.

For all that Pletcher has learned from D. Wayne Lukas, Saratoga’s leading trainer may still have one lesson remaining. The summa cum laude graduate of the University of Lukas entered the Travers with two short-priced horses and his professor entered a horse that few people expected to triumph.

The lesson learned is that a person must come to realize that hope can lead to the wildest dreams. Will Take Charge, trained by Lukas, won the 144th Travers by a nose from 31-1 Moreno at 9-1. It was only the second winner Lukas has had at the meet. The 21-year-old Panamanian Luis Saez had the ride.

Travers program has an historic look.

Fans hold cameras up at start of 144th Travers.

The game of golf was represented at the festivities by two of its biggest stars. Arnold Palmer and the producer of Golf Channel’s Our Longest Drive were in attendance.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He wrote the award-winning book The History and Art of 25 Travers.

Cajuns and Mohicans

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 24 Aug 2013 00:47:00 GMT

After training hours on Friday morning, trainer Eric Guillot hosted one of his Louisiana gumbo parties at Barn 34. There was a big pot of Cajun boil, trays of steaming rice, hot sauce and a guy with a paddle to stir things up, plus a Zydeco band and plenty of smack talk.

Zydeco band at Eric Gullot's Louisiana gumbo party on the backstretch.

Stirring up some mighty good tastin'.

Other trainers dropped by for a taste and to notify Guillot that their horses would catch his horse – the front-running Dwyer Stakes (gr. II) winner Moreno in the Travers Stakes (gr. I) – right after he passed the quarter pole in front. But mostly the gathering was folks having fun.

You could feel the excitement for Saturday building across Union Avenue. A huge crowd is anticipated. What the Travers will reveal, at least in small part, is if this is a good or an ordinary class. The general feeling is that the cream has finally risen in Verrazano, Palace Malice and Orb, revealing a banner crop. Whichever the case, fans are in for a thrilling upcoming fall and Breeders’ Cup Classic.

NYRA was smart to schedule excellent races early on. The weather again, as if Saratoga Springs was San Diego, was sunny and pleasant.

Havana made an auspicious debut in his first race ever and Friday’s first race. Breaking from the one hole, he nearly cracked the track record for 5 ½ furlongs. The gray colt by Dunkirk has a white face and wears a white halter, so he’s easy to spot. How long he can go with the zip that he showed is undetermined. Yet, he looked bold on the straight as he poured on the gas and the Champagne Stakes (gr.I) is next. Note, also, it was one heck of an effort for Kendall’s Boy, the second place horse.

The PPs for the second race, the Chowder’s First Stakes, didn’t indicate Palace had the class or the form to beat The Lumber Guy. But pace makes the race, especially in 6 ½ furlong sprints. Off since February 23, Barry K. Schwartz’s Grade I stakes winner suffered from going too fast at the start, thus finishing second.

Two runners with plenty of claims in their resumes won the third and the fourth races. Trainer David Jacobson, who saddled Writingonthewall in the third race, is near automatic with the first-start-after-a- claim angle. He bats 26 percent. Likewise, Michael Maker does wonders with haltering other people’s under-valued stock. Although he trained Yo Blue in two prior starts, Yo Blue made his third start for Maker a charm.

Yo Blue won the 12th running of the Copeland Cup, honoring the departed friends of Curragh Stable’s Bob Devlin and son Michael Devlin’s tribe of fraternal Mohicans – Harry “The Horse” Copeland, Bobby “Mouse” Meaney and Michael “Lawful” Wallender.

Mohicans in the winner's circle after the Copeland Cup.

Dance to Bristol beat Book Review to the wire by a head in the $500,000 Ballerina Stakes (gr. I) and paid $5.50 to win. The hard-fought victory made it seven in a row for the four-year-old Speightstown filly, the second in a row at the Spa. But it was her first Grade I triumph.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He is a Mohican.

What's Up, Pussycat?

Jennifer Whittle — Fri, 23 Aug 2013 12:05:00 GMT

After 28 years of lending a public face to the Travers Stakes with his iconic posters, exile is the thanks Greg Montgomery is getting from NYRA. The NYRA hospitality department reportedly has entered into some contracts with Centerplate, the food service company it uses, and with seven different artists, situated near the Union Avenue entrance, that prohibits Montgomery from setting up shop on the concourse where his thousands of fans can find him.

Give props to the Broadway retailer Impressions for clearing some space for Montgomery at its racecourse location in the Boutiques at the Grandstand. The shop isn’t easy to find. But you’ll get there eventually. Montgomery’s work has done more for stamping the Midsummer Derby with a classy look than anything that’s ever been done, and some one-dimensional thinking has caused it, alas, to be hidden.

For the last 28 years, Greg Montgomery was out in the open with his Travers Stakes posters.

Regarding additional behind-the-scenes goings-on, ushers were asked to count the people in the reserved seats during each race for the rest of the meet. They are counting the people who are standing behind the seats, too. The exercise no doubt is to find out how much is too much in the course of the day and how the scheduling of racing should change. Seems like a job that could be out-sourced to unemployed teens. Moreover, with 10 more days of the assignment to go, the count has already turned into an estimate.

On the racetrack, Italian Wedding, an eight-year-old gelded son of Alphabet Soup, was declared the winner of the $150,000 New York Turf Writers Steeplechase Cup (gr. I) after racing 2 3/8 miles and jumping a whole lot of fences en route. Only four trainers saddled the nine horses that ran. With four horses in the race, Jonathan Sheppard was likeliest to saddle the winner, and he did.

For all that the New York Turf Writers represent as an organization today the race should have been called the New York Turf Writers Memorial Steeplechase Cup. It seems like every steeplechase race is a memorial to someone. As the underwriters of Saratoga’s biggest and most lavish parties in its prime, the storied organization became non-existent a few years ago. But rumors persist that a revival is near.

A Group I winner in his native Brazil, Vitoria Olimpica, made his dirt track debut in the third race a winning one. Trainer Todd Pletcher knew that his horse would be up to it. The race was the $100,000 Alydar Stakes at 1 1/8 miles. Following that, a first-time starter named Sandcat, a bay colt by D’wildcat, made a daring run along the rail to capture the fourth race.

Former child TV star David Cassidy, who has raced NY-Breds, made the funniest crack of the season when arrested for drunken driving – no laughing matter. Upon noticing the name Tom Jones written on the badge of the arresting officer, Cassidy asked “What’s up, pussycat?” when told to present his license.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He co-authored the award-winning book “The History and Art of 25 Travers” with Greg Montgomery.

Following a Blue Moon

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 22 Aug 2013 01:26:00 GMT

Belmont Child Care Association, the organization that provides shelter and learning to the children of backstretch workers as they tend to the horses in the mornings, held in 16th annual fundraising party at the Gideon Putnam Hotel. The event’s honoree was Charlotte Weber, overseer of Live Oak Plantation racing.

What makes the BCCA event so compelling for the swells is how down-home the fun is. If you choose to go, you know you’ll go home with a smile on your face. The party’s provenance is the parties that Fourstardave owner Richie Bomze and his wife Diane, two of the organization’s founders, threw years ago. The arm-twisting’s WWF quality, but who cares after a few Margaritas. On yet another of Saratoga’s sublime summer evenings, following a blue moon night, auctioneer D. Wayne Lukas coaxed beaucoup bucks from the guests with a smattering of blue jokes.

Before the races began in the afternoon, the post position draw for the Travers was held in the walking ring. Then, an ice cream eating contest followed in the events tent. The winner Brandon Cole, age 10, of Schenectady, NY, finished his pint of Stewart’s Philly Vanilla ice cream in two minutes and 36 seconds.

A pint down in the time it takes a slow horse to run a mile and a half. Photo courtesy NYRA.

Court Dancer was fractious in the starting gate causing pick-up jockey Joel Rosario to dismount before his horse loaded for the first race. But once the field calmed down and the doors flew open, the NY-Bred two-year-old filly by War Chant poured it on. Trainer George Weaver’s success is no secret any longer.

Fans situated near the winner’s circle after the third race were able to see how Rosie Napravnik poses on her mount after her mount wins. She looks like a runway model sitting face-on to the camera, her right arm gracefully resting on the nape of the winner’s neck and the left arm balanced on the horse’s rump. Napravnik rode Regal Joanne to victory. Trainer Steve Asmussen seems to be using her more frequently.

In a very fast 1:33.77, Shadwell Stable’s Sayaad sprinted to a convincing five-length triumph in the $100,000 Dance of Life Stakes, the fourth race. The public then went to sleep and allowed Kiaran McLaughlin to win with a second Shadwell horse in the seventh, this one a 22-1 maiden first-time starter named Almurra.

Until then, favorites seemed to be having things their way. That said, the 3-5 Amberjack lost to Escapefromreality in the $150,000 Albany Stakes and in doing lost his chance at the Big Apple Triple. Escapefromreality was fresh competition for Amberjack and had lost in the Gotham and Withers, both graded stakes, against horses like Vyjack and Revolution.

Amberjack gets close to Escapefromreality but can't catch him.

Kimberly Remsen, a self-professed horse lover, earned Unsung Hero honors. She’s a peace officer trained in CPR, who rescued a fan having a grand mal seizure by sticking a pen under his tongue to clear the air passage.

Rene Ramirez was named Groom of the Day for Point Taken. The award was announced on the infield screen before Point Taken won the fifth race.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers.

Coming Up Rosie and Rosario

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 00:39:00 GMT

Monday, the final day of Alabama Stakes (gr. I) Week, saw 14,817 people come out for the races. The energy produced on the weekend – a memorable weekend of sport - was drained from the premises. The atmosphere was quiet, like the scent of lavender. By Friday, if not sooner, the juice will be back. It is Travers Week and the three-year-old crop, unlike the tomatoes, is ripe.

Racecourse crowd considerably thinned after Alabama weekend.

Today, post positions will be drawn in the walking ring for Saturday’s Travers Stakes (gr. I) and the field will be hailed as the best in a decade. Barring last minute changes, it undoubtedly will be.

Rosie Napravnik continues to excel in the irons. The country’s leading female jockey was riveted on guiding the 9-2 Sheer Drama for Tony Dutrow home first in the second race. Sheer Drama defeated the 3-5 Flores Island, a chronic false favorite that’s now finished second or third in six of her seven starts.

Rosie almost stole the third race on a 12-1 shot. But a lone stalker named Make the Moment emerged in the nick of time. The Charlton Baker-owned and trained Indygo Shiner filly was the winner of the second of five NY-Bred races including the $100,000 Union Avenue Stakes. The six furlong sprint was named the Ulysses S. Grant Cottage purse. The ex-president, neatly bearded and sober, for a change, was on hand to present the trophy. While in office, he might have stolen it and sold it for his own personal gain.

President Ulysses S. Grant (left) and his son Jesse visit the racecourse.

Horseplayers were really stuck with a practical choice of two in the Union Avenue – a pace-setting speedball named Clear Pasaj and a pace-chasing closer named Willet. The closer with Joel Rosario aboard won. The lack of competition created a short-priced exacta.

Eriugena drew in from the Also Eligible list and won the sixth race. Mike Maker, acting on behalf of Ken and Sarah Ramsey, claimed the son of the German sire Shirocco on August 2. Substitute race caller John Imbriale became confused as the field hit the final turn. But he sharply picked up on Rosario’s mount as it knifed between leaders in mid-stretch. It was Rosario’s third victory in a row and his most daring ride.

Napravnik struck again in the ninth, after everyone forgot the hardworking redhead was hot. She rode She’s Not Lazy to victory at 19-1.

Contrary to complaints about the price of concessions on facebook, you can buy a hot dog for $5 at the Diablo Dogs stand in the second-floor clubhouse. Another good $5 item is the Manhattan clam chowder, lower-level of the clubhouse near the 1/8 pole.

Chicagoans garnish hot dogs without ketchup or sauerkraut.

Green Island, NY postponed its public hearing about limiting the number of dogs a homeowner can keep to three in one house. Saratoga Springs has no limit on dogs. Michele Riggi keeps 36 in her North Broadway palazzo. Where she kept her precious pets during her $1000 per ticket gala to benefit the Mariano Rivera Foundation, with Yankee pitcher Riviera in attendance, on Monday night is unknown.

Horse racing’s poet laureate and Secretariat chronicler Bill Nack is the guest speaker of the Historical Society at the Canfield Casino tonight.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He has several favorite Travers, but Holy Bull’s, Birdstone’s and last year’s dead heat are near the top.

Tough to Take

aspradling — Mon, 19 Aug 2013 00:00:00 GMT

by Vic Zast

The annual one-day fly hatching season came to an end with nightfall on Saturday. Leaving the track was like battling locust. The critters were pesky as mosquitoes in the Yukon as they flew into your hair and your mouth. They disoriented you.

High clouds through which you could see the sun if you really tried was the weather of the day Sunday. It was unseasonably cool, as it’s been most of the meet. But no one complained. More than 51,000 fans poured through the gates after paying $3, encouraged by the season’s third giveaway.

The racecourse presented the fans with the kind of giveaway NYRA should give away every time – a handsome, practical ball cap that advertises Saratoga each time it’s worn. Apparel, umbrellas, blankets and tote bags are good items, too. But, please no more with the knick-knacks that gather dust or the tricked-up contraptions that require instructions to use.

The cap was black with a simple yellow and red 150th Year Anniversary badge and red grommets.

A different kind of favorite won the opener. Carpetbagger jockey Mike Smith guided Art of the Game from gate to wire for a popular victory. Trainer Nick Zito gave him the leg up for owner Richard Pell. Smith won with nothing more all day.

The next chalk to win was Bashart. He got the job done in the fifth. A two-year-old bay colt by War Front, Bashart didn’t win as easily as expected. Nevertheless, he swung three wide at the top of the stretch from his drafting position, took the lead by a length and kept going until a pursuer ran out of ground. John Velazquez timed the happy ending for Todd Pletcher.

The two closest races were the seventh and the eighth. Neck of the Moon wrung a victory out of the seventh by a neck. Nellie Cashman won the eighth by a nose, or at least that’s how it appeared for awhile. After five minutes of judges’ deliberations, the daughter of Mineshaft was brought down and placed third. This unfortunate turn of events profited Rosie Napravnik, whose mount Caroline Thomas was moved up to first.

The eighth race was the Gr. II Lake Placid Stakes – a tedious 1 1/8 miles of Mellon Course. The loss for Nellie Cashman’s connections, especially jockey Forest Boyce, must have been very tough to take. Boyce’s transgression wasn’t especially flagrant, but she did interfere with the third horse and denied her a shot at the first. Young Boyce, a top rider on the Maryland/Virginia circuit, will ride again and win. She can ask Napravnik what that’s all about.

The ninth race was named the Coach Ray Waldron purse and members of the beloved man’s family crowded the winner’s circle like a team huddling before a game.
Waldron coached for 40 years in Saratoga Springs but found time to view more than 1000 horse races.

Seven of the 11 races were run on turf. This morning’s walking tour of North Broadway conducted by the Saratoga Springs Historic Preservation Society ran long, too.

The oldest house on North Broadway is still one of its finest.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He’s a friend of Brian Waldron, Coach Ray’s son, a caterer in town.

Strong Mandate

aspradling — Sun, 18 Aug 2013 15:00:00 GMT

by Vic Zast

The thought that horse racing needs to be dragged through the coals again following Saturday’s first race must be rattling about in some people’s minds.

Just when New York Racing Association officials must have been feeling pretty good about how things were going with attendance increases, close finishes and weather forecasts, Saratoga encountered its second public equine mercy killing in a week, this time accompanied by a jockey’s injury that resulted in Jose Espinoza being carted off on a stretcher and ambulance.

CEO Chris Kay must show that he and the franchise refuse to conduct business as usual by calling an investigation into what kind of medications went into Heading to Toga before Saturday’s first race and why his connections risked dropping the stakes-experienced filly into a $20,000 claiming race. Then he needs to keep fingers crossed that bad fortune won’t occur in the same manner again.

Good fortune befell many people on a simply otherwise splendid day. Almost 35,000 racing fans witnessed Big Blue Kitten win the $600,000 Sword Dancer Invitational (gr. IT) decisively, with the colt’s owners Ken and Sarah Ramsey in Chicago for the Arlington Million (gr. IT) and Secretariat (gr. IT), two additional Grade 1 stakes in which horses they owned triumphed. Rosie Napravnik chose to abandon her base for the $500,000 Secretariat.

Princess of Sylmar, from the King of Prussia Stables, trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Javier Castellano, won the 133rd running of the Alabama Stakes (gr. I) in the footsteps of prior three-year-old filly champions such as Questing, Royal Delta and Blind Luck and other Kentucky Oaks winners such as Proud Spell and Silverbulletday.

Princess of Sylvan in Alabama Stakes stretch.

The result was anti-climactic in several ways, including that horse racing fan Deborah White of Gaansevort, NY cashed a complimentary $15,000 wager, courtesy Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson, which paid $.50 on the dollar.

Women also played a supporting role in the second race. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas broke his 2013 Saratoga maiden with a 16-1 maiden named Strong Mandate. It was hard to choose between the picture of Lukas promoting the sport by introducing two boys to its most joyous time or Michele Riggi with a troupe of girls in tutu skirts in the winner’s circle as the more entertaining. Riggi was promoting the National Museum of Dance, which held its gala Saturday evening. Both Lukas and Riggi are their own greatest productions.

Lukas escorting boys from the winner's circle.

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Ballet dancers in winner's circle.

A Pletcher by a neck over Pletcher exacta, featuring two of the meet’s three leading riders, occurred in the fourth. You can’t imagine the jubilation that the people involved in the six-year-old gelding Sandyinthesun as it keyed a $705.00 exacta in the eighth that involved almost the entire field. Robbie Davis, a most popular guy on the racecourse, saddled the nose winner.

Trainer Robbie Davis and jockey Junior Alvarado elated after upset victory.

For folks looking for food bargains, a bag of salty Hampton Farms peanuts will satisfy your hunger jones for only $3.50. The peanuts are grown and packaged in North Carolina.

This morning’s Preservation Society walking tour will travel down North Broadway.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. His father’s father came from Prussia.

Photo Finishes

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 17 Aug 2013 12:31:00 GMT

At first glance, the Friday card appeared to be loaded with NY-Bred races. But that was the early part – three of the first three races including one of two stakes, a total of four in all.

It seems as if Leo O’Brien hasn’t trained a horse into the winner’s circle in decades. Yet, Slimshady, a NY-Bred chestnut gelding by Raffie’s Majesty, made it there in the first race with Jose Espinoza aboard, proving that miracles do happen.

A maiden two-year-old filly named Artemis Agroteria, owned by Chester and Mary Broman, annihilated her foes in the second race and announced to the world she is heading for a stakes, maybe even in open company. The one time in memory that trainer Mike Hushion unveiled a runner as promising as she, he lost it immediately.

Dayatthespa won the $150,000 Yaddo Stakes. The four-year-old filly has won each time she’s run at Saratoga – one for one in the last three years. This time around, she sat just off the pace and then ran at the leaders in the end. But, as good as she was, the ultimate spa is the Roosevelt Baths.

Run by the Gideon Putnam Resort and located near SPAC and the golf course, Roosevelt Baths offer mud wraps for $100 and massages for two at $370. Nevertheless, should you wish to partake in what made the grounds famous, you can soak in l’eau for as low as $20.

Many ways to luxuriate, including a Dayatthespa.

Elsewhere, the action was highlighted by several close finishes. Souper Speedy won the sixth by the distance between his eye and his nostril. Photos were needed to determine the winners on two more occasions – Allie Sweet by a head in the seventh and Ballistic Sue by a neck in the eighth. Awesome Vision won the ninth, the Saratoga Sunrise Stakes, by a length.

Jockeys Javier Castellano, Irad Ortiz, Jr. and Joel Rosario nearly swept the card with the rides, combining for eight victories. In one of the other two races in which they didn’t win, Oritz, Jr. finished second.

The first evening of the Friday-Sunday Barrantes Memorial Cup was played on the Whitney polo field. If you arrived just in time for the 5:30 PM start, you risked not getting in, at least not on the side, looking into the sun, where you tailgate.

Tailgating crowd at the polo grounds must look into the sun.

“We’re doing our best to keep traffic moving,” said John Dustman, the attendant in charge of collecting $30 per car at the entrance. His answer was puzzling because he stood there doing nothing as cars piled up on the road stalled in traffic.

To the polo crowd’s credit, not a horn sounded in frustration. The decorum was admirable. For anyone who cares, the team in black beat the team in blue by a score of 9-7.

Head to head action in the Barrantes Memorial Cup.

NYRA CEO Chris Kay told The Saratogian that he has begun a search for someone to fill an executive racing director position.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He’s taken a bath in the spa’s magic waters but twice, but he’s taken a bath at the betting windows daily.

Misters after Mses.

Jennifer Whittle — Fri, 16 Aug 2013 00:46:00 GMT

At least four Saratoga-based jockeys will be bypassing the Alabama Stakes (gr. I) and Sword Dancer Invitational (gr. I) on Saturday to run in the Arlington Million (gr. I). Leading rider Joel Rosario will ride Little Mike, the winner of the Million last summer. Spa Course fans are beginning to see Rosario atop Todd Pletcher horses, all due it’s assumed to the fact that famed agent Ron Anderson has taken over his book.

Twice the fun of watching horses jumping fences was available. The first two races on the 11-race card were steeplechases. The second was the $75,000 Michael G. Walsh Novice Stakes. Barnstorming, owned and trained by Jonathan Sheppard, won at 5-1 odds. It is important to note that Sean McDermott was Barnstorming’s rider because of what happened to another of Sheppard’s riders. Darren Nagle started out with a Sheppard mount in the first and the second. But he moved from the saddle to the turf in both. The trainer must have wondered if super glue would have helped.

Steeplechase field on the backstretch.

The tote board for the third and fourth race was such that smart gamblers could make money without taking much risk. All a horseplayer’s pick in the third had to do was nip Pure Sensation in a five furlong sprint to set up a juicy exacta. Pure Sensation was betable based on his recent second to Corfu, the gritty Special (gr. II) and Sanford Stakes (gr. II) winner. Still this was an inexperienced bunch of maiden two-year-olds over which the eventual winner Aarons Orient, an Orientate colt trained by Steve Asmussen, could dominate and he did. Brabbham, a $1.2 million Shadwell yearling purchase, gave way at 2-1 to an All That and Dyker Beach exacta and two other runners in much the same way in the fourth.

A “mister” exacta clicked for $102.50 in the fifth race when steeplechase trainer Jack Fisher saddled Mr. Starr’s Report to win on the flat and Rudy Rodriguez saddled Mr Algebra for place. Fisher’s coasting along at a 40% win clip. For many in the crowd of 18,039, the highlight of the day may have come when Juddmonte Farms’ Slumber returned to action in an allowance/$100,000 optional claiming race. It was something to see the green silks with pink sash and cap – those same silks worn by the great miler Frankel – release from a tangle, swing four wide and blaze down the stretch.

No remnants of Fabulous Fillies Day were evident. The large wall of photos and histories of famous New York women was gone. No women’s choral groups entertained on the trinkets ‘n trash concourse. Most sadly, the art studio at the events tent was closed. For $20 a canvas, people could create a painting to their heart’s delight and most people painted horses. Nearly $600 was raised for Breast Cancer Research.

Horse art blooms in the events tent on Fabulous Fillies Day.

Former Barney’s fashion director and socialite Amanda Brooks documented her day at the track on Instagram.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He posts photos on Instagram.com, too.

Ladies Have Their Day

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 15 Aug 2013 01:41:00 GMT

The four or five races worth walking over to the track to see live began shortly after 3:00 PM. You wore a sweater if you wanted to be comfortable. There was an autumn-like chill in the air – another not-so-subtle signal that horseplayers, who consider The Spa Nirvana, have little more than a dozen days left. One week from now, post positions for the Midsummer Derby will be drawn.

Jockeys wearing pink silks didn’t win a race on Fabulous Fillies Day. But a horse with a pink saddlecloth won the fifth. In fact, the fifth race – a 5-furlong sprint on the main course for two-year-old fillies called the NYRA Salutes the Breast Cancer Research Foundation purse - sent seven runners to the post wearing one.

The Todd Pletcher-trained Cynical Storm, ridden by John Velazquez, prevailed over Mallory Street, dampening the spirits of women who wished to see jockey Rosie Napravnik succeed.

The race before, called the NYRA Honors Marylou Whitney purse, was won by Shadwell Stable’s Asiya. Whitney ran Pow Wow Wow in the 6 ½ furlong race, but the daughter of Indian Charlie was struck by the Nick Zito curse. The Hall of Fame trainer has three wins in 26 starts.

Jena M. Antonucci, another trainer without many starts and only one victory, achieved a rare double. She placed two of her runners on Main Track Only lists and both races in which they were entered were switched from the grass to the dirt. Ka-boom, two for two. Antonucci’s Howaboutwe, a NY-Bred colt, won the second race and Currency Union, a filly, won the seventh. Ironically, the sixth and eighth races – both $100,000 stakes - were run on a yielding turf.

Whitney, despite her disappointment in Pow Wow Wow, found another way to be honored. She was feted at the Sizzling Hot Pink Saratoga Hat Luncheon in the At the Rail Pavilion. Benita Zahn, the Channel 13 newswoman, led 180 women and a handful of men, including John Hendrickson in a pink seersucker sport coat, through a wonderful program.

Zahn deserves an Emmy for batting her eyelashes, nodding her head in agreement and pointing her finger like a politician when her co-anchor talks. But, in person, she’s more genuine. “Have a good schmooz,” Zahn said, and they did.

Newswoman Benita Zahn gave a touch of TV star power to the festivities.

Michele Riggi, a Spa City socialite with a jones for dogs – she kennels 36 bow-wows in her North Broadway bastion, is a polarizing figure in the Saratoga Springs community. But there is nothing polarizing about her taste in hats. The one she wore to the luncheon was gorgeous. So, too, were many others at the $150 - $1000 per plate event.

Hats and dogs are what socialite Michele Riggi is known for.

In contrast, anyone wearing the color pink was admitted free to the racecourse. One guy asked if the pink cover on his iPhone would qualify. It did. One woman showed the band of her pink panties to get in.

Pink panties qualify woman for free admission.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga in 49 straight summers.

Voguing Ink

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 01:53:00 GMT

Saratoga’s on the downside of its sesquicentennial meet. All-sources handle is up. Good weather, which has been keeping races on the turf and horses from scratching, is at fault. There is still plenty of heart-pounding horse racing ahead.

The fine Kentucky Derby (gr. I) winner Orb is in the house, settled in and looking heftier and healthier. Verrazano and Palace Malice, Orb’s currently-determined Travers (gr. I) nemeses, have made their presence felt in workouts. The backstretch is a good place to spend a morning.

The fried egg, bacon and cheese sandwiches that backstretchers wolf down at The Morning Line are a lot like the hot dogs at ballparks. They’re probably not very good and not very good for you. But, boy, they taste swell in the setting.

Backstretch breakfast: the fried egg, bacon and cheese sandwich.

Rain fell throughout the day on Tuesday, which bodes well for the greening of the turf course. The public handicappers at The Pink Sheet could use some greening, too. Only one of the five assperts has a 30% win strike. The handicapping columnist is muddling about at a 22% clip.

Regarding stats, not much has been determined about anything, really. Nobody’s surprised that trainers Todd Pletcher, Chad Brown and David Jacobson have saddled the large numbers of winners they have. On the other hand, had anyone said that Dominic Galluscio and George Weaver would be visiting the winner’s circle at a 40% pace there’d have been belly laughs. The D. Wayne Lukas, Bruce Levine and Gary Contessa barns are cold as freezer units.

On the final day of last week, Magical Moon couldn’t hold off Monmouth invader Jewel of a Cat in the $100,000 Coronation Cup. Drawing Away Stable’s Strapping Groom basked in the glow of the late afternoon sun after winning Monday’s co-feature, the $100,000 Kid Russell Stakes. Collaborator, a three-year-old colt that was rehabilitated from a career-threatening suspensory ligament injury with stem cell therapy, broke his maiden in the fourth. A good-looking maiden two-year-old named Due Diligence won the fifth, sprinting 5 ½ furlongs on the grass and defeating his foes by almost eight lengths.

The week’s grand finale took place at the Vapor Night Club. But Jockey Karaoke lacked the polish of prior years’. The performance was disorganized, unpracticed and affected negatively by a VIP seating policy. Still a lot of dough was made for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund and smiles were on the audience members’ faces.

Todd Pletcher and Angel Cordero, Jr. were two of the judges who presented trophies to competing performers at Jockey Karaoke night.

From his Row 1, Seat 1 location, horse owner Martin Schwartz bid a whopping $22,000 for a wooden rocking horse that Ramon Dominguez made. Every big winning bid like this must have an underbidder who’s responsible for driving the price up. The underbidder was Emily Meier, daughter of jockey Randall Meier, who launched her bids from a spot at the bar.

Jockeys lined up to thank Martin Schwartz for his generous winning bid on a wooden rocking horse.

Tom Durkin, clad in vanilla sport coat, black shirt, pink pants, yellow shoes and pork pie hat and voguing sleeves ink that the U.S. Marines wouldn’t allow, emceed.

No, this isn't 'Barry Irwin channeling Johnny Cash,' as French horse trainer Gina Rarick remarked on facebook.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. As for Jockey karaoke, he longs for the pizazz that Dean “New York, New York” Mernagh and Ronnie “Love Man” Ebanks previously provided the event.

Two Views

aspradling — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 12:00:00 GMT

by Vic Zast

Someone who knows more about epiphanies can perhaps explain why The Jockey Club has risen from its marketing doldrums. Harvey Pack, the wise-aleck horse racing color man, used to joke that the organization’s Round Table Conference, held on Sunday for the 61st time, was for squares that couldn’t excite coffee. But earlier this week the announcement came out that a deal has been struck to televise ten days of horse racing on the new Fox Sports 1 network. And, no doubt, more in terms of reaching out to the public is likely. America’s Best Racing is building.

Speaking of America’s best racing, Saratoga on this generously accommodating weekend is where you would find it. Spinners arrived early to receive a free Fourstardave bobblehead doll with their paid admission. The bobblehead is a cheap figurine with the body of an action figure and a horse’s head half the size of its body, which, unfortunately, means twice the size of normal. But there you have it.

Sketchy Fourstardave bobblehead dolls present questionable fan appeal.

A couple venerable stakes races for two-year-olds – the 97th Adirondack Stakes (gr. II) for fillies and the 108th Special (gr. II) were run back to back. A life-ending injury to Charmed Hour made the former an occasion that most people would prefer to forget than remember. It cast a pall on the latter.

John Velazquez, who rode five winners and, unfortunately, the stricken filly in the previous race, summoned his fortitude to monitor Corfu through a frantic half mile plus a very stubborn finish in the Special. The Malibu Moon colt held Wired Bryan safely. Juveniles, not quite ready for primetime, competed in the sixth race. We Miss Artie from the Ken and Sarah Ramsey collection of high quality runners won a 1 1/16 miles maiden race on the Mellon Turf Course. So what else is new?

By the way, the question of which is Saratoga Springs’ finest restaurant hasn’t been answered. But the field of possible answers has grown by one. A restaurateur can’t import N. Michigan Avenue, Melrose Avenue or Manhattan cuisine and sophistication to restaurants that stay busy just six months a year, even if you’re the best of chefs. But Javier’s, created by the former maitre d’ of New York’s famed River Café – a recipient of a Michelin star – is attempting that.

After a starter of tempura veal sweetbreads or “Petrossian” caviar ($85), try the Branzino with fresh English peas or halibut with scallion rice at Javier Rodriguez’s new “Nuevo Latino” restaurant on Maple. The wait staff is a blur, moving about in the background like the cast of The West Wing and, despite the activity, the food presentation can take as long as Congress. Yet, the wait is worthwhile – so believes a young, hip local crowd, anyway. Visiting horsemen haven’t seemed to have discovered it.

Chef Brian Bowden and restaurateur Javier Rodriguez at Javier's

Jockey karaoke to benefit Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund will bring down the curtain for week four at Vapor tonight.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers.

Standard of Perfection

aspradling — Sun, 11 Aug 2013 16:57:00 GMT

by Vic Zast

A crowd of 31,894 fans pushed its way into the racecourse to see the reigning Horse of the Year.

From his humble beginnings to his strolls through the streets to the bars of the city to his amazing eight-year win streak, Richie Bomze’s “Sultan of Saratoga” - Fourstardave, became a horse of the people. On a sparkling summer day, with the grandstand nearly stuffed to capacity and the clubhouse boxes dolled up with bigwigs in town for The Jockey Club Round Table Conference, the reigning Horse of the Year ran in the $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap (gr. II). It’s now been twice that Wise Dan has won it.

Wise Dan loads in first for the Fourstardave.

It would be unfair to Kelso, Forego and Cigar to place Wise Dan in their company. The three ran more often and won more races – they had a bigger influence over a greater length of time. But given the path of consistent success that Mort Fink’s champion is traveling, he’s as close to the standard of, at least, interpretive perfection as possible. Carrying 129 pounds, he came within two ticks of the course record without feeling the stick. Wise Dan offered ample proof that it will take more than the burden of cargo or history to stop him.

As has been the custom for each visiting star, hundreds of people packed the walking ring to wish Wise Dan well before the field of seven runners paraded. John Velazquez, one of several riders who have partnered with Wise Dan in the past, had the mount for the Fourstardave. The rich get richer. That said, JR deserved every penny he earned. He waited patiently in third place until the pace up ahead softened and then gave his runner the green light. Saratoga Springs, NY resident Adam McNeill, the recipient of Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson’s free $15,000 wager, cashed his ticket for roughly 21,000 smackers and never looked back.

Only one race, the fifth, was taken off the turf and the switch in surface allowed the winner Dighton to draw in from the MTO list. A good Kentucky Derby hopeful emerged from the sixth. But it’s unclear which it is. Mosler, a colt owned by Adele B. Dilschneider, cost over $1 million at the Keeneland sales last fall. He finished fourth.

The jockeys promenading for the co-featured $100,000 Auntie Mame Stakes sported the spiffiest silks. They had the flair that you see at Sha-Tin, dazzling and original without being garish and, of course, absent of owner’s initials. William M. Backer’s Royal blue with white palm tree front and back and white half crescent moons on the sleeves were chic. But Bona Venture Stables’ gold with Kelly green and white pentagon, worn by Joe Rocco, Jr. aboard Summer of Fun, flashed under the wire first and resulted in the photograph.

Colorful day included some dazzling jockeys' silks.

The first of two evenings on which the Fasig-Tipton Company is auctioning NY-Bred yearlings ended with good financial and aesthetic results. With the racino at Aqueduct contributing generously to purses, buyers figure that now is a good time to go after them.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. Fourstardave was buried in Claire Court on the backstretch of the racecourse.

Six New Hall Members

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 10 Aug 2013 01:17:00 GMT

The best action of the day began in a cool, fan-packed room where about a dozen and a half heroes of the sport gathered to welcome six more to their circle. Calvin Borel and five horses, including Invasor - a Horse of the Year in three countries and a champion on three continents, became new members in the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

The five horses were the most horses honored in one year in nearly 60 years. Two horses – McDynamo and Tuscalee - were steeplechase stars. The other horses – Lure and Housebuster - were stars on the flat. August Belmont II and Paul Mellon were enshrined as the Hall of Fame’s first-ever Pillars of the Turf – a new category.

Borel mentioned how proud he would be if his mom and dad, both gone, were to see him on the stage, as he accepted his blue jacket. All racing fandom can recall the cold-blooded Cajun urging the game Rachel Alexandra to keep running so not to be caught in an historic 2009 Woodward Stakes (gr. I). His acceptance speech was a plain-spoken speech, reminiscent of the one Earlie Fires delivered in 2001 – a reminder that hard work can take you far provided you have friends and family that will help you. Hall of Fame trainer Carl Nafzger honored the three-time Kentucky Derby-winning rider with a short, sweet introduction.

If the jacket fits, wear it.

Calvin Borel is all smiles at Hall ceremony.

A slimmed-down Tom Durkin was smooth as silicone as master of ceremonies. Nonetheless, the program ran long. There’s no Academy Awards orchestra to prompt presenters and recipients to shorten their remarks and a lot is stuffed in the hour and half that’s allotted. Thankfully, there was no keynote speaker – a hit and miss proposition anyhow.

NYRA’s been saying that the weather had been unseasonably hot for the opening three days and that forecasts of rain by local meteorologists were dissuading attendance. Well, for the first time in the meet, the excuse was legitimate. The rains came at 3:30 AM and continued ad nauseam, first as a deluge and then as trickle. Three fingers by bartender’s standards fell on the turf course and turned it from yielding to unusable. The main track was sloppy.

Scratches decimated the program. Only five horses ran in the first and third; only six in the second, fourth, seventh, ninth and tenth. Thanks to a ground-saving ride by last summer’s Hall of Fame inductee John Velazquez, Notacatbutallama won the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame Stakes (gr. III) at 1 1/8 miles on the main dreck. He beat only four.

Borel will appear at the Racing Museum on Saturday from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM to sign posters designed by the Travers Stakes (gr. I) artist Greg Montgomery. Proceeds go to the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.

Poster that Borel will sign at Museum.

Miranda Prather of Middletown, MD had her suggested name selected for the 150th Anniversary horse sculpture that stands in the clubhouse entrance and will be awarded lunch for two and a tour of the racecourse. The name of the sculpture is SPAtacular.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He wrote The History and Art of 25 Travers, in which many of Montgomery’s posters are portrayed.

Belly Floppers, Dancers

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 09 Aug 2013 01:53:00 GMT

Thursdays have become known as Steeplechase Days. But the racetrack tried something new this Thursday that fell flat on its face.

The inaugural International Day, a promotional event aimed to replace and expand on the upbeat Irish Day, was a snoozer. Imagine belly dancers instead of cute little girls in bubbly wigs tapping in step with music to which you can clap your hands. There were nationalities other than Irish represented but they hardly had the same kind of connection to the sport or enabled people to pretend as if it was St. Patrick’s Day, a time for kicking up your heels and having fun.

Fans snapping shots of the belly dancers from Nataraja Dance Company of Clifton Park, NY.

Bagpiper Bill Munro, representing the Schenectady Pipe Band, played an American set in which "Do Your Ears Hang Low," a song heard every afternoon in the streets of Saratoga Springs from an ice cream truck.

One can applaud the authorities for attempting to establish the racecourse’s least appealing area as someplace to explore by situating the activities tent at the far north end of the grandstand. But hosting the countries of Armenia, India, Ireland, Italy, Taiwan and the Ukraine there didn’t whet the appetites of visitors for the paltry offerings that the constituents manning the booths of these countries had to offer.

Flags of countries represented in the International Day festivities tent have few people to salute them.

It was humid and overcast when the races began. Take Her Tothe Top, trained by Jack Fisher, won the $75,000 Mrs. Ogden Phipps Handicap over hurdles. Fisher’s having an excellent meet. But there was an accident that resulted that put one jockey in Saratoga Hospital for a possible concussion. Archibald Kingsley Jr. was unseated when his mount, Hunter Forward, failed to clear the third fence. Two other horses left the course before attempting the ninth fence in the 2 1/16 mile race.

Jockey Joe Rocco, Jr., who like Fisher seems to be enjoying it here, rode the winner of the second race. Once the vet scratched Point Taken, there were only four horses remaining to run in race three. Speightcity finished last, 35 lengths behind. Windswept, a bay son of Arch, won the 1 1/8 allowance optional claimer event on the dirt with Jose Lezcano aboard.

Lezcano won the sixth, named the $80,000 International Day purse, too. Fittingly, he rode Kanturk Kid, a horse named after a town in the northwest of County Cork, Ireland trained by Kathleen O’Connell. Javier Castellano, a prior seasonal Saratoga champion, was aboard the winners of the fourth, fifth and ninth.

The ninth, by the way, was another of those New York Stallion Series stakes – this one in the “Statue of Liberty Division.” Frosty Bay, a dark bay 3-year-old filly by Frost Giant, finished fastest in the $100,000 race. The skies opened up in a downpour for the eighth leaving the turf course in a yielding condition. Race caller Tom Durkin wasn’t able to call Frosty Bay home. He left the booth early for SPAC to narrate a special segment performed by guest conductor Keith Lockhart and the Philadelphia Orchestra to honor the 150th Anniversary of horse racing.

Dennis Gort of Delmar, NY earned the $100,000 top prize with his final bet of the two-day Daily Racing Form/NTRA National Handicapping Championship being held in The Carousel.

Vic Zast has attended the races in Saratoga for 49 straight summers. He’s of an Eastern European ancestry that wasn’t represented at International Day.

Price is Right

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 08 Aug 2013 01:47:00 GMT

Over 650 people in the backyard, as if in uniform, wore the same clothes to the racecourse. Saratoga’s biggest supporter, horse racing fan Ray Price of Mechanicville, NY, threw the season’s biggest party to celebrate his birthday and presented everyone there with a tee-shirt.

Ray's Sweet 16 party tee shirts worn by many of the 650 guests.

Price’s merry army of neighbors and friends arrived at 7:00 AM to set up, pushed through $1300 in wagers through the windows each race once they started, feasted on lasagna, minaste and pasta fazool and stayed ‘til the sweepers came through before nightfall. That’s a lot of handle and horse racing fans for which Price and his friends are accountable and they have done it without NYRA’s help for 16 straight Augusts.

Price posts the vets for each race on a whiteboard nailed to a tree.

At the same time Price’s caterer The Brickyard Tavern of Ballston Spa, NY, was serving up pizza and wings, Kim Klopstock’s The Lily and the Rose was catering a Planned Parenthood benefit buffet featuring grilled wild-caught shrimp with a mango salsa, creamy chicken salad, decadent French chocolate brownies and mini crème puffs at the Union Gables B&B. In the live auction portion of the program, a Bob Ewell watercolor of Rags to Riches went for almost the same amount that a Peter Max lithograph of a hot pink horse went.

The line-up for pizza and wings proves the food is good.

Both parties competed with the first day of the two-day Daily Racing Form handicapping contest, which was held in The Carousel where slightly over 200 horseplayers paid $1000 each to gain entry. It didn’t look as if the food in The Carousel was as good.

The first race was a 5 ½ furlong turf race for maiden two-year-olds. There have been fewer races with these conditions than in previous years. Peachtree Stable’s John Fort, the owner of Belly of the Whale, the colt that won the dash, must be glad that it filled. The second race was the $100,000 Claramount Stakes for NY-Breds, a furlong longer on the dirt, and the fifth race was the New York State Stallion Series Stakes, a race for the Cab Calloway Division, at a mile on the grass.

The Claramont was uneventful, featuring only four horses. The odds-on favorite Marriedtothemusic lost to the second choice Bond Vigilante. On the other hand, the Cab Callaway had a Sam the Bugler rendition of “Hidee Hidee Hidee Ho” and a resoundingly unpopular disqualification. The stewards determined that a 12-1 shot named Orino squeezed the 3-4 chalk West Hills Giant on the rail and wouldn’t have won if he didn’t.

In keeping with the competitive theme, the annual Jockeys vs. Horsemen basketball game at the Recreation Center went head-to head against the Philadelphia Orchestra’s opening night at SPAC.

The long awaited opening of Northshire Bookstore on Broadway occurred and will have its first author signing on Thursday evening featuring former Schenectady Gazette horse racing writer Mike Kane and National Museum of Racing historian Allan Carter, who collaborated on “150 Years of Racing in Saratoga: Little-Known Stories and Facts from America’s Most Historic Racing City.” The title alone is the length of the book.

Although Northshire Bookstore has no restaurant like the Northsshire Bookstore in Manchester, VT, it knows where its bread's buttered - a horse racing book section.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers.

M'ams and Sirs

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 07 Aug 2013 01:15:00 GMT

You know how it is when you board an airplane to Paris at O’Hare and you hear English being spoken on board and you feel secure that you’re among friends even though you’re off to a foreign country? And then just before landing in Paris you no longer hear English but French and you know that everything’s going to be just a little bit different than it was before for awhile?

Kentucky has come to the East’s finest racecourse. There’s a polite, gentle tone in the way people greet each other and a preponderance of “M’ams” and “Sirs” in the parlance. This week, horse talk was not about how quickly a colt ran in his latest race or the kind of pace he chased in losing. It was about the breadth of a colt’s shoulder, the eagle in its eye and the way in which it walks.

Fasig-Tipton Company has traveled north to Saratoga Springs, NY to sell yearlings for more than three-quarters of the years in which Thoroughbreds have raced here. Topped by a Dynaformer filly that sold on opening night for $1,225,000, the company’s annual Saratoga sale nearly kept pace with the two-day results posted the previous year and had a median price hike for the horses sold.

One of Saratoga's most precious traditions are the Yearling Sales.

The evening hours were crystalline on Monday and Tuesday – so clear you could feel the air squeak. There was frost on the heath – temps in the lower 50s during sleeping hours, just the way that horses like it. The big crowd that came to the Humphrey S. Finney pavilion saw the sport at its finest without watching a race.

In the category that counts most with the majority of fans on the grounds – namely food, Mazzone Hospitality has hit its full stride as the area’s best caterer. An anorexic could order from Mazzone’s delectable menu and would say, “More.” The fish tacos were to die for.

Mazzone has made horse auction catering an art.

Augie’s in nearby Ballston Spa, the popular Italian eatery where each portion meets its end in a doggy bag, burned down. It’ll be back on its feet in about the same time that it took to get a table. Pray now that nothing happens to Pasta Pane in Clifton Park, NY. Customers get 15% off the price of their pasta with the presentation of a Saratoga losing ticket from the same day they dine.

Hall of Fame rider Edgar Prado gave a vintage performance on Qushchi to win the Waya. The British-born mare by an Australian sire sprinted clear of the field in the final 1/16 mile. Backers of the Jonathan Sheppard-trained Angel Terrace believed that interference was at play in forcing Angel Terrace to check. There indeed was an inquiry.

The card featured another stakes. But the race that raised eyebrows was a maiden special weights 7-furlong sprint for two-year-olds. Todd Pletcher, surmounting a seemingly uncatchable lead in the meet’s leading trainer’s competition, sent out King Cyrus to an 11-length victory.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga for 49 straight summers. For a period of five years as a perfume industry executive, he flew 18 times a year from Chicago to Paris.