Vic Zast Saratoga Diary : D. Wayne Lukas

The Summer Resident Takes Leave

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 05:57:00 GMT

Rachel Alexandra, the city’s most famous summer resident, slipped out of Saratoga for Monmouth Park at 4:00 am Friday before the rain and the noise started. An availability of stalls was at a premium when the meet started. There were 3500 applications for 1800 stalls .It must bother some people that trainers would use up a space without any intention of racing a horse here.

This, of course, is probably not the case with the Preakness heroine, since her presence on the Oklahoma training track each of the last four Monday mornings in preparation for Sunday’s Haskell provided the basis of more publicity. Moreover, there’s no saying that Jess Jackson’s pride and joy won’t be back in the Travers. Nevertheless, trainers that believe they deserve special treatment are a nuisance, especially in light of Saratoga’s incentive-based purse structure.

NYRA is adding as much as $8000 per extra starter in nine furlong races or longer in which there are more than eight starters. The innovative program is proving that there’s more than tradition on the minds of the racecourse’s operatives. Now if only that creativity had wings.

A relatively small number of scratches occurred on the Friday twilight card, despite that five races were moved from the turf to the slop. The exception to this rule was the featured grade II Lake George Stakes for three-year-old fillies, a race that may have suited Rachel Alexandra had she not been as accomplished. Six runners opted out, leaving only four for the 1 1/8 miles contest. Be Fair beat Mary’s Follies for the victory and Mary’s Follies beat The Best Day Ever for second.

The winner, a dark bay daughter of Exchange Rate, is trained by D. Wayne Lukas. She was the sole runner leaving grade I stakes company, having raced unsuccessfully in four straight attempts at double digit odds. Credit jockey Rajiv Maragh for pushing his adversaries wide on the first turn, taking the lead from the beginning and urging his mount to fight back gamely after losing it temporarily in the stretch. Maragh is a most under-rated rider.

Originally, the Lake George was going to be left on the turf course. But mere minutes after announcer Tom Durkin pronounced the good news, he recanted it. Every win looks the same in the record books, yet few in the crowd of 15,330 were able to see Be Fair’s coming.

There was only one greater annoyance than the rain and the track switch. That was the malfunctioning tote board. Gamblers must guess at the money bet on the three and the seven horses. .Here we are – four days in the meet and there’s enough broken down characters for a Tennessee Williams stage play.

Goat Patrol and Just Goats

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:29:00 GMT

If you’ve ever wondered how much one of those big plastic bags stuffed with empty beer cans is worth, the answer is $25.

The “goat patrol” provides a public service for NYRA, scavenging the grandstand and picnic grounds, picking up the precious metal throughout the race day and afterward. Then with the bags full of empties over their shoulder like Santa Claus, they ride their bikes down to the recycling exchange for the nickel redemption. It’s a way to make a living. Don’t knock it.

The method, in fact, seems considerably more effective, and therefore lucrative, than betting the horses. Professional handicappers at the Spa haven’t had the best of times lately. Consider these statistics for some of the touts at The Saratogian and the Saratoga Special.

Brien Bouyea, one of six men employed to make picks for the Pink Sheet, has chosen 101 winners from 311 selections, a strike rate of 32 percent. Yet, Tom Law is 73 for 314 (23 percent) and Nick Kling scores with 78 for 317 (24 percent) - very ordinary.

Over at The Power Grid of the Saratoga Special, the leader is John Panagot, who has hit with 85 out of 277 bets – only 30 percent. Pete Fornatale accounts for 23 percent, merely picking 64 winners from 277 starters.

In the defense of the prognosticators, they are making their selections way in advance of the races and selecting a horse in every race. The tote board coughs up winners at a higher rate than any single human. Selections take on significance when cash changes hands. Hunches perform better than you’d think.

For example, the “First Lady of the Steeplechase,” Peggy Steinman, accepted several trophies on behalf of her jumper, Dark Equation, for the 67th running of the $150,000 New York Turf Writer’s Cup Steeplechase Handicap (gr. I). It was only appropriate. Wearing a sleeveless tan and white checkered sundress and a string of gumball-sized pearls, the woman of the pink and green accented mansion on Fifth and East Avenues greeted her rider, clad in Kelly green and pink, as if her decorator appointed him for the winner’s circle photo.

Dose of Reality, the consensus pick, was a near-perfect certainty to lose in the seventh - a 5 ½ furlong dash on the grass. Over the course of the last two years, the horse breaking from the one post in sprints such as this has lost 65 out of 66 times, 0 for 20 in 2008. Instead, Easy Ashley took advantage of her and a last minute scratch of the favorite, Dressed to Win.

Facing several maiden 2-year-olds of special promise in the ninth, Be Smart, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, won at odds of 49-1. Needless to say, the Smarty Jones filly went unnoticed by all who are expected to know these things. Were you smart, as those who named the horse advised?

Throwing Money Around

rmitchell — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:27:00 GMT

Saratoga Racecourse isn’t the site of the world’s best Thoroughbred racing anymore – in fact, it’s far from it. Today marked the beginning of a four-day Travers Stakes push and five races, the conditions of which enabled claiming horses with price tags of $35,000 or less to run, were on the program.

Thursday and Friday will offer the same mediocre fare, although Travers day will resemble the kind of across-the-board quality that Saratoga used to be famous for. Some purists contend that lumping three noteworthy stakes on Saturday’s card for television purposes is being acquiescent to crass cupidity.

These fans would have preferred to be treated to the King’s Bishop (gr. I) or the Ballston Spa (gr. II) instead of the Bennington or the Albany on Wednesday. Nevertheless, there were festival qualities to the afternoon that made up for the fall-off. Weather-wise, skies were blue and humidity non-existent.

There was mild curiosity in the two maiden special weights races and in a second-level allowances skirmish. The turf-handy Relatively Ready, a horse that is missing one eye, zoomed by the favored Umbra to light up the tote board in the second.

In the third, Pretty Carina had a clear lead with less than a furlong to go before swerving starboard. That move allowed Awesome I Am to win a seven furlong sprint.

The Phipps Stable’s Consequence showed an impressive turn of foot in the fifth. Trainer Shug McGaughey rarely sends a runner out that breaks her maiden without any experience, so peg this one as unusual.

In the two stakes, Godolphin’s Zada Belle, at 3-5, won the $80,000 Bennington. Tin Cup Chalice, the undefeated (eight for eight) gelding from Finger Lakes, won the $150,000 Albany.

In capturing the Albany, Tin Cup Chalice picked up a check for $250,000 extra. Despite running so slowly that he made clockers drowsy, the 3-year-old New York-bred became the first of four horses in the last 10 years to win the final leg of the Big Apple Triple after winning the first two.

After the races, one of the season’s most-anticipated parties took place at the City Center. The Belmont Child Care Association’s Western Round-up proved that informality has gained traction. There were over 400 A-list guests in attendance, spurred on by the casual dress requirement.

At $15,000 for a business-class trip to the Japan Cup, Tommy Roberts of Miami, Florida topped all bidders in the Round-up’s live auction. Susan Moore of Far Hills, New Jersey quit her bidding on a Gator at $9500. It sold to Robby Albarado for $12,000. Later, Moore bought $200 in raffle tickets and auctioneer D. Wayne Lukas pulled her lucky number for a 2008 EZ-GO Sport 2x2 vehicle.

Tomorrow night, the Travers Ball stands in contrast.

Bull and More Bull

Blood-Horse Staff — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 11:11:00 GMT

Stella Thayer didn’t make it to the post-race dancefest at Siro’s beer tent. She probably had to rush home to squeeze into her blue jeans for the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame’s “Ride the (mechanical) Bull” party.

Nevertheless, the gathering at Siro’s was wall-to-wall. The three-day fly-mating season was over, and the cigar smoke was keeping whatever bugs were left off the premises. An eclectic collection of rock ‘n rollers were there to boogie to The Accents, eat pizza and clams, and toast the conclusion of a sensational afternoon of racing at the racecourse next door.

It may have been the first Saturday in nearly a century that a significant stakes didn’t grace the program. But 31,497 fans jammed the track’s hallowed grounds to bet a whopping $5.2 million. There were no give-aways. Top jocks Velasquez, Desormeaux and Albarado left town for the Arlington Million. Despite hand-rolled cigars and barbershop quartets, most people didn’t even realize it was “Tradition Turns 140” day. That’s how far pure competition in a unique setting can take the sport.

Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas, with two showy winners on the day, started things off with a bang in the second. Eibar Coa, aboard Flying Pirate, looked to be caught at the eighth pole, yet the jock wouldn’t give up on the 2-year-old son of Fusaichi Pegasus third-time starter until he broke his maiden.

In the fourth race – the $102,500 James Marvin Stakes, Ramon Dominguez followed suit with Eternal Star. The 4-year-old chestnut with a penchant for winning posted a time of 1:08.79. Good away from New York, but only so-so at Aqueduct, he was mighty good at Saratoga.

Dr. D.F.C. rewarded trainer Rodrigo Ubillo and jockey Aldo Arboleda, two men who seldom get their photos in the winner’s circle taken, with a nifty photo for winning the $102,500 Solomon Northrop Stakes for New York-breds. Ariege captured the $102,500 Madame Jumel Stakes for 3-year-old fillies. Mr. Sidney, a $3.9 million Storm Cat 4-year-old colt, broke his maiden for Bill Mott in the nightcap.

Then there was the front-running score by favored Fairbanks in the $111,750 Duke of Magenta Stakes. Richie Migliore hasn’t found many mounts at the Spa since moving his tack here from California. Yet, the way he rode the Giant Causeway horse for Team Valor and trainer Todd Pletcher suggests more rides in store for him.

To NYRA’s credit, the four scheduled turf races were left on the turf, despite the storm on Friday. This decision kept large fields intact and gave handicappers a lot of choices to wager on.

On Thursday, the new head of the state’s Racing and Wagering Board took an unfair shot at NYRA for neglecting the fans. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. This was more bull than anyone could ride