Vic Zast Saratoga Diary : John Velazquez

New York, New York

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 12:24:00 GMT

One of the meet’s best innovations has been having jockeys sign autographs and pose for photos on Thursday mornings at breakfast on the Clubhouse Porch. Considering the good that the program serves all people involved, you would hope that NYRA could figure out how to get it in an extra day or two a week.

“We’ll do even better when more people learn about it,” said Stephen Travers, Vice President and Director of Hospitality and Guest Services. Pointing to the people waiting their opportunity to meet Julien Leparoux and John R. Velazquez, Travers said, “They’re as excited as the people in line for an autograph in the afternoon.”

Jockeys John R. Velazquez and Julien Leparoux signing autographs at breakfast.

A jockey is a celebrity in these parts. Edgar Prado, Javier Castellano and Irad Ortiz, Jr. participated in the new breakfast program earlier this meet. Velazquez is legendary for engaging the public. Wait until Friday morning when the Museum of Racing inducts him into the Hall of Fame. The walls of Fasig-Tipton’s Humphrey S. Finney pavilion will come down in a torrent of applause.

On Monday evening, Velazquez and a dozen jockeys will perform karaoke at the Vapor Night Club to raise money for the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund. If journeyman jockey Dean Mernagh comes to lend his support, as he has in the previous two years, guests will hear a rendition of “New York, New York” that’s the equal of Sinatra’s.

New York, New York is a recurring theme. The Fasig-Tipton barns are filling up with New York-bred yearlings for the upcoming auction. “We’ve got 18 to sell,” said Craig Bandoroff of Denali Stud, whose outfit sold the second highest priced horse at the first night of the recently-concluded Selected Sale.

Another New York Stallion Series stakes, called the Statue of Liberty, was run. A lot of horseplayers expected that I Bet Toni Knows, a 3-year-old bay filly by Sunriver that had won three of her six career starts, would win. But she reared in the gate and hurt herself and became a last second scratch. My Jopia gave jockey Ramon Dominguez his fourth winner on the card in a four-horse photo.

The irrepressible Wilmer Garcia struck again with a longshot. Somebody had better start taking him seriously and begin to give him good horses to ride. The bug boy piloted the 29-1 shot Warrior Up to victory in the 10th race. With a $40 wager on Warrior Up, Emad Himaya of Lindenhurst, NY jumped into the lead and captured the $100,000 grand prize in the “Battle of Saratoga” handicapping contest─lots of moolah for picking horses.

New York was passed over as a host for the 2013 Breeders’ Cup World Championships. But it’s only a matter of time before New York Racing Association stops giving the selection committee excuses for not placing the event at Belmont Park.

Horsemen have made 106 claims during the meet. The casino revenue-enhanced purses are driving the frenzy.

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

Time and Hope

aspradling — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 12:34:00 GMT

The media took about a nanosecond to realize that both trainer Roger Attfield and jockey John Velazquez, who teamed up to win Monday’s feature race with Kissable, were about to enter the Hall of Fame on Friday. Attfield sent Kissable down from Woodbine for the 1 ½-mile, $100,000 Richmor Aviation Waya Stakes. He proved to be more than a man with a mission by hiring a rider who was rolling along at a 25% winning clip.

Eighteen-year-old Dylan Davis, the son of former New York circuit jockey Robbie Davis, took a bit longer than a nanosecond on Monday to ride in his first professional horse race. As a matter of fact, the recent Saratoga Springs High School graduate waited three races─two in which his mounts scratched and the other in which he didn’t have a mount─before getting the leg up on Black Rhino from trainer Wesley Ward.

Dylan Davis being congratulated for first ride prior to finishing fourth.
Photo by Vic Zast

Hope, the virtue on which horse racing is based, laced the walking ring as Davis entered it. But the boy rode like a man in need of a race. Black Rhino finished fourth. By the way, how good was it of Ward to entrust Davis with a horse with a 5-2 chance? Time passed quickly for most fans as the Saratoga card unfolded with even more excitement following that.

Over the Counter nipped Laguna Girl by a nose and Laguna Girl nipped My Kinda Party by 1 1/4 lengths in the fifth. In the sixth, four horses ran four across for the last 200 yards until two horses separated themselves by a neck from the two others. Just for Today, ridden by Joel Rosario, took a pose for the winner’s circle photo. In the seventh race, Lucci the Lion held off Maintainer in a nail-biter. Maintainer is by a sire─Wildcat Heir─that wins at a rate of 21% with 2-year-old first-time starters.

The first evening of the two-night Fasig-Tipton Selected Yearling sale drew gasps, but not as many as the auctioneers expected. More cocktails than yearlings were sold. Revenues were off about 20%. President and CEO of Fasig-Tipton Boyd Browning said sales would go better on the second night. They bounced back so high that the two sessions combined became nearly a match for last summer’s auction.

The sales for many people are another occasion to party in Saratoga.
Photo by Vic Zast

The Tuesday morning Saratogian reported that the racetrack is down in attendance. A few promotions planned for the week ought to remedy that, but don’t count on it. The citadel of New York horse racing needs an overhaul, a shorter season and trustworthy management.

Mariano Rivera, the New York Yankee relief pitcher, is visiting on Friday. Some sort of picnic mat will serve as a giveaway on Sunday.
The pink and white striped party tent went up next to the swimming pool in Peggy Steinman’s backyard. “Ted” continues its run at the Malta Drive-In.

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

Bourbon, Hold the Water

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:00:00 GMT

Rain entered the picture early. By 7 a.m. Thursday, it was teeming. Then it stopped and stayed dry for the rest of the day, although a few miles away there were downpours. The weekend forecast is spotty, calling for thunderstorms daily. One person, at least─Biz Zast of New York City, who’s being married on Saturday evening─would prefer that night starlit. Hers is an outdoors wedding. The ceremony will take place at the Fasig- Tipton auction grounds.

In recent years, Fasig-Tipton has invested millions to upgrade its grounds and the Humphrey S. Finney Sales Pavilion. The company was purchased by the Dubai-based company Synergy Investments Ltd. in 2008. Since then, Fasig-Tipton Saratoga has blossomed into a venue that old-timers can hardly recognize, nevertheless they still venerate.

Fasig-Tipton auction grounds, recently provided with a facelift, still creating memories.

Those with gray hair can recall the quaint Spuyten Duyvil, an August-only watering hole owned by a Harlem chorus line girl. The bar is gone but once sat in a corner of the barn area off George Street, where horsemen would gather for a few days each summer to swap lies, swat mosquitoes and drink bourbon. You can still buy a drink. But it’s more likely you’ll leave with a Thoroughbred.

A colt by Seeking the Gold that was bought at the two-day 2010 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Sale for $75,000 named Manly was morning-line favorite in the $100,000 Quick Call. He finished sixth. This means that if a son or a daughter of his sire is led into the ring on Aug. 6 or 7, the auctioneer won’t reference the race. Artest, by Hard Spun, won the stakes and, therefore, Hard Spun’s sons and daughters will benefit promotionally from the race.

Rosie Napravnik, who was carried off the track after falling from a mount on the Wednesday race card, seemed okay as she placed with St. John’s River in the second. But she went zero for three with her horses. On the other hand, John R. Velazquez rode Artest and was one for one. Three of the nine trainers to saddle Quick Call runners were women and horses trained by two of the women finished first and second. Michelle Nihei was last seen at the Saratoga Springs library as a guest of area businessman Elliott Masie for the Tom Durkin program on Monday, and then there she was in the winner’s circle as the winning trainer for Dennis Narlinger .

The jumpers returned in the first race. Demonstrative, at 15-1, led a field home in the $75,000 Jonathan Kiser Novice Stakes. Mrs. George L. Ohrstrom, Jr.’s 5-year-old gelding teamed with Sea Island at 15-1 to account for a $378.50 Daily Double and, for whatever it’s worth, set a track record of 3:42.65 for “about” 2 1/16 miles. How does combining the words “about” and “track record” in the same sentence make sense?

Vic Zast is the author of The History and Art of 25 Travers. He has attended the races at Saratoga for 47 straight summers.

Changing Colors

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:31:00 GMT

The focus of attention at Saratoga was not on the racetrack but in a room at the City Center. CEO Charlie Hayward and Turnberry Consulting’s Paul Roberts, who was hired in 2008 to help NYRA envision the future, laid out several ideas before the public about how capital improvement money could be spent once it’s generated from Aqueduct casino proceeds.

From Roberts’ lips to God’s ears; he is an engaging chap who knows of what he speaks. More importantly, what he spoke about seemed just what the track needs. Nevertheless, while his presentation dwelt on major themes and big ideas, the audience seemed interested in more immediate concerns.

By this time next year, Hayward expects to present to the NYRA Board a plan that may include a permanent air-conditioned hospitality structure to replace the At the Rail tent, a backyard expansion that involves moving the Lincoln Avenue entrance and a three-tiered building at the top of the stretch where fans can buy meals for $15. The most exciting ideas, however, are renovations.

One calls for a paddock redesign that places the racing offices and jockeys quarters at the rear of the walking ring and provides for stadium viewing opportunities at the north end. The other would redefine the historic saddling shed, now partly devoted to offices, into two long bays of betting windows divided by a champagne bar.

Among the complaints heard were that the new tote boards blocked the view of the backstretch, that the paddock and saddling enclosures didn’t allow fans to see the horses and that the television monitors and public address system were inadequate. There were requests, which were quickly dismissed, that the infield be opened.

Short fields are beginning to plague the waning days of racing. Dark Thunder, a four-year-old gelding that’s come to hand for trainer Todd Pletcher with four consecutive victories, beat only three other horses in the $75,000 Island Whirl Stakes. Harbor Mist emerged the winner among five betting interests in the $75,000 Anne M. Clare Stakes.

By winning on Sweet Cat in the eleventh and final race, John Velazquez moved ahead of Angel Cordero, Jr. into second place among jockeys with victories at Saratoga. A trainer who was also the jockey rode his horse to victory in the steeplechase. The seventh race illustrated the extent to which commercialism has its influence. It was named the River 99.5 FM Valvoline Instant Oil Change.

Angel Cordero, Jr. and John Velazquez - NYRA/Adam Coglianese Photo

Two of the three fans selected to make a $1000 win wager, Eddie Pannell of Little Rock, AR and Staci Pierson of Portland, MI, won $1800 each on their bets. It was Veteran’s Day. If you peer through binoculars, you can see the changing colors of the leaves on the trees in the backstretch.

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

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He’s attended the races in Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

Thrillers

aspradling — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 12:27:00 GMT

Life returned to the racecourse on a day NYRA hung a skeleton in the grandstand and parked a hearse out in front. The Abby Todd Dancers of Albany, NY performed “Thriller” between races. Their dance began with a pile of humans pretending they were dead. Children wore costumes as if it was Halloween. It was pretend Halloween. Aren’t they all?

Five days of racing remain for the Spa course this summer. Wednesday began a good run. Multiple stakes races are pegged for each card from here on. Two went into the record books today. They were minor, unless you won them.

Caption: NYRA stewards (or Halloween costume placing judges) at work.
Photo: Vic Zast

Only five horses ran in the $75,000 Lady Tak Stakes. Trainer Chad Brown – that man again – saddled Kid Kate to victory. Eddie Castro was aboard for his first of three winners. Castro rode Count Catamount, the winner of the sixth race, and Alaura Michele, the winner of the eighth. The eighth was the $75,000 P.G. Johnson Stakes, meaning Castro was aboard two stakes winners Wednesday.

By the way, don’t think that the jockey race is between John Velazquez and Javier Castellano only. By taking the day’s final race aboard Howie and the Cat, Castellano is now tied with Velazquez at 46 winners apiece. But Ramon Dominguez is only seven winners back.

Dominguez urged Hammock to better Scorper by a neck in the first race. The two horses ran dead even for the last half of the one-mile grass event. Dominguez then sat aboard Risky Rachel as she overwhelmed her competition by over 10 lengths in the ninth. Velazquez finished second three times.

Velazquez seemed to have his best opportunity to win in the seventh race. He was aboard the 2-5 favorite Mr. Style. Officer Prado ridden by Corey Nakatani engaged Mr. Style early and outlasted him to the wire. Losing in his lone start to J P’s Gusto - a record-breaking colt that’s going to be the gr. 1 Hopeful Stakes favorite - convinced the public that Velazquez’s mount was destined to win. He didn’t.

An officer not named Prado arrested Kent Desormeaux for trying to hit a NYRA security guard with his car. The Hall of Fame jockey is to appear in City Court to face a misdemeanor charge Thursday morning. Thursday afternoon’s main charge is the gr. 2, $150,000, 1-1/16 miles With Anticipation Stakes on the Mellon turf course.

Three lucky patrons will have their names drawn in a sweepstakes and be given a $1000 win wager. Veterans of our Armed Forces will be admitted free. Havre de Grace is in the house.

Pat Hammond of Ocala, FL, heading home today, used Tuesday to visit Old Friends at Cabin Creek. She saw Crusader Sword, 27, the last living son of Damascus, and said, “He looks ready to be put back in training.”

Caption: Two dozen Michael Jacksons perform Thriller.
Photo: Vic Zast

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He’s attended the races in Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

Limbo

aspradling — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 12:42:00 GMT

The racing on Monday felt strange in several ways. First off, the main track was fast – this after Irene had toppled oaks on Broadway, flooded the Hudson and caused power outages the day before. Then, of course, the isolation of a single day of action between two dark days left visitors in limbo. It was hell on Sunday, heaven on Monday and a return to the real life on Tuesday.

John Velazquez maintained his one-victory lead in the jockey’s race over Javier Castellano. Velazquez is only two behind his agent Angel Cordero, Jr. in lifetime victories at the Spa. During the last couple years of the 20th century and the first few years of this millennium, Jerry Bailey was so successful that he overtook Cordero, relegating the “King of Saratoga” to “King of Saratoga Emeritus” status.

Velazquez put on a good display of Cordero tactics in the seventh race, the $75,000 Saratoga Dew Stakes. Aboard the leader Banker’s Buy, he seized the rail from David Cohen, who was trying to squeeze Mineralogist through on the inside, by moving left with his mount and eliminating the gap. Nevertheless, Cohen realized quickly what was happening to him, drew Mineralogist out through a narrow seam and passed Banker’s Buy under the wire.

Mineralogist, owned by Chester and Mary Broman, Sr., hadn’t visited the winner’s circle since October 2009. The fine New York-bred filly by Mineshaft disappeared from the track throughout 2010. She had four starts this year before winning on Monday, none noteworthy. But trainer John Kimmel continued to place her in tough races and this wasn’t lost on astute horseplayers.

The fifth race, a maiden $35,000 claiming six-furlong sprint won by For Her Eyes Only, was scheduled to run at 3:14 pm but went off instead at 3:21. Three outriders chased Burnin’ Ash around the entire perimeter of the racetrack after she dumped her rider before the start. The runaway filly hit her quickest stride in front of the grandstand when the second outrider approached her. Flavor Girl unseated her rider, too, prompting the horse in the gate next to her to be scratched. It was a mess.

Eleven races including two stakes and an interesting two-year-old maiden race are on tap for Wednesday afternoon. Children are being encouraged by Hannaford Supermarkets to celebrate Halloween early by dressing in costume for the races. Hunch players old enough to remember when tricks were played on people who didn’t treat will bet Hooligan’s Delight in the sixth.

Despite the cancelled Sunday and fewer than 8000 fans on Monday, NYRA has reported that business is marginally up for the meet. No plans to replace the lost day are forthcoming. People who purchased reserved seats for 40 days of horse racing want to know how they will be reimbursed for the day they didn’t get.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He’s attended the races at Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

These Boots Are Made for Winning

Blood-Horse Staff — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 11:00:00 GMT

There were a few somber moments at the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund’s karaoke fundraiser when Jockey Guild president John Velazquez, riders Edgar Prado and Dean Mernagh and honoree Jeremy Edge, the “Walking Brit” who raised $30,000 for charity by walking from Belmont to Saratoga, paused the madness to remind the several hundred people in attendance of how quickly an athlete’s life can change when an accident occurs while riding a horse.

Microphone trophies distributed to 21 jockey contestants in the karaoke competition.

Otherwise, the late-into-the-early-morning-hours evening was the smiley-est event of the Saratoga social season so far. The Belmont Child Care Association’s party is tonight and the Travers Celebration takes flight on Thursday evening. Yet, neither event will have Tom Durkin spitting out pithy zingers as emcee or media celebrities casting scores and opinions a la Simon Cowell (“It’s really hard to sing that song while chewing gum”) or, most notably, the fun.

Jockey karaoke contestants take to the stage for a curtain call.

The Vapor Night Club, where the karaoke contest was held, is normally a boîte de nuit for self-conscious lotharios and cougars, faux swanky in its curves and blue neon. Yet, the jockeys appeared capriciously on stage in a do-rag (Mike Luzzi singing “Born to Be Wild”); tube top, jeggings and blonde wig (Maylan Studart doing “You’re the One That I Love”) and dreadlocks (Rajiv Maragh and Alan Garcia groaning mercilessly through Neil Diamond’s “Red Red Wine”). Mernagh’s spirited finale of “New York, New York” brought the house up – in other words, a standing ovation resulted.

Nancy LaSala, the PDJF president whose husband Jerry, a professional jockey for nearly 30 years that has miraculously escaped the plight she’s been trying to mitigate, commanded a flight of worker bees. Hall of Fame jockeys Jerry Bailey and Jose Santos, Jr. and trainers Chad Brown, David Donk and Tom Voss were spotted in the audience. One audience participant, in particular, had 45,000 reasons besides the occasion to celebrate.

Barry K. Schwartz, the former chairman of NYRA, saw his New York homebred filly Lovely Lil win the $75,000 Union Avenue Stakes a few hours earlier. Speaking of dressing the part, Sheryl Schwartz, the owner’s wife, wore two-inch platform, brown leather lace-up boots with spiked heels to the paddock and winner’s circle that were killer. Unlike the jockeys who looked like singers but couldn’t sing, Schwartz has the gams to flatter such boots and could walk gracefully in them.

Behind every great woman there stands a great man. Barry Schwartz in gray trousers and bespoke black shoes.

Last Saturday, wearing canary yellow diamond earrings, Schwartz entertained Calvin Klein’s Francisco Costa at the races in a vivid coral shift that Costa designed. The weekend before, she treated Kevin Dillon and Kevin Connolly of HBO’s “Entourage” to feast their eyes on her in another breathtaking outfit. Recently, Women’s Wear Daily described Schwartz as a doyenne. She’s not. She’s a rocket ship.

Saratoga’s construction boom just won’t go away. A new gazebo, blocking the paddock view for some Shake Shack customers, has been erected. Who uses the private playhouse? “If you lay enough money down, you can get it,” claimed a smoky-voiced woman named Liz, taking a cigarette break from her handicapping. There are two more gazebos to be built, it’s been said.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He’s attended the races at Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

Pink Ladies

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 11:15:00 GMT

That gauzy film that prevents you from seeing the horses in detail on postcards of Saratoga in the morning was the first sight that early risers had on Friday. On days like this, for some unexplained reason, the streets seem quieter than normal, as if the thick air is acting like a sponge. 7:00 am came and passed without the cars roaring down Fifth Avenue, the rap from their radios booming. The reverie didn’t last very long.

If this was yesteryear, there’d be no racing to write about. Saratoga’s completed the traditional 24 days of exclusive sport that was guaranteed 50 years ago. The next several weeks are a bonus. Canadian Frank Stronach, a free market stalwart, might consider the Harriman Law unconstitutional, but it’s a bill that raised the city out of certain disappearance.

It was Fabulous Fillies Day, a day that by 20 or so hours presaged what will be an excellent Alabama Stakes. Except Friday’s “fabulous fillies” were women who gathered to wear pretty hats and learn about issues that mattered to them. Money was raised for Breast Cancer research. The color pink splattered everywhere. A pink flag flew in the infield. The saddle cloths were pink. Pink lipstick soiled many white collars.

Here's to the ladies who lunch - at the Sizzling Hot Pink Hat Luncheon.

In contrast to the sedate female behavior, Gregg “Free Beer” Daniels and Chris “Hot Wings” Michaels, two guys with a penchant for potty humor, broadcasted live from the Dunkin’ Donuts stand. Three hundred fans of the syndicated morning radio show descended upon the premises as early as 5:30 am. Three flirtatious “Q-tease” from station Q-103 FM, dressed in black and wearing piercings, hung around the periphery. The crowd roared when the band Sick Puppies was mentioned.

Fans of the Free Beer and Hot Wings morning radio show find listening to the banter better than looking at Q-103 FM's Q-Tease.

“Watch the teeth, man. Watch the teeth,” shouted onlooker Mitch Allen of Broadalbin, NY as a cast member named “Producer Joe” coaxed a horse to chew hay from his shirt as the morning’s last bit. “I listen to these guys every morning. I’ve never been to the track, so my wife and I called in,” explained the truant fan. “We’re headed to the casino as soon as this is over and back for the races later on,” Allen happily admitted.

Horseplayers with more knowledge about horses than Producer Joe have been losing their shirts at the windows all summer. Those who bet on the favorites yesterday, on the other hand, made money. The average win payoff for the first eight of 10 races was just over $8.50.

John Velazquez rode the winners of the opening four races, and then went cold as a mackerel. In the process, he brought hundreds of lemmings down hook, line and sinker.

Vic Zast is the author of “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He’s attended the races in Saratoga for 48 straight summers.

Big Zucchini

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 11:00:00 GMT

Horse trailers the size of the noisy semis that ruin small talk in the sidewalk cafes of Broadway are beginning to appear on the backstretch. From up high in the grandstand, you can watch them come and go with a good pair of 7 x 50s. Except for the impression left by the guy driving – a wiry dude in a wife-beater and ball cap and a Marlboro hung from his lip, the massive 10-wheelers look like toys, the kind that you add to the train set you place under the blue spruce at Christmas time.

It must be hard leaving Saratoga for those who reside in New York the rest of the year. Horse racing’s on the front page of the newspaper here. The thoroughbreds enjoy being close to nature, breathing in the cool air and eating real clover under tall shady trees. The help, despite sleeping in wretched backstretch residences, are treated by Marylou Whitney and John Hendrickson to a movie or a meal or something fun every evening.

It’s the jockeys who must regret the leave-taking most. In Saratoga Springs, a jockey’s a star. He walks tall through the crowds, signing autographs. People recognize him in restaurants, shout his name in the streets and ask to shake his hand or pose for a photo.

John R. Velazaquez began the day one up on Javier Castellano in the jockey standings. At the end of day, they were even. Castellano was booked on two mounts more than Velazquez; he rode in eight of the 10 races. An example of how well Velazquez has ridden came halfway through the program. He guided Peat Boy to a wire-to-wire 1-1/4 length triumph in the fifth

In the featured P.G. Johnson Stakes for turf-favoring two-year-old fillies, Castellano rated Kinsman Stable’s Fancy Point on the lead down the backstretch, showed patience as Pleine Forme came close as the horses came out of the turn and then stepped things up again to leave the field wanting. Castellano added another victory aboard Slick Wheelie in the tenth race.

Sheikh Mohammed’s Regal Ransom was favored to beat Cool Coal Man in the fourth. It was a 1-1/8 mile optional claiming race on the main track that turned out to be just what he needed. Kantharos, considered to be the nation’s leading juvenile colt, broke a bone in his leg on Monday and was retired. He’ll be okay eventually, although owner Jess Jackson, still smarting from Rachel Alexandra’s loss, must be thinking he’s snake-bitten.

In nearby Newburgh, NY, some townsfolk conspired to bake a seven-foot, 130-pound cannoli. This Saturday, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market will hold a contest for the biggest and heaviest zucchini. Your zucchini and you must be in attendance at noon to claim the prize.

Vic Zast is the author of the award-winning book, “The History and Art of 25 Travers.” He has attended at least one day of racing each summer for the last 47 years.

God On His Side

Blood-Horse Staff — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:00:00 GMT

How about a Saratoga suggestion box? It should be easy to implement because NYRA has a Web site for everything. Then the people in Sections H of the clubhouse could ask the authorities to relocate the garbage bins from under the simulcast television sets to a hideaway where the flies and the odor aren’t a nuisance.

Stan Marcinkowski of Glendale, Queens wants a policy that would result in a better seat when he buys a grandstand reserved ticket. His seat was in the back of a near vacant section in which hundreds of empty places were laid out in front of him. Season ticket holders should have a method to “re-gift” unused seats, like the neighborhood on Seinfeld re-gifted their Christmas presents.

Donna Ayer of Boston, MA suggested, “I’d like a picnic table reserved with my name on it, so we don’t have to stand on line at 6:00 am.” Last weekend was the eighth year in a row that Ayer and her girlfriends have come to Saratoga on what she believes to be “the third weekend of racing.” Guess there are plenty of folks who believe the track is still the “August Place to Be.” The Spa course is in its fifth week of racing.

At the end of last week, the scent of the bitter conclusion to the meet was becoming noticeable. But, on Wednesday, the scent that holders of place tickets on Drumette in the sixth could detect was the scent of larceny. The stewards refused to move the maiden filly from third to second although she was mugged like a tourist. Orangeblackandgold was the perp. Silent Joy was the winner.

John R. Velazquez must have had God on his side in the following race, the St. Mary’s Hospital Association purse. Eugene Melnyk’s Moon Town was the rage. But the heavily-bet son of Speightstown ran out of the money as Pleasant Strike rolled home a winner because the jockey saw a hole on the rail open up.

Mother Miriam and Sister Mary Elizabeth of the Anglican/Episcopal order that operates the Queen’s NY hospital for children didn’t pose in the winner’s circle with Velazquez, trainer Todd Pletcher, Charlie Hayward, all the jockeys that rode in the race and the winner’s connections. Yet, the nuns were there trackside having lunch, wearing habits and greeting fans with “Good Luck!”

At 11:00 am in the walking ring, Saratoga hosted about 200 members of the press, friends and representatives of the 11 Travers Stakes runners to a draw of post positions for Saturday’s Midsummer Derby. Trainers John Kimmel, Kiaran McLaughlin and Pletcher all said that almost any horse could win – that’s how close this renewal, the 141st, is predicted to be. The program’s emcee Tom Durkin predicted correctly that no turf writer would use as his lead that Mary Todd Lincoln attended the first Travers. Yet, his note is a good point to end with.

Vic Zast is a veteran of 47 Saratoga summers. He is the former president of Finger Lakes and Turfway Park racetracks.

Striking the Right Note

Blood-Horse Staff — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 12:15:00 GMT

Back when Saratoga raced 24 days, each of its four weekend Saturdays was marked by a Grade 1 stakes race. Sundays were dark days. The Whitney came first, then the Alabama, followed by the Travers and, ultimately, the Hopeful. For many horse racing fans, the Alabama Stakes was as meaningful as the Midsummer Derby.

What was great about this Alabama was that no filly ducked other fillies that had a claim to being the best of the generation. Blind Luck made the trans-continental trip to New York from her base in California and proved that she alone, until Devil May Care has another chance at her, is tops among the female sophomores. How long have people wanted Zenyatta to prove her superiority, and vice versa for Rachel Alexandra?

Devil May Care’s downfall shouldn’t be taken as anything to be ashamed of. But her defeat did deny jockey John R. Velazquez from riding a half dozen winners. With Saratoga’s jockey colony depleted of several accomplished riders that headed west to Chicago for the Arlington Million Day, Velazquez strung four winners back-to-back in races two through five and piloted a fifth, Dogwood Stable’s front-running Zapster, to triumph in the ninth.

There has been a distinct speed bias to the turf courses for several days because Saratoga hasn’t seen rain in awhile. That will change Sunday for two reasons: a downpour causing power outages hit at 4:23 am and the premium for patrons with paid admission is an umbrella. This is how synchronicity works.

Scratched from Thursday’s West Point Stakes, Flying Zee Stable’s Writingonthewall, a five-year-old gelding, led wire to wire in the first race and had the stamina to hold on despite racing only seven days earlier. In the wake of his dusty kickback, neither Pretty Boy Freud nor Good Prospect, the favorite, could catch him.

Velazquez began his streak aboard Edward P. Evans’s Curlinello, a rangy, long-striding son of Smart Strike. Saturday’s second race was the two-year-old’s first outing and he ran like a colt in search of experience. As his races get longer, he should relish his virtue of patience. Curlinello took his time to get in gear. But when he did, he lumbered up on the outside to catch Joe Vann. He and Joe Vann, the second horse, are trained by Todd Pletcher and created the $36 exacta.

In the eighth race, J.B.’s Thunder, owned by Columbine Stable, was a nifty winner for Al Stall, Jr. Rider Shaun Bridgmohan had difficulty keeping his mount’s enthusiasm in check as J.B.’s Thunder broke out of the post parade and went sightseeing on the backstretch while his opponents kept walking.

A good portion of the large crowd of 30,852 devoted its attention between races looking at the simulcast television sets. Those focused on Arlington Park saw the Arlington Million go to Debussy. In the evening, the Philadelphia Orchestra ended its summer residency at SPAC with Tchaikovsky.

Vic Zast has attended the races at Saratoga at least one day each summer for 47 years. He writes a column for HorseRaceInsider.com that appears online each Monday.