Pick a Pack of Six Public Pickers

Blood-Horse Staff — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 10:11:00 GMT

The Daily Racing Form’s David Grening, horse racing’s hardest working writer, wrote that Todd Pletcher, the trainer of Munnings, was disappointed when his colt drew the rail in Saturday’s 7-furlong King’s Bishop Stakes. As a result, The Saratogian’s perennial top handicapper, Bill Taylor, wants to set the record straight about the importance of post position in six and seven furlong sprints.

“There’s no doubt that it’s the worst position to start from, so hopefully he can overcome it,” Pletcher told Grening about Munnings. “What is said about the rail in these short races is just wrong,” countered Taylor. “The record over the last five seasons proves it.”

When racing seven furlongs, horses that broke from the one post finished first more often than horses from any other post. The second highest number of winners came out of the two. You could argue that most races don’t have more than eight runners, thus tilting the bias. But horses from the one and two posts have won thirty-three percent of the seven furlong races and horses breaking from one to three have won forty-six percent.

Taylor, a commodity trader in New York City, leads the pack of six public pickers in the paper. (Now say, “Pick a pack of public pickers in the paper,” six times fast.) Taylor’s finished among the leaders in the local competition among handicappers in races won and best percentage for the last 17 years.

Following a day on which he went zero for nine and his colleagues were two for 36, Taylor’s choice came in first in the second, the sixth ninth, and tenth. It wasn’t a day for great horses; that comes tomorrow. But in at least one race, any person would be proud to own any of the seven runners competing.

The fourth race, called the Funny Cide Stakes, was for horses bred in New York. Future Prospect pressed the fast pace set by R Clear Victory until there were three furlongs to go and then took the lead. Naughty New Yorker and Dr. D.F.C. made a last ditch effort but just missed catching him. Kudos to the state’s breeding program for producing this outstanding field of 3-year-olds.

In the featured Bernard Baruch Handicap, Darley’s Justenuffhumor, a dozen lengths off the leader at one point, caught Cowboy Cal in the last furlong and won by a head. The 4–year-old bay colt by Distorted Humor is six for six in 2009, two for two at Saratoga. Alan Garcia rode for Kiaran McLaughlin.

There was a “Battle of the Brews” to benefit Ronald McDonald House in the backyard. For a donation of $25, a fan could try as much as he liked of the area’s beers. Rain is forecasted for Shadwell Travers Stakes Day. The rain should wash away any remains of what was over-consumed from the premises.

D-O-N-E

rmitchell — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 11:27:00 GMT

The long held practice of keeping track of the date in flowers at the head of Union Avenue each morning was abandoned by the city of Saratoga Springs in what must have been a cost-cutting measure.

The result of this action is that no longer can one enjoy the dreamy satisfaction of knowing it’s a new day by walking past the garden toward Uncommon Grounds for a latté or pedaling a bike to Congress Park for a sip of the natural spring waters.

Some misdirected horticulturist, believing that something is better by being easier, ordered the ill-advised change. Let us hope now that Saratoga Race Course doesn’t fall prey to the same crass expediency.

Already gone are the fenceless saddling areas, the winner’s circle drawn in chalk and the grassy infield as a viewing ground. It was eery when no bell sounded on Labor Day to inform riders that it was time for work. In disagreement with the slightest evolution, Joe Palmer wrote about Saratoga long ago, “A man who would change it would stir champagne.”

It is incomprehensible that waiving the $3 entrance fee would have prompted so many people to show up for the races, but the closing day crowd numbered 28,578. If that’s all it takes to pump up the volume, why not do it always?

Families brought the kids to cavort on the inflatable rides. People, who never watched a race from a seat in the clubhouse before, found their way into the privileged sections. Betting was brisk among the hardcore. As the day worn on, handshakes blossomed and tears pooled.

Nevertheless, on the basis of pure aesthetics, the Hopeful Stakes (gr. I) wasn’t worth a farthing. Munnings, the beautiful $1.7 million yearling that breezed easily to victory earlier in the meet, broke awkwardly. Cribnote, the New York-bred colt that broke its maiden against state-breds by 13 ½ lengths, swung extra-wide on the turn and fell shy of victory. Vineyard Haven won the Hopeful, earned the jockeys’ crown for Alan Garcia, and concluded a superb meet for trainer Bobby Frankel, whose black and white diagonally-striped silks are sartorial.

As for the supporting stakes, the $81,750 Loudonville for 3-year-olds and up on the main track went first, and Tommasi, a New York-bred from the James Bond barn won. Next, the $84,000 Quick Call went to Salute the Count in a four-horse photo. The $108,900 Glens Falls Handicap (gr. II), a 1 3/8 miles turf race for fillies and mares, belonged to Hostess.

Of further note, trainer John Kimmel took his winning streak to seven straight with Premium Gold in the third. Kiaran McLaughlin clinched the training title when Cobblestone Way scooted home in the sixth.

For the first time in recent seasons, track employees didn’t begin to dismantle the track in the middle of the afternoon of the last day. Instead, it was the patrons who got a head start on the demolition. First to go were the potted ferns that hung from the Carousel restaurant’s roofline. Like guests at a wedding, the fans snatched them up as if they were centerpieces with no further purpose.

“This makes my entire season a success,” pronounced Roland “Whitey” Gerber, who lives near the Saratoga battlefield. “My wife is a big gardener. If I come home with a plant, she’s going to be happy,” he explained.

Considering that gardens are the love of many, perhaps someone should rethink the one on Union Avenue and plant the letters “d-o-n-e” in petunias.

Vic Zast Saratoga Diary : munnings

Pick a Pack of Six Public Pickers

D-O-N-E