Some Saratoga History, Some Handicapping Hints

Reviews of the Whitney Stakes and Five Other Important Stakes

A Column by Steve Davidowitz
August 1, 2007

Saratoga Racetrack in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York is America's oldest racetrack.It was built in 1864 during the Civil War fought between the Union of Northern States and the Confederacy of Southern States. While the declared end to slavery was the central issue that provoked armed battle for the Northern States, the Southern mentality was to preserve their states' rights to choose policies without interference from Washington. The south even insisted that this principle of "states' rights" trumped common decency, a twisted logic that inevitably brought ruin to many southern institutions while the slaves went free anyway.

Slavery was a hot-button issue in the mid-19th century, just as lingering racism in America traces to the tensions created during that era. Yet one often overlooked aspect of the Civil War was its powerful, totally unexpected effect on Thoroughbred horse racing.

Cutting through much detail, the war between the states placed a premium on the development of very fast horses. This led entrepreneurs and sportsmen from the north and south to import dozens of very fast horses and stallions from England to fill the need.

In the waning days of the war, it became obvious that horse racing was going to be a popular diversion when things settled down. That prompted John Morrissey, a bare-knuckle boxer and Five Points gang member in his youth and a Tammany Hall sponsored Congressman from New York, to clear a tract of land in the picturesque resort town of Saratoga Springs, 35 miles north of Albany, 35 miles south of Lake George. Here he built the track that still stands as "Mecca" for the American Thoroughbred breeder, horse owner, trainer, jockey and fan.

My first day at this track at the age of 20 in August 1962 was filled with awe, just as I had felt as an 11-year-old boy venturing into Yankee Stadium, the American cathedral for professional baseball where Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio played. For a European comparison outside the horse racing world, perhaps Wimbledon's hallowed tennis lawns or the Old Course at Saint Andrews might suffice.

Saratoga's antique wooden grandstand, which has been expanded to five times its original size, has a new copper roof this year and several million dollars of added creature comforts that have spruced up the place.

Nevertheless, the charm of this historic track isn't linked to modern amenities and can only be realized though actual experience. Indeed, it is virtually impossible to duplicate the ambiance in mere words. That said, I will limit my description to a few sentences that may provide a hint or two before you, dear reader, may decide someday to come to this Sporting Mecca yourself.

When I first watched workouts from the grandstand in the early morning Saratoga sun, I could swear I saw the apparitions of Man o' War and Citation thundering down the stretch.

When I sat on one of Saratoga's numerous park benches near the sprawling, tree-lined saddling area, I met Andrew Beyer, a fellow horseplayer who became an American racing legend and my friend for life. You meet kindred souls at Saratoga. You feel the presence of this track's great history and you create new memories - today, tomorrow and every day you have the pleasure to be on these grounds.

From a sporting perspective, Saratoga offers the finest quality of racing imaginable for 36 days from July 18 through Labor Day, September 3. There will be 47 stakes races and some days will have four, five and six on a single card. More than 30 of these attractions will be graded events for nationally ranked contenders to the Breeders' Cup. Purses are pegged at a staggering $770,000 per day throughout the meet.

There will be approximately 70 races for royally bred 2-year-olds, many of whom will be involved in next season's Triple Crown chase. There will be 80 or more turf races on the track's two different turf courses and there will be races for top-flight fillies and mares, 3-year-old fillies, 3-year-old colts, male and female sprinters of all ages and long distance races for older handicap horses.

The best trainers in the country are here with deep stables of fit and ready runners and the jockey colony includes several Hall of Famers, plus several others knocking on the door to the Hall of Fame and National Racing Museum located across the street from the track. All the trainers and jockeys who come here hardly treat the trip upstate as a vacation from the fast city life of downstate New York. It's a badge of honor to win races at Saratoga.

As usual, three-time Eclipse Award winner Todd Pletcher is loaded with contenders for many important stakes and the whole racing world will be watching to see if his exciting 3-year-old filly Rags to Riches - who suffered a precautionary delay last week - will actually run in the $600,000 Alabama Stakes (G1) at 1 1/4 miles on August 18th.

In recent years, Pletcher and trainer Steve Asmussen have been dominant factors in 2-year-old maiden races, while other familiar trainers with good 2-year-olds pointing for this meet include Rick Violette, Kiaran McLaughlin, John Kimmel, Nick Zito, Stanley Hough, Gary Contessa, Barclay Tagg, Allen Jerkens and his son Jimmy Jerkens. Most of these trainers have already sent out live runners to first- or second-place finishes.

The $1 million Travers Stakes is always the centerpiece of this historic meet, but the 138th renewal on Saturday, August 25th is expected to provide a sensational showdown between Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, winner of the $500,000 Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) at Saratoga on Sunday, July 29th, and Preakness winner Curlin, who is scheduled to meet Hard Spun and Any Given Saturday in the $1 million Haskell Invitational (G1) at Monmouth Park on Sunday, August 5th.

Saratoga's racing surfaces and their tendencies at different distances:

American horseplayers are most grateful that Saratoga's main track races will be contested on a traditional dirt surface, instead of a tricky Polytrack surface like the one in play at Del Mar (see last week's Del Mar overview in the archives).

In dirt sprints, tactical speed usually is a big plus, but there are days when deep closers and rally-wide types will dominate as they did on the first two days of racing. Most often that trend will be tipped off by slower than usual clockings. Obviously, it is crucial to watch races on a daily basis at Saratoga for shifting trends that may help identify horses that ran with or against the grain of the prevailing track tendency or bias.

At nine furlongs, the Saratoga main dirt track plays well towards speed types in two-turn affairs that begin near the finish line. The same is true for turf races contested on the narrower, tighter turning inner course which measures about 7 1/2 furlongs. The outer (Mellon) turf course is slightly longer than a mile and plays towards traditional stretch runners. Yet this tendency will shift towards front runners and pace pressers when the grass thins out late in the meet.

Trainers and jockeys to watch:

Noted turf trainers Graham Motion, Billy Mott, Christophe Clement and Bobby Frankel are always capable of sending out live horses who match up well against Pletcher's best grass stars in stakes and/or allowance races.

Other trainers likely to be sending out fit runners here include Shug McGaughey, Wally Dollase, Neil Howard, Michael Matz, Carl Nafzger, Ian Wilkes, Ralph Nicks, Helen Pitts, Tim Ritchey, Jonathan Sheppard, Michael Trombetta, Tom Voss, Ronny Werner and Gary Contessa.

As hinted above, the jockey colony is quite strong, with 2006 Saratoga meet leader Edgar Prado seeking a repeat from John Velazquez who was injured last year, plus Garrett Gomez, Cornelio Velasquez, Julien Leparoux, Eibar Coa, Kent Desormeaux, Rafael Bejarano, Ramon Dominguez, J.J. Castellano, with the vastly improved Alan Garcia and steady Mike Luzzi certain to get live mounts. Kentucky Derby winner Calvin Borel - off to a good start - is also here for the meet.

Major stakes recap:

There were four graded stakes at Saratoga on Saturday, July 28th - all of which included automatic berths into different Breeders' Cup races at Monmouth on October 27th.

Diabolical scored a workmanlike stalk-n-go victory over the very fast Attila's Storm in the $260,000 A.G. Vanderbilt Handicap (G2) at 6 furlongs to earn a spot in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint.

My Typhoon, ordinarily a stone-cold miler, was a gritty pace pressing winner over longshot Argentina and favored Makderah in the $520,000 Diana Stakes (G1) for fillies and mares at nine furlongs on the turf. While she earned a berth in the 1 3/8-mile, $2 million Filly and Mare Turf, she isn't likely to run in that spot.

Ginger Punch earned a berth in the $2 million Breeders' Cup Distaff via her 6-length romp as the heavy favorite in the $250,000 Go For Wand Handicap (G1) at nine furlongs - the same distance as Lawyer Ron's track-record performance in the $810,000 Whitney Handicap (G1).

Settling nicely behind a relatively fast middle quarter-mile split, a more mature, obviously relaxed Lawyer Ron exploded in the upper stretch to soundly defeat front running Wanderin Boy, with the lightly raced Diamond Stripes checking in a credible third, with room to improve.

Lawyer Ron's race was freakishly good but not a real surprise, given that he always seemed more suited to two-turn racing (see archives for Met Mile recap on Lawyer Ron in June 1 column). The 1:46.64 clocking was so fast that it invited questions about its accuracy, but extensive checks proved it to be 100 percent correct. Thus, Lawyer Ron earned an exceptional speed figure for this race. He also earned an automatic berth into the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic.

In two other noteworthy races of the weekend, both on Sunday, July 29th, the Florida shipper In Summation eked out a hard-fought, very narrow win over Greg's Gold in the $300,000 Bing Crosby Handicap (G1) at 6 furlongs, and Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense had a useful prep race while defeating CP West in the nine furlong Jim Dandy (G2).

In the Bing Crosby, In Summation was making a positive transition from turf sprints on the east coast to the Polytrack at Del Mar, a successful turf-to-synthetic move we have seen during the first two weeks there.

For his part, Greg's Gold, on the comeback trail, emerged from the Bing Crosby as a serious threat for the $2 million Breeders' Cup Sprint after having won the Crosby two years ago.

In the Jim Dandy, Street Sense rated kindly along the inside until the top of the stretch under Calvin ('Bo-Rail') Borel and took the measure of CP West with a steady drive that probably added to Street Sense's relative conditioning for the 1 1/4-mile Travers on August 25th. The third-place finisher, Sightseeing, did look good passing both the winner and second-place finisher in the gallop out to the clubhouse turn. Further improvement is likely, but will it be enough to handle Street Sense and Curlin, Any Given Saturday and/or Hard Spun pending their respective performances in the Haskell?

Next Week: A review of the Haskell and a preview of the world-class races at Arlington Park, including the $600,000 Beverly D. (G1) for fillies and mares and the internationally popular Arlington Million (G1).

Steve Davidowitz has written two highly acclaimed books on Thoroughbred racing---Betting Thoroughbreds and The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing. He also is a regular contributor to Daily Racing Form's Simulcast Weekly and DRF Plus and his columns appear in the Bodog Racebook each week.