Racing Selections 071913 Friday The fine tradition at Saratoga, New York & its famed courses celebrates its 150th anniversary- I saw some very great races at Saratoga particularly the Travers Stakes of Secretariat’s mini-me duplicate General Assembly, and the downpour scramble of Holding Pattern & Little Current and the classic filly Chris Evert- the sky became so dark in that 1974 Travers that my companion that day the Baroness de Tzavildavet needed “salts” to revive her- so great was the deluge and the excitement of the race being run in a downpour which would have frightened Noah from his Ark- all the greats have raced at Saratoga (pretty much) and the cream of the connections to the champions et al. have made a trip to Saratoga at least as mandatory as if one were walking 10,000 miles to kiss the black stone- Enough of that- it is past time to look over the opening day program and kick back and enjoy one of the great pleasures available in this incarnation- summer at Saratoga- Race 1- 16 entries for the opener are a quick reminder that making a living gambling at Saratoga “graveyard of favorites” is akin to replacing light bulbs on the Golden Gate Bridge- be careful or you’ll fall into the icy bay- anywhoses- I’ll take a chance with Agustin Stables rail hoss I’ll Call- a bloke by top notch Smart Strike- gelded with a mind settled seemingly on trying hard- his forbearers- ff 11-g thru New Zealand star mare Port Royal, has a hint of “turf” about it- the family arrived in the Island nation around 1870- and further back in the pedigree pages we find TV Lark, a fine progenitor of “grassy” types- wise E. Prado is the guide and 6/1 ML seems about sort of fair- Race 2- the inner turf course gets a examination herein- and the “handicapper” need only consider 15 entrants or wants to be in this heat- Mz. Rice sends forth Unaccountable, whose last effort was a return from six months idling- he ran well enough, to think he might improve some- his 3rd dam by big hearted Princequillo was a half sister to In Hot Pursuit- one of the fastest fillies ever seen in the east- bred by Ogden Phipps, In Hot Pursuit tragically broke down- but was saved for the stud there she produced excellent stud Posse- Unaccountable might have a touch of class left in him- Race 3-a rich juvenile maiden filly race (80K) & Stormin Mary- if she sails would be a source of $$ better than a broken ATM shooting twenties into the breeze- she is a citizen of the D. Prine barn- pedigree fans will be happy to know that her “granny” was sired by a phenomenally quick Doonesbury- his morning works were the stuff of backstretch awe and he performed quite well in the afternoon as well winning added money events and placing in a Futurity or two- the 3rd dam Plumb Grey, was a fine winner by very beautiful Tudor Grey- a youngster bred for get up and go I’d suggest- Race 4- a state bred stakes- & Jason Servis conditioner of memorable classicist Smarty Jones, has a long-shot at the ready-Shesabronxbomber- he claimed her and now tries a stakes race- an ambitious lad- 20/1 ML is what the odds maker thinks of that plan- she is a ff 4-r and her family branch seems an unlikely source of a opening day Saratoga stake winner- but she is by Preakness winner Afleet Alex, a very erratic sire -who knows? Race 5- state bred 2yo msw fillies greet the fan in this event and once again I’ll take my chances with a rail runner Hangingwithsonny, a lass by dutiful stud First Samurai, who won the Champagne at Belmont Park back in ‘05 and as a 3yo cracked his ribs coming out of the gates in the Blue Grass stakes of ‘06 -he is a son of fire-breathing Giants Causeway- her 3rd dam was the very pretty mare Fiesta Libre- she may have run for the Bancroft family? Anyhow the 2yo first timer has a handsome dosage plan>2-2-15-2-1 with a gsv variable of 60.52 - its very tough for a first time out baby to win from the rail but it is the shortest way around- Race 6- Flattermewithroses seems an impossibility trained by Jena Antonucci, this 3yo daughter has been on the sidelines for nearly half a year but she may be invigorated by the scene at the “spa” and a fresh hoss is always dangerous (ha!) rationalizations are cheaper than swizzle sticks- & a turf sprint seems alien to her past but her 5th dam was flying French filly Tidra, whose dosage >2-6-16-1-7 is pleasing to the eye if not the wallet- more to the land of reason is Invading Humor a dark brown Invasor lass- Race 7- I’ve succumbed to the charms of Indy’s Illusion, in this 7 furlong race to be run under allowance conditions- a son of legendary AP Indy and owned by Mr. Fipke, who is in it to win it- the odds persons say nay and figure this one at 12/1- but its last race was the 1000K Florida Derby in which the 3yo had issues and has been on the bench since- Mr. Fipke bred this animal and B. Tagg is trainer- & his 4th dam was a half-sister to legendary and ill-starred Dark Mirage- a nice long shot opportunity- Race 8- the James Marvin Stakes G3 at 7 furlongs- & Souper Speedy is a Live Oak Plantation color bearer-a 4yo by Indian Charlie he just missed in the recent Jaipur Stakes- I might team the colt with Jaguar Paw, who has won its last 2 in style- a Chad Brown employee Jaguar Paw who has a Raise A Native full sister as its 4th dam and the distance should suit- Race 9- is the famed 2yo regatta the Schuylerville Stakes G3 150K 2yo fillies going 6 panels- and I like an entry in this stakes- the first part of which is Elena Strikes, an easy winner of her maiden voyage at Monmouth Park- the other subscriber is Yes Liz, trouble-free winner of her maiden trip at Belmont in fact her dam For Scarlett, is by red hot broodmare sire Red Ransom- this is the family of speed to spare Relaunch, one of modern times top frontrunners- the pair are controlled and conditioned by Agent Pletcher who must rent out a warehouse to store all his stakes victories and associated memorabilia- as for the dam of Elena Strikes, she was a quick daughter of quicker Houston - Race 10- features the Michael Maker trained maiden A Better Tomorrow, something we can all relate to- a gelding who has demonstrated the desire to go right out there and fight for a couple of furlongs- he is a son of Bobby Frankel’s mysterious trainee Aptitude, who may have run 2nd in the Derby as a non-winner of two or yet, as a maiden! I forget- he might have placed in the Belmont as well!-- a beautiful animal, Aptitude was as strong as Hercules and had a enviable dosage >10-13-27-0-0- 2nd in two classics and winner of the Jockey and Hollywood Gold Cups -quite a brute Aptitude- on the dam side of the ledger, A Better Tomorrow traced back to a full sister of ultra tough mare Ordination, as well as Lucky Payday and Fresh Deb -all familiar faces to paddock watchers on the NYRA wheel of fortune- hopefully the kind reader will have a great day at the races- Arlington 1-3 2-4 3-1 4-4 5-4 6-7 7-6 8-2 9-3 Assiniboia 1-5 2-3 3-2 4-4 5-3 6-6 7-7 8-4 Calder 1-1 2-1e 3-2 4-6 5-2 6-4 7-2 8-9 Canterbury 1-1 2-5 3-3 4-1 5-4 6-2 7-4 8-1 9-9 10-8 Charles town 1-9 2-4 3-5 4-1 5-8x3x4 6-10 7-2 8-1 9-1 Del mar 1-7 2-1 3-8 4-3 5-2 6-2 7-1 8-2 Ellis 1-2x1 2-4 3-1 4-1 5-3 6-7 7-2 8-9 Emerald 1-1 2-4 3-3 4-6 5-4 6-3 7-6 Evangeline 1-3 2-3 3-3 4-4 5-3 6-7 7-9 8-4 9-9 Fair meadows (quarters) 1-1 2-6 3-4 4-7 5-2 6-6 7-1 8-2 9-6 10-3 11-4 Fairmount 1-3 2-5 3-1e 4-1e 5-1 6-4 7-3 8-4 Finger lakes 1-3 2-5 3-1 4-6 5-3 6-3 7-3 8-7 9-7 Hastings 1-6 2-5 3-5 4-5 5-4x8x5 6-4x5 7-5 Indiana 1-2 2-3 3-5 4-1 5-3 6-5 7-1e 8-3 9-1 10-6 11-5 Los Alamitos 1-8 2-8 3-1 4-6 5-5 6-1 7-2 8-2 9-6 Louisiana 1-1 2-7 3-5 4-1 5-5 6-5 7-3 8-10 9-5 10-1 Monmouth 1-6 2-3 3-4 4-10 5-3 6-8 7-5 8-2 9-3 10-5 Mountaineer 1-8 2-4 3-7 4-7 5-1 6-4 7-6 8-9 9-9 Northlands 1-6 2-4 3-3 4-7 5-3 6-1 7-1 8-5 9-1x10 Penn 1-2 2-4 3-7 4-10 5-6 6-3 7-6 8-3 9-4 Prairie meadows 1-2 2-4 3-1 4-4 5-6 6-2 7-2 8-3 9-8 Ruidoso 1-2 2-9 3-9 4-5 5-1 6-7 7-3x4 8-4 9-8 Sacramento 1-2 2-4 3-7 4-6 5-1 6-4 7-2 8-3 9-1 Saratoga 1-1 2-6 3-4 4-1 5-1 6-11x2 7-8 8-3 9-1e 10-2 Thistledown 1-4 2-2 3-5 4-4 5-2 6-7 7-6 8-4 Woodbine 1-4 2-3 3-1 4-3 5-1e 6-6 7-4 8-5 9-2 )H)
Posted on: Fri, 19 Jul 2013 06:56:43 +0000
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