Runaway horse training at Saratoga, just another odd occurrence in an odd opening week. (Sarah K. Andrew)

Swifty and I returned from Saratoga late last night. Even though it rained almost everyday and long shots were not doing that well it was a great trip… even better than last year!

Today at Saratoga it was sunny and Tergesti & Wanderin’ Boy were the only favorites to win, with 4 of 10 winners having odds in the double digits. Now I know how Pyro feels.

It will probably take a me a couple of days to get back up to blogging speed but here are some highlights:

Papa Backstretch is my new handicapping idol, hitting 5 winners on Thursday!

As first reported at Raceday 360, there’s a roving band of pre-teen boys following Sam the Bugler around heckling “no shot” every time he talks to a woman.

I got to have dinner with these fine folks and a few others who don’t actually blog (yes, there are people who don’t blog… but not many!).

I cashed some tickets! Although I gave it all back and then some, but I did manage to make some good picks.

Swifty has now created the Adam R. Wiener patented Trifecta System, PayPal $9.99 here.

Swifty and I wore our best loud and nutty outfits on Saturday (me red plaid shorts, him bandanna pattern/madras-y pants w/elegant straw chapeau). At one point we were at the paddock and stone faced Edgar Prado rode by on his mount, looked at us and chuckled. I think this was this might have been non-betting highlight of the trip!

Swifty won the best 2 out of 3 ticket cashing contest (we had one every day starting on Friday). Congrats to Swifty!

I won the unofficial “Pastiest legs in Saratoga” contest 2 days in a row and Swifty won the “Nutty-est Male Outfit” on Saturday. We saw someone who may have had us both beat but it turned out my legs were pastier and he was a she.

There was an excellent riderless horse moment on Sunday in the 7th race when Hanginonaprayer broke through the gate and was a running the race all on her own, without a rider. A rider & pony (what are they called?) finally caught her right by the finish line and the crowd cheered her all the way!

All this and so much more, and I even took pictures this time (as requested by my mother)… stay tuned!

Posted by dana on Jul 28 2008    
Filed Under: Wanderin' Boy, 2008, Riderless Horse, Pyro, Sarah K. Andrew, Fans, Saratoga, Racing

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Curlin in the beginning of the Stephen Foster (creepy_coyote)

Asmussen said he would work Curlin on the turf and find a grass race for him in North America on the weekend of July 12-13. He did not say if he had a particular race in mind. He would prefer a race over an international style course, such as those at Arlington Park, Belmont Park or Woodbine. Major turf races for older horses scheduled that weekend include the $500,000 Man O’ War (gr. IT) at 1 3/8 miles at Belmont Park and the Arlington Handicap (gr. III) at 1 1/4 miles at Arlington Park.

That is, if he works well on the turf… fingers crossed!

Here’s a fun fact, in yesterday’s extremely satisfying chalk fest, favorites (with the exception of Pyro, who was a close second favorite) won by 35 1/4 lengths total!!

Fleur De Lis - Hysterical Lady - 7 lengths
Regret - Pure Clan - 2 3/4 lengths
Northern Dancer - Pyro - 1 3/4 lengths
Jefferson - Tizdejavu - 4 lengths
Stephen Foster - Curlin - 4 1/2 lengths
Mint Julep - Dreaming of Anna - 2 1/2 lengths
Obeah - Unbridled Belle - 5 lengths
Ogden Phipps - Ginger Punch - 7 3/4 lengths

I’m looking forward to seeing some races where there are actual stretch battles and one can find some betting value, but after the past few weeks I think we all deserved to see what real favorites and champions look like (even if they rarely compete against each other).

Posted by dana on Jun 15 2008    
Filed Under: Pyro, Ginger Punch, Steve Asmussen, 2008, 4yo, Unbridled Belle, Turf, Fans, Belmont, Curlin, Hysterical Lady, Racing

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Pyro that is! He just cruised to a gorgeous victory in the Norther Dancer, winning handily over My Pal Charlie in second and Visionaire in 3rd. Had I been able to wager I would have had the exacta, which only payed $35.20, but that’s not the point, plus I would have wagered more than $2.

I’m surprised by Recapturetheglory, I would have imagined him to be in the mix up front, but not today.

At any rate, I’m really glad to see Pyro back on form!

And needless to say, go CURLIN!

Posted by dana on Jun 14 2008    
Filed Under: Churchill Downs, Shaun Bridgmohan, 2008, Twinspires, Sweet Vindication, Pyro, Curlin, Simulcasting, Come Back, 3yo, Racing

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I had fully intended to play the Stephen Foster card at Churchill today. I assumed I would be able to do so by using Twinspires. Not the case. I then moved on to my YouBet account. Again, no luck.

Truth be told it’s probably for the best, I haven’t exactly been on fire at the windows. The good news is that I can watch the card using the pretty snazzy beta of Twinspires TV (I wish their race replays used the same interface, which would make them larger and easier to see). The other bit of good luck is that I’ll be able to watch the Stephen Foster on the aforementioned Channel 71 as the race day will be over at Belmont.

Naturally I didn’t discover this until I had gotten pretty far into my handicapping. I was uninspired by the 6th (Hysterical Lady just crushed) but here are my thoughts on the Regret and Northern Dancer.

In the Regret I’m not convinced by Pure Clan as the favorite. CJ’s Leelee, Zee Zee and Magical Theater is where I would be looking and given the current odds I might focus on Magical Theater.

As for the Northern Dancer, we all know I love Pyro and the pace looks to be right up his alley. I’m bummed that Tiz Now Tiz Then scratched as I think he might have helped to tire out Recapturetheglory. That being said, if I had access to some wagering I would probably take a shot with Pyro over Unbridled Vicar. Unbridled Vicar had a nice confidence builder last out and can close off a slow pace. I’m not convinced Visionaire and Texas Wildcatter will like the pace.

Ok, they’re loading in the gate for the Regret. Good luck to all!

Update: my inability to access wagering is already working out for the best as Pure Clan just won the Regret! CJ’s Lee Lee and Zee Zee placed and showed respectively.

Posted by dana on Jun 14 2008    
Filed Under: 2008, Twinspires, Picks, Signal Wars, Churchill Downs, Technology, Handicapping, OTB, Simulcasting, Pyro, Racing

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The Belmont Stakes trophy awaiting it’s recipient (Jason (EASY GOER))

Fellow TBA-er Frank had a post last week on patience that I really liked and had wanted to reference but had become too scattered (perhaps there’s a follow up post to be had about lack of attention span?).

The post talks about the lightly raced nature of this years TC horses in general but really speaks to the grind of the TC and the general lack of patience in bringing horses along.

I was so jazzed about last year’s prep season all the way through to the Belmont, but this year I can’t say the same. I still really like Pyro and am hoping to see him regroup, but this year was just so full of odd twists and turns of the not so great/total let down variety that I’m starting to the think that, like fellow TBA-er Teresa, that I might also be a little disenchanted with the grind of the Triple Crown. (note, she’s more disinterested than disenchanted).

Historically (read that with irony, I’ve followed exactly 2 seasons) I haven’t done so well on Derby prep/TC races with the exception of last year’s Derby and this year’s Wood. I really enjoy following spring/summer and fall at Belmont and, of course, Saratoga much more. At the very least, I FEEL like I’m in a position to make better calls because there’s more of an element of stability in following a local track.

But, I’m sure I won’t be able to resist the siren song of the trail next year, so would someone please tattoo the sentiments in this excellent piece by Steve Davidowitz on my forehead (backwards, so I can read it in the mirror). [DRF+ - requires subscription]

If we step back to objectively examine details that were staring us in the face, we just might learn valuable handicapping lessons. Lessons that I thought I had learned many years ago.

That sentiment does make me feel a bit a better… while it obviously takes patience to prevail, periodic introspection can’t hurt either.

Posted by dana on Jun 10 2008    
Filed Under: TBA, 2008, Pyro, Steve Davidowitz, Belmont, Belmont Stakes, Racing

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