Thursday, September 02 2010
VINEYARD HAVEN HEADS FORMIDABLE GODOLPHIN ENTRY IN FOREGO
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Vineyard Haven, first under the wire but disqualified to second in last year’s King’s Bishop, will have another opportunity to earn a Grade 1 victory at Saratoga Race Course when he competes in Saturday’s $250,000 Forego at seven furlongs.
Owned by Godolphin Stable, Vineyard Haven returned from his effort in the King’s Bishop to capture the Grade 1 De Francis Dash at Laurel and finish a close third in the Grade 1 Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile Handicap at Aqueduct in the final two starts of his 3-year-old campaign. The gray son of Lido Palace has competed once in 2010, winning the James Marvin over the Forego’s course and distance on July 23.
QUALITY ROAD LOOKS TO GET BACK ON TRACK IN WOODWARD
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – At the beginning of the year, when trainer Todd Pletcher and owner Edward P. Evans began mapping out Quality Road’s run to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, it included several key stops, including the Grade 1 Donn Handicap, the Grade 1 Met Mile, and the Grade 1 Whitney.
Everything was going according to plan until the final yards of the Whitney, when Quality Road was nabbed at the wire by Blame for his first loss of the year.
SARATOGA RACE COURSE NOTES: Wednesday, September 1, 2010
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Godolphin Stable’s Regal Ransom is likely to return to graded stakes competition after winning Wednesday’s fourth race, an optional claimer at 1 1/8th miles on the main track, by 3 ¼ lengths in gate-to-wire fashion.
A winner of the Group 2 U.A.E. Derby and Grade 2 Super Derby in 2009, Regal Ransom went to the shelf after finishing eighth in the Breeders’ Cup Classic and was fourth in his return effort, the Grade 2 Suburban Handicap at Belmont Park on July 3.
Wednesday, September 01 2010
BIG PICK 6 CARRYOVER KICKS OFF FINAL WEEK AT SARATOGA
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The season’s final week of racing at Saratoga Race Course begins on Wednesday with a card that features a $443,274 Pick 6 carryover.
The Pick 6 gets underway at approximately 3:13 p.m. EDT with race five, and continues with races six through ten.
“PARTY AT THE SPA” KICKS OFF FINAL STRETCH FESTIVITIES AT SARATOGA RACE COURSE
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY – Fans are invited to stay after the races as the fun continues on-track at the meet’s final “Party at the Spa” on Friday, September 3 at 7:00 p.m.
The day begins with a special 2:30 p.m. post time and culminates in the last race of the day under a setting sun. Following the races, patrons will enjoy an after-hours party at Saratoga’s newest hot spot – The Post.
Tuesday, August 31 2010
PLETCHER EAGER FOR REPEAT IN WITH ANTICIPATION
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Juveniles take to the turf Friday for the seventh renewal of the Grade 3, $100,000 With Anticipation Stakes, which trainer Todd Pletcher will attempt to win for the second consecutive year.
In 2009, Pletcher saddled Interactif to an eye-catching 4 ¼-length victory in the race after being impressed by the way the colt – whose first two starts came on the dirt, including an eighth-place finish in the Grade 2 Sanford – worked on the turf the week before the race.
SARATOGA RACE COURSE HONORS ARMED FORCES WITH VETERANS DAY
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Saratoga Race Course will pay tribute to the nation’s active duty armed forces and veterans on Thursday, September 2.
Presented by the New York Racing Association Inc. (NYRA), the day will feature free grandstand admission for all United States active duty military and veterans with military ID, courtesy of the Saratoga County Board of Supervisors.
SARATOGA RACE COURSE NOTES: Monday, August 30, 2010
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Phipps Stable’s Persistently appeared well the morning after her one-length upset victory over reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra in Sunday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Personal Ensign Invitational.
“She’s doing well, I’m tired, but she seemed to come back fine,” said Persistently’s Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey. “A lot of times it doesn’t hit them until a couple of days later, but she cooled out great. We’ve retooled [her schedule] to point for the Beldame [Grade 1, $350,000 1 1/8th miles on the Belmont Park main track October 2]; that’s our next stop.”
Monday, August 30 2010
PERSISTENTLY PAYS OFF AS PHIPPS FILLY UPSETS RACHEL ALEXANDRA IN PERSONAL ENSIGN
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Persistently waited patiently behind a speed duel and made an inexorable rally in the stretch to upset Rachel Alexandra by a length on Sunday at Saratoga Race Course in the 63rd running of the Grade 1, $300,000 Personal Ensign for fillies and mares.
Reigning Horse of the Year and odds-on favorite Rachel Alexandra, making her first start at the Spa since her victory in last year’s Grade 1 Woodward, was away alertly but was challenged immediately by second choice Life At Ten. With Rachel Alexandra racing along the inside and Life At Ten glued to her flank, the two favorites raced in tandem as they passed the grandstand for the first time, with Rachel Alexandra floating her rival several paths wide as they entered the first turn.
SAGA OF LISA’S BOOBY TRAP CONTINUES THURSDAY AT SARATOGA
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The next chapter in the storybook tale of Lisa’s Booby Trap will be written Thursday afternoon at Saratoga Race Course, when the undefeated filly goes for her fifth straight win in the second division of the $70,000 Riskaverse Stakes.
The saga thus far: Club-footed and blind in one eye, the gangly filly cost her owner and trainer, Tim Snyder, a mere $4,500 earlier this year, for which he put down $2,000 cash with the promise to pay the rest from her winnings. Named in part for his late wife Lisa, who died of cancer in 2003, and in part for a gentlemen’s club in Florida that offered free lunch, Lisa’s Booby Trap promptly rewarded Snyder’s faith and patient handling by winning her first three races at Finger Lakes by a combined margin of 36 ¾ lengths.
NEW YORK WATCH: UNCLE MO
SARATOGA SPRI NGS, N.Y. – Repole Stable maintained a 12-7 lead in the Saratoga owner standings going into the final eight days of racing, so it’s all too appropriate Uncle Mo is the name of the operation’s latest impressive 2-year-old winner.
Named after the shorthand term for “momentum,” the colt joins the New York Watch – which profiles up-and-comers that have recently cleared the maiden ranks at Aqueduct, Belmont Park, and Saratoga – following a double-digit debut triumph at Saratoga Race Course on Travers Day. His page is located at
http://www.nyra.com/nywatch/UncleMo.html.
SARATOGA RACE COURSE NOTES: Sunday, August 29, 2010
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The Travers appears to have taken more out of trainer Jimmy Jerkens than his colt Afleet Express, who yesterday prevailed by a nose in the “Mid-Summer Derby.”
“I was tired,” said Jerkens, moments before saddling Luxury Appeal to a second-place finish in Sunday’s third race. “I was knocked out. I slept pretty good.”
