Fry Day at the Lake
Real Writing on Racing 💯
🫥 I know days like this happen at other places too, but for random weirdness, Saratoga just seems to be a few steps ahead of everywhere else on the racing spectrum. For starters it was steamy but sunny once again to begin the day, with showers predicted for the noontime hour. The weathermen and their apps were on the money with that forecast as the skies opened up about on schedule about an hour before first post. After about 20 minutes of sometimes intense downpour, just as quickly as it started, it stopped. Obviously the main track was going to start the day correctly listed as sloppy, the question mark on everyone’s minds was the grass, which outside of showers on Monday, hadn’t seen a whole lot of moisture the last several weeks. About 15 minutes before the first it was announced that the grass would be listed as yielding but no mention of surface changes or late scratches. As the first race was circling behind the starting gate, well past 1:00 pm and under 2 minutes until the maidens were loaded, John Imbriale made the announcement that the 3rd and 10th races would be taken off the grass to be run on the main track. It was a stunning announcement, not because races were being moved off the grass, but the timing of it, so close to the start of the first leg of the pick 3 and 5, of which combined had pools in excess of a million dollars bet into them. The amount of time that bettors had to adjust their plays in those two pools was measured in seconds not minutes.
A million dollars bet into a sequence with a massive difference in the circumstances of one of the legs and virtually no time to make changes…that is not okay but that isn’t the end of this story.
There was one late scratch in the third race, the likely post time favorite had the race been run on turf as originally scheduled, St Joe Louis (GB) which was announced after the 1st race had been run. Now those tickets that had included him were going to be switched to the post time favorite as per the rules regarding late scratches in horizontal pools in New York. As fate has it, the horse who wound up going off as the favorite in that ill-fated third race, I am the Law, got beat, making all those St Joe Louis (GB) tickets losers. Or in other words making the majority of tickets bet in the sequence losers….but as it turns out, they weren’t.
We live in an era of ADW’s (Advanced Deposit Wager accounts - NYTA Bets-Xpressbet- Twinspires- etc) and the vast majority of money wagered on races is made via these outlets, even at a track with strong attendance figures like Saratoga. Why this matters in this episode is when you are physically at a simulcast location or the track itself, when you make a wager, you receive a ticket to cash if your bet wins. Not so if betting via ADW account where your bet is held inside a computer, an accounting exists regardless of winning or losing. Well if you were holding a ticket in the pick 5 that had included any other horse winning race three other than the actual winner, Al’s Prince, you’d be holding a loser and it’s likely that you would have tossed it on the ground (racetracks are one of the few places where intentional littering is ok). Then another surprise announcement was made right before the 4th race and this crazy pick 5 sequence was altered once again.
“Due to the late surface change announcement the stewards have determined that race 3 will be treated as an “All” in the early Pick 5”
I personally have never seen a race changed to an “all” race after the race had been fairly run, meaning no mishap during the actual running of said race. Now if the original surface change had been made AFTER the first race had been run, not just seconds BEFORE, the third race would have automatically been run an an “all” race for the purposes of the pick 5 as the New York rules state. In the end the right thing to do was to declare that race an “all” as players had wagers locked in on the sequence that was completely different. If you had thrown your ticket away after the third race, you have a legitimate beef as who in the world expected a change post-race? If you bet via an ADW things were essentially made right.
This entire spectacle didn’t have to be, which is something that racing seems to specialize in. The entire capital district region knew showers were likely during the 11 am - 1pm time frame. NYRA held the main track only entrants earlier in the morning before eventually scratching them prior to the not-entirely-unexpected downpour roughly forty five minutes to first post. Why the surface change wasn’t announced when the turf was declared to be yielding is mistake number one. Nothing changed between then and when the races were announced as off the grass. The timing of the announcement literally 90 seconds before the loading of first race was issue number two. Finally the determination to make the third race an “all” race HAS to come BEFORE that race, or at the very least prior to declaring it official. Perhaps all these were honest mistakes (unacceptable still…) but the hint of impropriety at NYRA, particularly with much of the local media salivating at every opportunity to seize upon, is problematic. This just didn’t have to be.
⚾️ The fourth race was run with no mishap and winner V Mart is owned by former baseball all-Star Victor Martinez who was in the house Wednesday.
🎪 Race one winner Up to the Mark, a pricey son of Not This Time, had been highly touted last summer as one of Team Pletcher best two year olds. It took a year before his debut finally arrived but he won nicely and appeared to still be a little green yet.
🎪 Dylan Davis had himself a nice day with three winners.
🎪 Practice Squad upset Dakota Gold who was an absurd .35 to 1 in the initial running of the Rick Violette Stakes for NYB three year old colts. Certainly Datoka Gold deserved to be the favorite but over a surface that had taken some rain and in a short field that had two decent enough contenders, anyone taking 2-5 was crazy.
⏰ Was late getting todays blog out as I had to watch the Astro’s complete the sweep 🧹 of the Yankees in a doubleheader last night and was tired.
🏄🏼♂️ We will have Haskell and undercard stakes coverage tomorrow but no we are not heading to the shore for the big day
Day 7 (33 Racing days to go)
Lake George Gr III $175,000 1 mile inner turf 3yo f
Republique - tries grass for the first time for the Fradkin’s, owners of last years Preakness stakes winner Rombauer, after trying dirt rather unsuccessfully in the Delaware Oaks last out. Trainer Joesph has poor numbers 1st time on grass (7%) and even worse going dirt/turf (4%) from decent sample sizes. Tough spot for her.
Heavenly Hellos - Trainer Hernandez makes his Saratoga debut here. His Overanalyze filly was game winning a grass stake at Horseshoe Indianapolis last out but takes a massive leap in class here about if one was gonna ride a Lezcano in a Saratoga stakes it would be Jose not Abel.
Al Qahira - cuts back in distance off of maiden win Derby week at Churchill. Has run well on grass, progressing in a slow but steady fashion for Mott. She is likely going to be part of the early pace, on it or not too far back but she’d have to improve on her latest to get on the board and it’s not impossible she could stick around for a small piece at a decent price.
Koala Princess - makes her belated season debut after getting less than ideal trip last out as the tepid favorite in the Breeders Cup juvy filly turf at Del Mar. She was running numbers last fall as fast as most of the contenders in here are running as mid-year three year olds. Interesting that Rosario who rode her to victory in stakes at Kentucky Downs and in the Breeders Cup isn’t back aboard though todays rider McCarthy is capable and 3 for 7 for the barn over the last year and a half. Adding to the allure is Delacour is 10 for his last 22 with runners coming off of 180 day or more layoff (45%).
Dolce Zel (Fr) - was on the inside of a grass course where that wasn’t the place to be in her last at Churchill in the Edgewood (Gr II). Typical Brown horse that has been pointed to this race, good form, good numbers, training good, good jockey…wouldn’t be a surprise and IMO the Brownie I prefer here.
Eminent Victor - showed ability in Natalma (Gr I) after private purchase following Arlington maiden win last summer. Ran game in short field Wild Applause in last beating Breeze Easy (who always runs well and rarely wins) and two other stablemates. Wouldn’t be a surprise but this is her toughest test to date.
Sister Lou Ann - Ramsey homebred looks to be a B level filly in an A level race here. Looks to be with the first flight and perhaps may even set the pace but not sure that any of her races puts her in the mix here and without improvement it’s hard to like her. Barns horses generally improve more at GP than away from GP
Skims (GB) - consistent filly for Shug, cuts back in distance coming out of the Wonder Again (Gr II). Shows a strong work on July 15th for this spot and gets Rosario. Seems like she is better when making one run unlike last where she attended a middling pace and was out kicked late. If some pace develops here she has a big chance of getting on the board.
Spirit and Glory (Ire) - closed stoutly to get up at 24-1 to win ludicrously slow paced Belmont allowance race a month ago. These are better fillies that she faces but if something nuts happened like a speed duel (I know it’s farfetched ) she may be able to get a piece otherwise she is gonna need some help as the likely trailer as they head down the backside.