Opening Day Jitters
Real writing on Racing 💯
Opening Day is finally here….almost…and no we aren’t nervous. Hopefully the weather doesn’t become the main focus of this season’s meet after last year’s sparse rainfall (only 17 races taken off the turf) but clearly we may be impacted the first weekend. Nevertheless we are here and will be putting out a GIC Digest on all race days, with stakes previews and daily recaps, aiming to both inform and entertain. Barry and I will also be co-hosting a Live Twitter Spaces on Wednesdays at noon and have several other on-track content ideas that we will be trying out.
⭐️ Here is a link to a nice Schuylerville Stakes Preview by pedigree from the excellent Hawkstone Bloodstock blog
🧵 You can now find us at Threads as Goingincirclespodcast@threads.net
🎙️ On this week’s Big Monday show Barry and I talked last weekend’s stakes races, previewed opening day at the Spa and commented on the NHC Tourney collusion debacle. Check it out here.
🤔 If you are in town on Tuesday July 18 head over to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame for the 3rd annual Racing Trivia Night hosted by ThoroFan and NMRHOF. I believe that Mr Durkin may be hosting the activities and asking the questions. Click here for details.
Schuylerville (Gr III) $175,000 2yo fillies 6 furlongs
Carmelina - impressive debut from PA bred filly by Maximus Mischief over a deep track at Parx last month. Post one doesn’t help but it appears that she has some ability (TG 7 in only start) and picks up Jose Ortiz who was leading rider at the recently concluded Belmont spring meet. Only one work since that first race which is something else to consider.
Becky’s Joker - Practical Joke filly debuts here with a 34.4 bullet work in her holster. Tough to give her a big chance but only a couple of her competitors have run fast so…
Union Suit - Bargain buy as a 9k short yearling last January, broke her maiden at Horseshoe Indianapolis for Rey Hernandez before ownership wisely sold a majority portion and she was transferred to Graham Motion. The new connections tried the Astoria at Belmont where she led throughout before getting worn down by Closing Act and finishing second. Both races were very, very slow and she needs to improve a lot to even be on the board here
Status Seeker - Upstart filly broke her maiden 5 weeks ago against a soft group at Belmont. She was professional in that debut, racing between horses before finishing determinedly to get up late. Improvement could get her on the board but demand a price.
Saratoga Secret - 200k Saratoga sale purchase last summer, this Arrogate filly broke her maiden impressively at Ellis Park just three weeks ago. Saez was aboard that day and will ride once again for D. Wayne who had an excellent meet last year (🛁 Hot tub Time Machine alert). One to consider if you are shopping around for a better price than Wine on Tap will offer..
Closing Act - Texas bred filly by Munnings is two for two for Asmussen who has 13 two year old winners already in 2023. The only two time and stakes winner in the field, she has paired 18 TG which should indicate a move forward but she needs a BIG jump to be competitive with the better ones in here.
Wine on Tap - the likely favorite, this 600k Tapit filly broke her maiden impressively 25 days ago at Belmont, running a solid 6.5 TG. No real knocks on her other than her odds which will be short as Pletcher looks to break his all-time leading Schuylerville trainer deadlock with DWL.
Kiss for Luck - the second Butch Reid entrant in the Schuylerville also comes out of a race at Parx, though this filly didn’t run nearly as fast as her barnmate did. The Accelerate filly is a 1/2 sister to 2020 2yo filly champion Vequist who won the Spinaway (Gr I) over this course on her way to the Eclipse award. Kiss for Luck didn’t break that alertly back on May 23 and only has two recorded works in the 51 day period since which isn’t a positive sign.
Dancing Diana - broke sharp in her debut at Delaware Park, registering a better than 7 length score over three overmatched foes. Ran a 12.75 TG which puts her in the second tier of figs in this spot, does pick up Johnny V to ride and Lawrence has a flat bet profit of 2.89 over his career spanning 74 starts. The Bolt D’Oro filly is the first foal from a dam who only won on the grass.
Mila Junes - a 54-1 winner at first asking over a wet track at Monmouth for Kent Sweezey, the Tapiture filly completed the 5 furlongs in 100.2 good for a 19.5 TG which isn’t good enough here.
Sugar Treat - initial winner for first year stallion Enticed, she overcame some traffic issues to score over the Tapeta surface at GP, earning a 17.5 TG. Dirt is a question though pedigree suggests within her scope as she is a half sister to a park of stakes placed runners on that surface. Casse tabs Prat to ride though he has only ridden one winner in 17 tries for the barn.
The 1984 Schuylerville was won by Weekend Delight, the first graded stakes victory of the 85 that trainer Neil Howard would win during his distinguished career. Factoid that nobody cares about but me: Weekend Delight’s jockey Charlie Woods was my neighbor in Louisville.
Low key and that is about right as we don't want to get our hopes up too high as the weather is a bit unstable. But yes, we could be in for just about anything as we are finally at the Spaaa.