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Saratoga kicks off 2012 season
Coming in from Chicago this year is top conditioner Wayne Catalano, who trained 2006 and 2008 juvenile filly champions Dreaming of Anna and She Be Wild, respectively. Other new faces in for the meet include Canada's Josie Carroll, New Orleans-based Bernie Flint, the mid-Atlantic's Jason Servis, and Kelly Breen, trainer of classic winner Ruler on Ice. Mark Casse (Canada), Eoin Harty (California), Mike Trombetta (mid-Atlantic), and Kentucky's Al Stall, Ian Wilkes and Charles Lopresti are among those returning for another season. Also returning to the Spa with a string will be Hall of Famer Bob Baffert. The always-fierce competition for the Angel Cordero Jr. riding title will gain an added edge this year with the arrival of top southern California jockey Joel Rosario. Winner of the Santa Anita riding title for the second straight year in 2012, Rosario will be building up his New York business over the next month as he prepares to take on a jockey colony that includes two-time reigning Eclipse champion Ramon Dominguez, recent arrival Rosie Napravik, Javier Castellano, Julien Leparoux, Cornelio Velasquez and Rajiv Maragh, along with two-time defending Saratoga champion and newly minted Hall of Famer John Velazquez, who is expected to return from a broken collarbone at some point before or during the meet.
On the stellar card supporting the "Midsummer Derby" on Travers Day is the Grade 1, $500,000 King's Bishop for three-year-old sprinters, the Grade 1, $500,000 Test for three-year-old filly sprinters, and the Grade 2, $250,000 Ballston Spa for turf fillies and mares. The Travers will be broadcast live by the NBC Sports Group as one of five live "Summer at Saratoga" shows that start on August 11 and go through September 1. Additionally, MSG+ will be airing live broadcasts on two Saturdays during the meet -- July 28 and August 4. The meet's home stretch includes a quartet of prestigious Grade 1s: the $600,000 Personal Ensign on August 26; the $750,000 Woodward and the $500,000 Forego on September 1, and the $300,000 Spinaway on September 2, with the Grade 2, $300,000 Hopeful and the Grade 3, $150,000 Glens Falls bringing the meet to a close on Labor Day. The Whitney, the Ballerina, the Personal Ensign and the Hopeful are all automatic qualifying races into the Breeders' Cup World Championships at Santa Anita in November. After opening day, live racing will be conducted every day except Tuesdays, with a first race post time of 1 p.m. (EDT) save for Travers Day (11:35 a.m.), Labor Day (12:30 p.m.) and 2:30 p.m. for the two "Party at the Spa" Fridays, July 27 and August 31. Friday's James Marvin, a seven-furlong dash and graded for the first time, features multiple Grade 1 winner Jackson Bend, who won the race last year en route to capturing the Forego on closing weekend of the 2011 meet. The Nick Zito trainee has won the Grade 1 Carter Handicap and Grade 3 Hal's Hope this term, but was a dull fifth in the Metropolitan last time. Caixa Eletronica, sixth behind Jackson Bend in last year's James Marvin, is a two-time Grade 2 winner this season having taken the 1 1/8-mile Charles Town Classic and the six-furlong True North Handicap. Another potential threat is Grade 3 Vernon O. Underwood winner Pacific Ocean, who might have been in need of a race when a tiring sixth in the June 9 True North following a six-month layoff. All seven of the juvenile fillies in Friday's six-furlong Schuylerville exit maiden wins. Baby J debuts for new trainer Rick Dutrow following a swift win at Belmont in late June, and is joined by fellow Belmont graduates Can't Explain, Sweet Shirley Mae, Fully Living and Mr Hall's Opus. Churchill invader Brown Eyes Blue will be saddled by Dale Romans, while Parx shipper So Many Ways enters off an eight-length debut win for Tony Dutrow. Bet Horseracing Free Online at TwinSpires.com
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