Saratoga set for 141st racing season

Saratoga Race Course's 36-day meet will get off to a strong start on

Wednesday with a card highlighted by full fields on both dirt and turf,

two-year-old races, and two stakes, including the $100,000 Schuylerville S.

(G3).

Saratoga's opening day card features a full slate of 10 races with 134

entries and $557,700 in total purses. Six of the 10 races are oversubscribed,

with 27 alternate entries carded for the day. On average, there were 13.4 horses

entered per race. Broken down by class, the card features two stakes, three

allowances, three maiden special weights, and two claimers.

"Saratoga is the premier racing meet in North America, and our opening day

card is reflective of that," said Paul J. Campo, vice president and director of

racing for the New York Racing Association (NYRA). "The three juvenile races with

strong fields are a very positive indicator for the overall quality of the meet.

In addition, we had a record number of Saratoga stall applications with more

than 3,500."

The Saratoga meet will run Wednesday through Monday, six days a week through

Labor Day, September 7. The meet will feature 34 graded races, including 15

Grade 1 stakes.

The season's crowning moment, Travers Day, is set for August 29, with five

graded races on the agenda. Besides the $1 million Travers (G1), the $300,000 King's

Bishop S. (G1), the $300,000 Ballerina S. (G1), the $200,000 Ballston Spa S.

(G2) and $100,000 Victory Ride S. (G3) are on tap.

NYRA is offering fans a chance to win a free trip to the big day. The Travers

Stakes Prize Package, valued at more than $1,000, includes a pair of

tickets to the 1 1/4-mile "Mid-Summer Derby," round-trip airfare for two, and

two nights of hotel accommodations, courtesy of the Hampton Inn and Suites in

downtown Saratoga Springs. Online entries (one per valid email account) will be

accepted at nyra.com until 6 p.m. (EDT) on August 15, with the winner and the

runner-up chosen by a random drawing on August 16. Winners will be announced on

NYRA's simulcast program, following the conclusion of the 3RD race at Saratoga

on August 17.

The key local prep for the Travers, the $500,000 Jim Dandy S. (G2), will be

held on August 1. Among those on the probables list are Peter Pan S. (G2) winner

CHARITABLE MAN (Lemon Drop Kid), most recently fourth in the Belmont S. (G1),

along with the respective top three from the Dwyer S. (G2) -- KENSEI (Mr.

Greeley), CONVOCATION (Pulpit) and WARRIOR'S REWARD (Medaglia d'Oro).

Florida Derby (G1) star QUALITY ROAD (Elusive Quality), who missed the Triple

Crown because of quarter-cracks, was not deemed ready in time to make the

nine-furlong Jim Dandy. New trainer Todd Pletcher has instead circled the August

3 Amsterdam S. (G2) at 6 1/2 furlongs as his comeback.

"After speaking with (owner/breeder) Mr. (Edward) Evans, the Travers will be

strongly considered," Pletcher said. "If we can prepare him the way we'd like to

prepare him, that will be our main goal."

The $600,000 Alabama S. (G1), the fillies' counterpart to the Travers, will

be held on August 22.

Older distaffers will be in action on opening weekend, with the $500,000

Diana S. (G1) for the turf set on Jim Dandy Day and the $300,000 Go for Wand H.

(G1) on August 2. The Go for Wand leads up to the August 30 Personal Ensign S.

(G1).

Also on August 2, multiple Grade 1 victor KIP DEVILLE (Kipling) is slated to

contest the $150,000 Fourstardave H. (G2) at 1 1/16 grassy miles. The

Fourstardave serves as a stepping stone to the $200,000 Bernard Baruch H. (G2).

Turf marathoners will be in the spotlight in the $500,000 Sword Dancer

Invitational (G1) going 1 1/2 miles on August 15.

On August 8, the eight-year-old COMMENTATOR (Distorted Humor) will try to

join the great Kelso and Discovery as the only three-time winners of the

$750,000 Whitney H. (G1). The Nick Zito charge, who romped by seven lengths

versus New York-breds in the Kashatreya S. last time out, amazed his trainer by

blazing five furlongs in a bullet :59.12 on the deep Oklahoma training track

Thursday.

"To me, it was just unbelievable," Zito enthused. "I mean, that's Oklahoma,

that's unheard of. I don't know how it is with humans and horse years, but he's

eight now and when I get to be (the equivalent) of his age, I want to act like

that. It was very tight, and he responded."

The Whitney is the first of two major contests for older horses at the meet,

with the other being the $500,000 Woodward S. (G1) on September 5.

Also on Whitney Day, three-year-old fillies will clash in the $300,000 Test

S. (G1). The following day, August 9, champion sprinter BENNY THE BULL (Lucky

Lionel) could line up in the $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt H. (G2), a prep for

the September 5 Forego S. (G1).

The Spa is famous for unearthing top two-year-old talent, both in its hotly

contested maidens and its graded stakes. The opening-day Schuylerville is the first of

the meet's three graded events for juvenile

fillies, followed by the August 19 Adirondack S. (G2) and

the September 6 Spinaway S. (G1).

The juvenile series that begins with Thursday's Sanford S. (G2) continues

with the $150,000 Saratoga Special S. (G2) and culminates in the September 7

Hopeful S. (G1).

Saratoga also traditionally showcases the steeplechasers, especially in the

August 6 A.P. Smithwick Memorial (NSA-G2) and the August 27 New York Turf

Writers Cup (NSA-G1).

As ever, the jockey colony will be deep and talented. The New York Racing

Association's current leading rider, Ramon Dominguez, will put three straight

riding titles on the line in Saratoga this summer. After moving his tack to New

York from the Mid-Atlantic circuit earlier this year, Dominguez won both the

inner track meet and the spring meet at Aqueduct Racetrack. Dominguez then broke

the modern-day record for wins during the Belmont Park spring/summer, reaching

94 victories on Friday and besting the record of 92 set by Hall of Fame rider

Angel Cordero Jr. in 1982. 

"Saratoga is the most challenging meet there is," Dominguez said. "I don't

want to make any predictions. I'm just hoping to carry over the momentum that I

had at Belmont Park."

At Belmont this spring, Dominguez has been in fine company, and the talented

colony looks to remain mostly intact when racing moves upstate. Alan Garcia, who

captured last year's Saratoga riding title with 39 wins, will return to defend

his title, as will the rest of the top 10 jockeys from the 2008 Saratoga season:

Javier Castellano, Eibar Coa, Kent Desormeaux, Julien Leparoux, Rajiv Maragh,

Hall of Famer Edgar Prado, Cornelio Velasquez and John Velazquez, along with

many other NYRA regulars. 

Expected to join this group are some familiar faces from Saratoga seasons

past, including Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness (G1) winning jockey Calvin

Borel, who was second in the standings at the Churchill Downs meet that

concluded July 5 with 61 victories, one behind Churchill title winner Leparoux.

Robby Albarado and Shaun Bridgmohan, fourth and fifth in the Churchill rankings

respectively, are also expected. Bridgmohan, injured in a training accident at

Churchill Downs on July 6, has been getting on horses in the mornings and

anticipates a return to regular riding early in the Saratoga meet, according to

his agent, Doc Danner.

One familiar face from downstate racing, apprentice Amanda Casey, a native of

South Glens Falls, New York, will likely miss most of the Saratoga meet due to a

bruised rotator cuff and possibly a deep bone bruise, according to her agent,

Robert Whitlock. After looking at an MRI, Whitlock said Casey's doctor

recommended that she undergo physical rehabilitation for a month before riding

again. Casey hopes to ride during the final week of the meet.

For the first time this year, NYRA will offer a Jockey Autograph Book, in

which fans can collect the signatures of their favorite riders. The book

features the 10 leading NYRA jockeys by number of wins in 2008, as well as Sam

the Bugler, and a blank page for additional autographs.

Autograph book mini-giveaways are planned for four Mondays in August (August

3, 10, 17 and 31) from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (EDT). On these dates, Auggie, the NYRA

mascot, will roam Saratoga Race Course handing the books to young fans.

Autograph books are also expected to be available for purchase in the NYRA

store, with the proceeds going to benefit the Permanently Disabled Jockeys Fund.