Street Sense had to earn his oats today, and fair play to Grasshopper for making him work all the way to the line. Great stretch duel, which was nice as I had being expecting a snooze fest with the line up.
Street Sense and Hard Spun both looked like champions today, digging in and gritting it out. And how awesome is Borel???
Why does Street Sense have to give me an anxiety attack to the end??? What a great race. But I thought I was going to faint when they hooked up.
What a great horse. 2 yr old Champ, KD winner, VERY close in the Prkns…Travers winner…how long has it been that we’ve seen this? Seriously.
How awesome is Borel? He is the cherry on top! He makes this year all the more special.
What a great day of racing!
Hard Spun looked like a true professional in his race-- what determination. I’m glad he was finally in a race he could win.
Street Sense was great also. But Grasshopper… where did that horse come from? What a run! I thought he still looked rather green after they broke, which makes me think with a little more seasoning he might not let Street Sense get by him next time. (Breeders Cup? :))
Grasshopper may have been overlooked a bit but a few did mention him on the ESPN telecast as green but on the uptick…believe he is a well bred son of AP Indy?
Not sure if SS really had to dig in or if Calvin is right and he had plenty but was wanting to screw around…or if Calvin is full of it;).
So…is SS HOTY or just the 3 year old HOTY?
Grasshopper is sired by Dixie Union out of Grass Skirt by Mr Prospector. I believe he was pretty well regarded early on by sustained and injury that left him on the sidelines for quite a while, a fractured tibia I believe… I thought it was a very exciting race and its been nice to see a summer with such exciting races and intersting people to watch, and of course Saratoga is always something special.
Street Sense to retire after Breeders Cup
Associated Press reports:
Trainer Carl Nafzger says he’s looking at five possibilities that could serve as a tuneup for the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Oct. 27 – Street Sense’s grand finale before being retired to stud at Darley Stable.
Kings Bishop
Hard Spun looked great. But I can never forget Lost in the Fog in this race. They came after him and came after him and he just kept going like a wonderful machine.
Back from Saratoga and despite the heat on Saturday - and I do mean hot, 96 degrees F without a breeze - it still was a great time.
We went to the track Thursday before to catch the first few races and I was lucky to see [and wager for a win on] Chip Miller aboard Planet’s Aligned in the steeplechase. Taking his 200th victory although I was hoping in a hedge bet that an exacta on Jigger and Rum would’ve been a nice combo.
Bets on Saturday were full of a lot of near misses for me. In all I won three exactas and a trifecta but otherwise was going to combos that just didn’t fire that day. I did win the exacta on Street Sense and Grasshoper although as someone shouted out while waiting for Street Sense to come up the chute past the fans from the barn it didn’t take a genius to box SS as your winner in any combo 
While I pressumed Hard Spun would win the Kings’ Bishop, old loyalties stayed and I boxed him with Teufflesberg who looked great going to the saddling area. I took a quick pic with my cell phone of “Cowboy” Jones leading Hard Spun past the fans before the race.
I missed Sunday’s action and probably for the better as the collapse and immediate death of Indian Flare at the conclusion of The Ballerina would’ve been too sad. Cardiovascular shock per the vets 
The fans there at Travers Day while small (smallest since 1981) due to the oppressive heat and high expectations of later severe weather (which hit the area after the racing) were jolly good and gave Calvin a huge reception in the winner’s circle.
From the Times Union:
“I’m not afraid of Curlin; I’m not afraid of anyone,” Street Sense’s jockey, Calvin Borel, said Sunday. “I haven’t asked him for everything he’s got. Yet.”
I’m not sure if he was looking to give everyone a shock but watching the race live, he sure barely won that duel and earned his oats (as did Grasshoper - big time!) that day.
LooseLeaf
Glimmerglass, did you catch what was going on with Looseleaf in the post parade? All of us at the rail were talking about it… ESPN had the cameras on Ken McPeek, and the jockey kept LooseLeaf from going to the post parade with the others until Ken came down and shouted something to him. Then I guess the jockey whacked him in the pp…
Everyone around me that had anything bet on Looseleaf at that point pretty much tossed their tickets.
Other than the heat it was a great day. There weren’t a lot of people and I had quite a few good conversations with complete strangers, almost all of them centered around complaining about the fact that all these 3 year olds are heading to the breeding shed after the year’s out.
Oh, and I love, love, love Hard Spun! He looked at me when he was walking to the paddock and it made my day. Well that and seeing my picture behind Calvin Borel in the winner’s circle on yahoo pictures. Heh.
[QUOTE=Katydid82;2648420]
Glimmerglass, did you catch what was going on with Looseleaf in the post parade? All of us at the rail were talking about it.[/QUOTE]
We couldn’t get close enough to the saddling area and seemingly missed the parade, prior to saddling, of the Travers’ contenders up the traditional chute past the fans to the saddling area. Maybe I was just too slow getting out there after the Kings Bishop
While the gross attendance numbers may have been down it was plenty warm and compact enough near the rail to be ok by me and my wife. I could only get about 10 feet from the winners circle before the masses of hot, sweaty bodies moved in and I was out of there.
And while “only” 39,000 + fans may have been there my parking - at someone’s goldmine of a backyard - was still $15 
This one place rakes in easily over $500 a day on any day the track is open and far more depending on the day!
As always Saratoga is full of characters as part of the Fair-like attmosphere. Folks from Staten Island to Queens to Jersey to the Berkshires and even a few full time residents of Saratoga County
Looseleaf’s tongue tie fell off and for some reason, even though McPeek was in the front row of box seats it took about 5 minutes for him to go down to see what the issue was. I was right near McPeek but it seemed odd that he didn’t appear to notice HIS TRAVERS COLT circling in front of the winners circle.
Hard Spun was awesome. He’s a very nice colt. He eats sweet potatoes like candy and until he comes out to train or race, he’s very easygoing. I was so impressed with his KB win. He’s a gutsy colt who deserves G1 status.
Looks to be a fairly thin field or at least the same “old” names for the Grade 1 54th running of the $500,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Saturday September 1st.
Then again who wants to take on Lawyer Ron? The Woodward is run at 1 1/8 mi (once it had been a wonderful 1 1/2 miles) today which is the same distance Ron smashed the stakes and track record at July 28th in the Grade 1 Whitney. Essentially he’s sacred off any of the potential 3-yr olds and exceptionally few others on the East Coast are really in a prime spot to beat him.
You’d almost think it could be perfect for goal for Lava Man as it is on dirt and the distance suits him fine. Then again he isn’t ready for this fight, this soon again, plus the shipping thing. I don’t think Lava Mas has ever tried Saratoga and it is a far different track then Belmont.
The expected runners of the Woodward: Lawyer Ron, Wanderin Boy, Diamond Stripes, Brass Hat, Sun King, Political Force and Corinthian.
Past multiple super winners of the Woodward, all at Belmont: Forgo 1974-1975-1976-1977 and Kelso 1961-1962-1963; walkovers - just 1: Spectacular Bid in 1980. Secretariat never won the Woodward but rather lost it to an unremarkable runner - Prove Out. Seattle Slew won it in 1978 over Exceller.
Pictures
Below is the link to great pictures of the Travers. Click on view the gallery in right hand corner. Some really good ones of SS and Grasshopper
I was wondering where Baffert/Zayat’s superstar colt - Maimonides - was being housed since he jetted from Del Mar to the overbooked stabling of Saratoga - now we know:
Maimonides, a Kentucky-bred, is being housed at the barn of Baffert’s long-time friend Tonja Terranova and her husband, John.
Tonja actually is also a former Baffert assistant best know for training the beloved NY runner, Gander, but also this spring had utter heartache when her and her husband’s own supserstar Sports Town was euthanized with laminitis
It looks like the $250,000, Grade I Hopeful Stakes next Monday (Sep 3rd) will be a nice showdown of Pletcher vs. Baffert!
Maimonides must step up in distance to seven furlongs and face Ready’s Image, a juvenile trained by Todd Pletcher who has won three times in four starts. He captured the Grade II Sanford by four lengths at the Spa on July 26.
“It’s a tough jump from 5 /2 (furlongs) to 7/8ths,” Baffert said. “Especially with Ready’s Image because he’s battle tested. It’s a huge edge when you have experience. If I could have had another outing, it would be ideal.”
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2650475]
I was wondering where Baffert/Zayat’s superstar colt - Maimonides - was being housed[/QUOTE]
How is this colt’s name pronounced? I haven’t heard it spoken and I am curious.
My MON uh dees
He is named after a Jewish philosopher.
Tonja is still the usuall “go to” person for Baffert in NY. She handles his stock and acts as his asst when his horses are here and he’s in Cali.
Thanks Linny
I was looking for you the whole time I was there!
As for McPeek, he was too busy chittychatting with ESPN from the looks of it. I’d be annoyed if I was the horse owner.
An interesting and timely article regarding the Zayat/Baffert colt with the funky name …
Times Union Aug 29, 2007 "A horse by almost any other name … "
You can’t become a superstar in thoroughbred racing with a name like Maimonides (pronounced MAY-MON-A-DEZ). The colt was named for a renowned medieval Jewish philosopher named Moses ben Maimon, who did most of his work in Egypt – not coincidentally the birthplace of Zayat Stables and Maimonides’ owner, Ahmed Zayat.
Track announcers across America are already shuddering at the prospect of having to make that call in the races that lie ahead for this $4.6 million son of Vindication purchased in the 2006 Keeneland September sale. Imagine the dilemma in a 20-horse Derby.
It might be noble to have honored the colt with a distinguished name like Maimonides (which some in the press box thought was Hebrew for Rickey Henderson). But with a sire like Vindication and a dam named Silvery Swan, there certainly were more aesthetically viable options.
Classic Woodward
The Woodward is a favorite - if I could witness any race in history, it would be the 1967 Woodward, Buckpasser vs. Damascus vs. Dr. Fager.
