[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2614042]
Fri 5th Race (3:08 EST) include Hesanoldsalt, Malibu Moonshine, Student Council, and Minister’s Bid.
For those who forgot, last year Minister’s Bid finished 2nd to Bernardini in the 2006 Jim Dandy - in what was just his 3rd career start! The Bid name link comes from him being by Deputy Minister out of Princess Pietrina (by Spectacular Bid).[/QUOTE]
Solid race!
1 - Minister’s Bid (by a few lengths)
2 - Hesanoldsalt
3 - Evening Attire (a distant 3rd)
There was just no catching Minister’s Bid today and Hesanoldsalt was clearly second best.
I was glad to see Evening Attire rally down the stretch and hit the board after getting left at the break.
Is CP West out of the Travers? It is possible he could still run, but Zito is suggesting he was too drained from the Jim Dandy
Zito said: “He had a tough race in the Jim Dandy. Right now, he’s physically sound. I may give him a solid six-furlong work, just like before the Jim Dandy, and see how he comes out of it. If everything continues to go well, there’s a chance he could go in the Travers.”
So with no AGS, no Curlin, no Hard Spun, no CP West, no Rags to Riches, it makes you wonder if Todd won’t step in with one of his two other stellar fillies - Octave or Panty Raid - for the Travers and the other in the Alabama? It would again generate buzz for the race and with such a small field it would be just like the Belmont with little to lose.
Deja vu - yet again for John Velazquez!
From Saturday August 11
In the Saratoga Sunrise, Tommasi stumbled badly at the break, unseating jockey John Velazquez. Velazquez, who quickly got up, has been unseated five times in the first 16 days of the meet, yet is uninjured. Still, halfway through Saturday’s card, Velazquez was in a four-way tie atop the jockey standings with 15 wins.
Your man is golden when he stays on the horse … 
Flashback to last week when this was a topic:
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2617633]
1 - Minister’s Bid (by a few lengths)
2 - Hesanoldsalt
3 - Evening Attire (a distant 3rd)[/QUOTE]
On the heels of Fri Aug 10th’s allowance race with such strong success (a 97 Beyer fig was given to him) in winning it, Minister’s Bid is now likely going to be pointed to the Grade 1 $750,000 Jockey Club Gold Cup (Sep 30) at Belmont with eyes fixed on the Breeders’ Cup. If he wins the JCGC then he’s “in” with an auto entry via the ‘win and you’re in’ status of that race.
Minister’s Bid (7 starts 5-1-0 lifetime) is again by Deputy Minister out of Princess Pietrina (by Spectacular Bid) so it appears some of The Bid is there in more then just name alone!
Regarding his off the board effort, last year at age 3 in the 2006 Travers Stakes against Bernardini:
Prior to the Travers, assistant trainer Donna Ward said a fast work had Minister’s Bid “too wound up” for the race. Further, Ward said Minister’s Bid was bothered by a bee that was above his stall in the race-day security barn.
Ward said Minister’s Bid got so mad that day that he had her husband, trainer John Ward, pinned up against the wall in the stall. The Wards think that Minister’s Bid basically left his race in the security barn.
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2618376]
So with no AGS, no Curlin, no Hard Spun, no CP West, no Rags to Riches, it makes you wonder if Todd won’t step in with one of his two other stellar fillies - Octave or Panty Raid - for the Travers and the other in the Alabama? It would again generate buzz for the race and with such a small field it would be just like the Belmont with little to lose.[/QUOTE]
Since it looks like there is going to be a small field for the Travers, maybe The Green Monkey should run in it. If only a few horses are entered, this could be his chance to hit the board and pick up a check in a Grade 1 race. 
An all time record - technically - for paid attendance …
Final number: Saratoga Attendance Sunday August 12, 2007: 72,745
Although I suspect finding room in the grandstand was shocking not that hard to do I’m always amazed at the spinners who ratchet up the paid numbers in exchange for bits of kitch like today’s lawnchair giveaway with paid admission. I’m sure the true number of people just there for the race was more like 30,000.
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2622316]
Any additional updates on Testament the horse from the 1st race on Sunday?[/QUOTE]
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more_sports/2007/08/13/2007-08-13_the_day_at_the_races-2.html
[QUOTE=miss_critic;2622386]
Curlin to skip Travers[/QUOTE]
Fully expected as Steve was already before the Haskell pretty much saying - if you read between the lines - no way. Curlin in the Jockey Club Gold Cup up against the likes of Minister’s Bid is rather an interesting scene! Minister’s Bid at 4-yrs old is no slouch.
I still want to petition Todd to put one of his two fillies running in the Alabama into the Travers 
Thanks, Onthefarm, for the NY Daily News link not just for the update on Testament but for this great tid bit
The Green Monkey, the record $16 million purchase, continues to prepare for his debut, breezing five furlongs in 1:00.62 at Belmont Park. The work was the seventh-fastest from 42 at the distance. There’s a chance he may make his debut at the end of the Saratoga meeting. “It will be close …,” trainer Todd Pletcher said.
Hey it looks like some of the mojo is back with speed.
Who else (besides Street Sense) is expected to be in the Travers? 
We keep hearing about all the horses that won’t be in the race, but not the ones who will.
Any buzz about this from the Saratoga folks?
[QUOTE=ravenclaw;2622446]
Who else (besides Street Sense) is expected to be in the Travers? We keep hearing about all the horses that won’t be in the race, but not the ones who will.[/QUOTE]
An almost certain entry is Phipps Stables owned and Shug McGaughey trained, Sightseeing. He finished third to Street Sense in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy Stakes on July 29.
Here is the image of the cowboy-off leap by John V from Tommasi. The hose finished the race sans jockey …
[equidaily.com spied the caught on camera photo in the Times Union blog from Saratoga]
Nominations for the Travers:
Nominations to the $1-million Travers closed Aug. 11 with the following 24 horses listed: Any Given Saturday, C P West, Cable Boy, Cowtown Cat, Curlin, First Defence, For You Reppo, Grasshopper, Helsinki, Imawildandcrazyguy, Loose Leaf, Most Distinguished, Moyer’s Pond, Octave, Panty Raid, Pavarotti, Rags to Riches, Sam P., Sightseeing, Silver Express, Street Sense, Teuflesberg, Timber Reserve, and Tiz Wonderful.
So - again to bang ths drum yet again - Todd could pull a last minute switch and move one of the two fillies into the Travers if the race comes up fairly light!
Right now if I was Todd I sure as heck would be looking to snag the Alabama with Octave and a solid piece of the action in the Travers with Panty Raid!
Still holding on to that lead ! Will we see Bill Mott take the Saratoga Trainers Award for 2007 as he did for many years ago before the Pletcher machine?
As of Wednesday’s start for the Saratoga meet:
Trainers <> Starts <> 1st <> 2nd <> 3rd <> Win % <> Top 3 % <> Earnings
Bill Mott :::::::: 45 starters – 13 W – 6 P – 8 S <> 28.89 % Wins <>60.00 % <> $1,011,840
Todd Pletcher :: 58 starters – 9 W – 2 P – 10 S <> 15.52 % Wins <> 36.21 % <> $1,116,487
What determines Trainers Award? $ or %?
Trainer and jockey awards are for most wins.
Latest at www.bloodhorse.com is that Any Given Saturday will become part of the ever growing Team Darley after the Breeders’ Cup.
If I were Hard Spun I’d be afraid, very afraid with E Z Warrior pointed to the Kings Bishop as well. Baffert’s ex Del Mar runner E Z Warrior is - like the rest of the Zayat’s crew - hungry for top soil under his feet. Wednesday morning he flew through a five-furlong workout in 59.53 second. Making it the fastest of 37 horses working at the distance.
E Z Warrior, with Rafael Bejarano up and blinkers on, worked in company with the 4-year-old maiden Pescatorio, a son of Storm Cat. E Z Warrior started three lengths behind Pescatorio, and finished one length in front.
Per ESPN/DRF: those also expected to run in the King’s Bishop include First Defence, Hard Spun, King of the Roxy, Most Distinguished, Spin Master, and Teuflesberg.
Cowtown Cat, while nominated to the Travers but never was under any true consideration, will instead enter the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Sept. 3rd.
Today [Wed Aug 15th] Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes for 2-yr old fillies just was wretched for poor Phantom Income, sent off at odds of 2-1, robbed of any chance with a gate malfunction. She had won her maiden by 10-lengths, but this race she was determined a non-starter ultimately due to having been given an unfair start. Accordingly big refunds paid out by NYRA.
Per the DRF ‘More Happy’ scores for Baffert:
Phantom Income was acting up in the gate, and she leapt up in the air as starter Richard Brosseau opened the gates while an assistant starter was attempting to assist the filly and her jockey, Eibar Coa.
The New York Racing Association refunded $594,995 in wagers involving Phantom Income. In three separate incidents at this meet, NYRA has refunded more than $1.5 million.
“I don’t think either the horse or the [assistant starter] was ready for us to go, and they pulled the trigger anyway,” Coa said. “I couldn’t really blame anybody at that point because my horse was acting up a little bit.”
The video of the race availble here
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