I swore it was a dead heat! Watched the replay a few times, could have gone either way but those nostrils damn sure looked matched! What a day for Sheppard/Crowley!!!
Mabou got claimed:(
I was incorrect on the above. He won’t go to the top with 2 starts 2-0-0 at Saratoga as his first win was at the Open House and that doesn’t count towards horse-trainer-jockey-owner stats for the meet. Sorry Royal Rossi about that regardless the win today by a true sliver of a nose was sensational.
At least Crowley has a damn fine amount of loot in his pocket from winning races 1 & 2 on today’s card.
[b]Another wow wow wow race at the Spa!
The Birdstone Stakes ended up being one hell of a slugfest from the backside to the finish![/b] Damn!! Neither was going to give up. More guts and determination were shown in that race than any of the TC races this year.
I won’t spoil it but will post the video when available.
Nice to see that some of Lad’s family knows how to run!!!
Great job “Lil Roo”
~Emily
(BTW, wanna see an impressive list… look who he’s been second to in his career… Lots of Great horses)
The best I can do for providing a replay right now - see at right on the link - the $75k Birdstone Stakes
Watch it! You won’t be disappointed
As an aside because we’re citing Birdstone Marylou Whitney and hubby John Hendricks got in a charity bidding war which each other and ended up spending a small fortune to benefit the Saratoga Hospital Foundation. Saratoga will certainly miss her when she is gone …
Reminder - Versus (aka “NBC Sports Network”) is airing now live SUNDAY August 7th:
Alfred G. Vanderbilt (Grade 1) for 3-year-olds and up run at 6 furlongs on the main track.
Purse: $250,000. TV: VERSUS (5-6 p.m. EST)
The field
PP Horse Jockey Trainer Odds
1 Noble’s Promise A.Garcia McPeek 8-1
2 Bank Merger Leparoux bin Suroor 10-1
3 Atta Boy Roy Castanon Lund 15-1
4 Hamazing Destiny Lezcano Lukas 5-1
5 Calibrachoa Castellano Pletcher 8-1
6 Sean Avery Bravo Iwinski 20-1
7 Apriority Dominguez Fawkes 3-1
8 Trappe Shot Velazquez McLaughlin 7-5
Also to be aired live the $150,000 Honorable Miss Handicap.
That should be a mortal lock for the hard charging 6-yr old, Tar Heel Mom!
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;5763343]
Also to be aired live the $150,000 Honorable Miss Handicap.
That should be a mortal lock for the hard charging 6-yr old, Tar Heel Mom![/QUOTE]
Who just as a reminder is Scrappy T’s little half sister!!! (Same dam…duh)
~Emily
Tar Heel Mom is something else!
Am cursing my lack of Versus for the Vanderbilt. :no: I have a soft spot for Atta Boy Roy. :lol:
Also to be aired live the $150,000 Honorable Miss Handicap. That should be a mortal lock for the hard charging 6-yr old, Tar Heel Mom!
Class act. She brings her game to the races and just rocks the house. Wasn’t the wagering favorite but was mine 
Race play - G2 Honorable Miss at Spa - a wicked six furlongs in 1:10.42!
Hmm “Jersey Joe” Bravo is brought in from Monmouth to ride a long shot … whatdaya think is gonna happen
Race replay: Grade 1, $250,000 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap
Hint hint … if you look at the G2 Honorable Miss just before it: take the lead and never give up running to the wire … its a good strategy 
[QUOTE=Flashy Gray VA;5763389]
I have a soft spot for Atta Boy Roy.[/QUOTE]
Valorie Lund, with the piece done on Versus, doesn’t ship him cross country via flight rather old school trailer with a big pit bull dog. I think they cited something like 20,000 miles in being hauled around! Wow.
Anyhow - just to catch folks on Saturday’s big race with Marylou Whitney on hand to present the trophy with 34,412 on hand! 
Video replay: Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Invitational Handicap"
Props to Finger Lakes noted trainer H. James Bond - Mr. “007” saddle cloths!
My daughter galloped for him a few years ago at Palm Meadows and she said it was her best gig ever! We live and work in his stomping grounds and are very proud of him. Okay, I’m very proud. I loved his emotional response!
Rick Porter (Fox Hill Farm) is indicating that Havre de Grace may take on Blind Hill at Saratoga. Aug. 28th is the Personal Ensign Stakes, which is the day after the Travers Stakes. NYRA has not made any indication they’ll bump the purses from $300k to $600k as initially requested by Porter to get HdG in that race.
August 7, 2011
Larry and I spent quite a bit of time talking about the best spot for Havre de Grace’s next race yesterday morning after watching a couple of my horses breeze. We now think that the Personal Ensign is probably our best spot because it gives us more time until the prep races at Belmont October 1st. That would set us up perfectly for the Breeders’ Cup Classic or the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic. Nothing is etched in stone yet, but this looks like the game plan that Larry and I agree on.
Proof that sometimes less is more:
Wagering at Saratoga Race Course, on-track, downstate, and across the country, continues to outpace 2010 totals through week three of the meet (16 days), according to The New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA). Attendance was up through Saturday but is now down because of one less giveaway day so far this year.
[b]Attendance through week three (16 days) was 325,809, down 5.4 percent from 344,252 in 2010.
On-track handle totaled $47,896,094, up 7.7 percent from $44,463,694 last year.[/b]
Wagering at the downstate Belmont Café and Aqueduct simulcast facilities was $7,938,916, resulting in a combined on-track handle of $55,835,010, up 14.1 percent from $48,924,020 in 2010.
All-sources handle, which includes wagers on Saratoga races both on-track and from simulcast outlets nationwide, was $216,977,480, up 1.0 percent from $214,748,425 in 2010.
Average betting interests per race through week three were 8.6 (1,372 total) compared to 8.5 (1,311 total) for the first 16 days of 2010. Turf races totaled 65 with 12 taken off the turf, compared to 70 on and 12 off in 2010.
On Friday August 12th HRTV will air the 2011 National Racing Hall of Fame and Museum induction services. The race named in its honor is race 7 a Grade 2 Turf race
Tomorrow - Wed Aug 10th - race 1 will have Silver Timber the 8-yr old is in the $44k race with a $50k claiming tag. He’s making his 41st career start and comes off two prior graded races (a G2 and G3) where he finished 8th. I still like the old man a lot and hope he can return in form.
Video: NYRA - Uncle Mo’s work this am in prep for the King’s Bishop
A feisty Mo worked 5f in company with Caixa Eletronica, who had won the Grade 3 Westchester.
^^^ Repole: “we’re getting closer …”
Hmmmmm.
Let the conspiracy theorists try to interpret that comment!
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;5767018]
Tomorrow - Wed Aug 10th - race 1 will have Silver Timber the 8-yr old is in the $44k race with a $50k claiming tag. He’s making his 41st career start and comes off two prior graded races (a G2 and G3) where he finished 8th. I still like the old man a lot and hope he can return in form.[/QUOTE]
I saw that, too. They did so much with him after the claim. Love him as well - my partnership horse, who I now have, used to race against him a couple of years ago. If he’s done, I just wish they’d give him a grand retirement. He is a nifty horse - loved those Batman black blinkers and the way he could scramble.
And class (plus heart) prevails with the 1st at Saratoga: Silver Timber puts a few lengths between himself and the field at the wire.
Loved it - especially that gutsy move on the rail. He looks in great shape still!
Thursday Aug 11th’s Steeplechase Race: $70,000 Mrs. Ogden Phipps, which is the first steeplechase stakes race for fillies and mares ever run at historic Saratoga Race Course.
The race is named in honor of Lillian Bostwick Phipps - a leading steeplechase owner from the 1950s into the 1970s. Sister of Racing Hall of Fame jockey George A. “Pete” Bostwick, she campaigned two Hall of Fame steeplechase horses, Oedipus and Neji. Mrs. Phipps was the champion steeplechase owner 11 times, in 1950-51, 1954-57, 1965-67, and 1969-70. She also was the mother of socialite designer Lilly Pulitzer
PDF - Entries here for all 9 horses - Race 1, Post Time 1pm EST
