I am really looking forward to the Select yearling sale this evening. I have my favorites chosen! 
Livestream on Fasig Tipton.
First lot Bernardini colt $550,000.00
and DNRâŠ
Wagering and attendance thus far in the meet is doing well but on-site wagering is considered âflatâ - as of 8-6-12
All-sources handle, which includes wagers placed on-track from simulcast outlets, is $233,380,247, a daily average of $14,586,265, up 7.6 percent from 2011.
Ontrack handle totaled $48,208,874, an average of $3,013,055, up 0.7 percent from what was wagered last year.
Attendance through the first 16 days of the meet is 319,806, an average of 19,988 that is a 1.9 percent decrease from 2011.
Saratoga has conducted six more races (166 to 160) this year than it did during the first 16 days in 2011. The average betting interests per race is 8.5 compared with 8.6 in 2011.
Iâd be remiss to not go back and cite the success of the âGiant Killerâ at Saratoga over the weekend ⊠83-yr old trainer Allen Jerkens enjoyed his first Grade 1 win in five years following Emmaâs Encoreâs nipping victory in Saturdayâs Prioress Stakes.
The legendary Jerkens was cheered loudly by a legion of adoring fans after registering his first Grade 1 win since Miss Shop won the Personal Engisn five years earlier. The victory was also the second in succession for Emmaâs Encore, a daughter of Congrats, who captured the Grade 3 Victory Ride at odds of 39-1 at Belmont Park on July 7. Video - Allen Jerkens post race
Jerkens admitted to getting a little emotional after the race.
âThe support of the fans, thatâs nice. Thatâs what breaks me up,â said Jerkens. "It goes back to the days of Onion, Beau Purple, Admiral Vee.â
Video here: Grade 1 Prioress Stakes SAT 8-4-12
(That race is generally held at Belmont and in case anyone is wondering the mare Prioress never raced at Saratoga, rather in 1858 she became the first American Thoroughbred ever to win in England.)
The Saratoga Special in each daily issue has some words from The Chief (his other nickname) which are rather interesting to read. Case in point on the uber legendary Sonny Fitzsimmons: Aug 6, 2012 edition of the Special - The Chief⊠Day 14
âFitzsimmons would always say, âDonât knock yourself, because thereâs plenty of people out there who will do it for you.â He used to tell jocks, even when they (screwed) up, âWell, you rode him better than I would have.â He was a great trainer. A great trainer. He was the first guy who knew you had to kowtow to the owners, heâd say, âWell, Iâm going to ask Mr. Woodward, if we should put the blinkers on himâŠâ He covered all the bases. He was good with the press. He told Mr. Woodward, we might over-do it with these horses trying to get to all the distance races. Woodward said, âOnly you and I would know it.â I felt bad so bad in that Seabiscuit movie, they made him out to be a gruff old man, he was anything but that. They all used to say, he wasnât the best paying job, but first thing I noticed, when they had a horse come back from running, they would have six guys ready to wash him.â - Trainer Allen Jerkens
The coverage I watched of the first night of the Saratoga Fasig-Tipton auction just seemed like amateur hour with some of the bidders. A lot of confusion with bids, who was up, who was signaling, etc.
Just two nights of F-T auctioning and the 2nd night will be seen here LIVE video coverage (via DRF) here starting at 7pm EST
Results from night 1? Not great. The press deemed it a âsoft marketâ opening night. The highlight sales:
Maktoumâs crowd-pleasing $1 million bid was for the eventual session-topper, a colt by Maktoumâs stallion Street Cry and out of Canadian champion Serenading. Bidding paused when the crowd roared, then forged ahead until Maktoum landed the Hill ânâ Dale-consigned colt for $1.2 million. That equaled last yearâs highest price and was one of two seven-figure colts on Monday. The other, the Denali Stud agencyâs Empire Maker-Sluice colt, brought $1.1 million from Stonestreet Stables and George Bolton. The bay colt is a full brother to Grade 1 winner and millionaire Mushka, who topped this sale in 2006 at $1.6 million.
An interesting read - Barclay Tagg talks with Joe Clancy about his days working for the legendary trainer Frank Whitely (Damascus, Tom Rolfe, Forego, Ruffian, et al): âStories about a legendâ
On another occasion, after one of Foregoâs classic wins, Tagg and Whiteley were watching old Ben hose the old horse and Whiteley took a deep, philosophical breath.
âI did something I never did in my life, Barclay.â
âWhatâs that, Frank?â
âGave that old (so-and-so) a shot of Bute.â
Tagg spent a year working for Whiteley, watched him for decades. The Hall of Famer didnât have much use for needles, veterinarians, anything other than pure horsemanship.
âBefore the race? Frank, you canât do that.â
âHell no,â Whiteley retorted. âAfter the race. I wanted to make him comfortable. I felt sorry for him.â
Forego was a champion that year too.
Times Union 8/8/12 âGoats brighten Spa dark dayâ
B.G. is the second goat that Ritvo has had around the barn. They have a calming effect on horses, and itâs not uncommon to see them on the backstretch.
Ritvo has had nervous horses, and the goats have helped. But now, she said, none of her horses pay much attention to B.G. Mucho Macho Man doesnât want anything to do with him. If B.G. gets too close, Mucho Macho Man bites him and sends him packing.
Day 2 of the Fasig Tipton yearing sales rebounded last night
A Medaglia dâOro filly out of 2006 champion Wait a While brought $1,575,000 from Todd Pletcher Tuesday night to top the two-night auction, but the sale ended its run with a 6.3 percent loss in average price and a 10-percent decline in median price.
Pletcher declined to identify his client after signing for the sale-topper, whose current name is Wait No More.
In case anyone didnât match up the names, the death of noted film critic Judith Crist, âa Blunt and Influential Film Criticâ, age 90 - she is the Daily Racing Formâs Steve Cristâs mother.
Further doubt on Baffert trained Paynter being up for the Travers: (DRF) âwent to The Mid-Atlantic Equine Medical Center July 31â - current whereabouts unknown.
The current condition of Paynter, and his whereabouts, have been difficult to ascertain in recent days, because his connections have refused to disclose detailed information.
On Tuesday, in response to inquiries regarding Paynter to both Justin Zayat and owner Ahmed Zayat, Justin Zayat, who works closely with his father, Ahmed, said on Twitter that Paynter âis not dying or retiring.â Justin Zayat also said Paynter âis healthy and soundâ and added that the colt would be âtraining at Belmont this weekend,â but would not divulge his current whereabouts.
Speaking of the Travers Stakes (G1) on August 25th the security measures are increasing although not as onerous as the Belmont Stakes.
The rules will require all horses participating in the Aug. 25 race to be on the track grounds by Aug. 22. On that day, the horses will undergo out-of-competition drug testing.
Unlike the Belmont security procedures, which required horses to stay in a separate "stakesââ barn, horses in the Travers will remain in their trainersâ current barns and stalls, but will be monitored 24 hours a day by additional security personnel.
The racing board will also be provided details on veterinariansâ medications and treatments for all horses in the Travers beginning noon Aug. 22. The racing board will then post that information daily on its agency website.
Besides the disappearance of a separate stakes barn, the new rules, compared to the Belmont security protocols, also do not limit the types of people who can enter a barn area and do not require logs of people who might enter a barn area of a horse running in the Travers. The Belmont rule also required veterinarians to be escorted onto the grounds.
Wednesday Aug 8th feature race had My Miss Aurelia, the unbeaten champion 2-year-old filly of 2011, making her race return âŠ
Video replay: $100k ungraded Mandyâs Gold Stakes @ 6 1/2 furlongs
This afternoon at Saratoga (8-9-12) the rains are pouring down on the last few races but it was actually rather nice at the start of the day.
The first race, the steeplechase for the ladies as the Mrs. Ogden Phipps Stakes featured a grand old lady in her own right - the 12-yr old Sweet Shani who has been around forever.
Even Tom Durkin was pulling for the âold gray mareâ but she was carrying 155-lbs to the very lightly raced 4-yr old winner with just 136-lbs. You do the math and guess what impact that has in a 2 & 1/16 mile race. Sad to see the old gal robbed.
By the way, for those who thought because Hansen didnât hit the board in the West Virginia Derby he wonât go to Saratoga - think again 
âHansen is a go for the Traversâ
Dr. Kendall Hansen, owner of last yearâs 2-year-old champ Hansen, said the colt would be pointed to the Midsummer Derby here on Aug. 25.
Hansen, the all-white horse, finished a disappointing fourth in the $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park Sunday as the 3-5 favorite.
When he does come to the Spa, Dr. Hansen said that Hansen the horse will likely have a new jockey. He was ridden in the West Virginia Derby by Mike Smith.
âI just talked to (trainer) Mike (Maker) and he thinks we got a very bad ride,â Hansen said by cellphone from his home in Cincinnati Sunday. âHe sounded pretty upset. I like Mike Smith a lot, personally, I like the way he rides. I would ride him back, but I donât think Mike (Maker) wants him.â
Ramon got Hansen to rate comfortably off the lead in the Iowa Derby, which is exactly what Mike Maker wanted again, yet that plan was tossed out the window by Mike Smith.
As spied by Equidaily ⊠Assorted photos from the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale
A flashback to 1954 and the same auction when Boston sportswoman Eleo Sears. She owned at the time what is now Hickory Tree Farm in Middleburg, VA - but burned the mansion to the ground in the 1960âs out of spite for the high property taxes.
Sports Illustrated, August 23, 1954: âThe $75,000 Nodâ
But, for all of her athletic loves and talents, Eleo Sears is primarily a horsewoman. She has ridden for years with the Myopia Hunt ( Hamilton, Mass.), owned hunters and steeplechasers which have played important roles in the Madison Square Garden show. Now, as a septuagenarian, she is happily entering a new field with Hip No. 284: flat racing. Of her new baby, she said: âI hope he can run, but I donât know yet.â
The $75,000 paid for Hip No. 284 by Miss Sears equaled a Saratoga record established in 1928, when C.V.B. Cushman, bidding for a syndicate, paid that amount for a colt later named New Broom (which earned only $275 in its racing career). The highest U.S. yearling auction price on record is the $86,000 paid this July by F. J. Adams, Houston oil man, for a colt by Nasrullah out of a stakes-winning daughter of Alibhai named Lurline B. New Owner Adams, like New Owner Sears, was entering flat racing for the first time. There was one difference: Adams said, âI donât know much about horses.â
As spied by Equidaily ⊠Assorted photos from the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Sale
A flashback to 1954 and the same auction with a mega purchase by famed Boston sportswoman Eleo Sears owned what is now Hickory Tree Farm in Middleburg, VA. (She burned the mansion to the ground in the 1960âs out of spite for the high property taxes.)
Sports Illustrated, August 23, 1954: âThe $75,000 Nodâ
The lady gave a faint nod. Instantly, Finney bellowed out: â$75,000!â Swinebroad, getting set for the important last pitch, squirmed on his stool. The pitch was made to Jim Ryan, but Jim stood pat. As he gave a last imploring look around, Swinebroad heard one other noise. It was Hip No. 284, letting go with a long whinny.
The whinny broke the tension. Formally, Auctioneer Swinebroad addressed the colt: âShut up, you. Iâm doing all I can for you.â Then the hammer came down. The new owner, at $75,000, was Miss Eleonora R. Sears, of Prides Crossing, Mass. She had paid the highest price of the sale, second highest in U.S. yearling history.
âŠ
For all of her athletic loves and talents, Eleo Sears is primarily a horsewoman. She has ridden for years with the Myopia Hunt ( Hamilton, Mass.), owned hunters and steeplechasers which have played important roles in the Madison Square Garden show. Now, as a septuagenarian, she is happily entering a new field with Hip No. 284: flat racing. Of her new baby, she said: âI hope he can run, but I donât know yet.â
The $75,000 paid for Hip No. 284 by Miss Sears equaled a Saratoga record established in 1928, when C.V.B. Cushman, bidding for a syndicate, paid that amount for a colt later named New Broom (which earned only $275 in its racing career). The highest U.S. yearling auction price on record is the $86,000 paid this July by F. J. Adams, Houston oil man, for a colt by Nasrullah out of a stakes-winning daughter of Alibhai named Lurline B. New Owner Adams, like New Owner Sears, was entering flat racing for the first time. There was one difference: Adams said, âI donât know much about horses.â
For those wondering, $75,000 in 1954 would cost $601,294.76 in 2010. It is unknown what became of the colt Ms. Sears purchased.
National Racing and Hall of Fame induction ceremonies are Friday - LIVE on line
LIVE LINK HERE starting at 10:30 a.m. EST
Inductees: jockey John Velazquez, trainers Roger Attfield and Robert Wheeler and Thoroughbreds Ghostzapper and (via the Historic Review Committee) Planet. Also Anthony Hamilton, who rode from 1881-1904 will also go in, having been elected by the Historic Review Committee.
Tom Durkin will emcee the ceremonies, but Daily Racing Formâs Steven Crist will not deliver the keynote speech due the death earlier in the week of his mother, Judith. No replacement was named.
The big race coinciding with the induction is the 9th race off at 5:30pm EST
Grade 2, $200,000 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame
3-year-olds on the turf.
PP., Horse, Jockey, Weight, Odds
- Shkspeare Shaliyah (FL), I. Ortiz, Jr., 119, D Shivmangal, 20-1
- Yari (KY), R. Napravnik, 119, C C Brown, 7-2
- Csaba (KY), J.R. Leparoux, 115, P A Gleaves, 4-1
- Skyring (KY), J. Rosario, 119, D W Lukas, 3-1
- Optimizer (KY), J. Alvarado, 115, D W Lukas, 3-1
- Spring to the Sky (KY), J. Castellano, 115, B R Brown, 12-1
- Quick Wit (KY), C.J. Lanerie, 115, D L Romans, 8-1
- Daddy Nose Best (KY), R.A. Dominguez, 115, S M Asmussen, 2-1
- Raconteur (KY) (MTO), TBA, 122, T A Pletcher, 5-1
Skyring and Optimizer will run as a coupled entry
Pedigreequery - I know, not the best authority - lists Neocracyâs sole foal by Tudor Minstrel as Tudorka (1953).
Equibase has sparse info on just about any horse foaled before 1990. Itâs surprising they have any racing record on him.
[QUOTE=WhiteCamry;6491076]
Pedigreequery - I know, not the best authority - lists Neocracyâs sole foal by Tudor Minstrel as Tudorka (1953).[/QUOTE]
Cool for chasing that down!
With the horseâs name I found these follow ups
Sports Illustrated Aug 22, 1955 âEvents & Discoveriesâ
AUCTIONS REVISITED
Back at the latest Saratoga thoroughbred auctionsâand once more actively bidding in likely yearlings (see page 42)âwas trim and white-haired Eleonora R. Sears of Prides Crossing, Mass., who started assembling a racing stable at Saratoga last year at the age of 72. Since then she has spent approximately $800,000 for an assortment of both foreign and home-bred thoroughbreds.
One of these was a $75,000 colt by Tudor Minstrel out of Neocracy which Miss Sears has named Tudorka. It would be pleasant to report that Tudorka looks like the current 2-year-old champion; instead, it must be announced that this $75,000 package has never started a race. At present he has bucked shins, but may be ready for some fall racing.
Miss Sears, it seems, has had singularly bad luck in her first year in the game. âBad luck?â she said the other afternoon at the races, âIâve had stinking luck. But I have really no complaints. I knew what racing was when I got into it, and I admit Iâve had a lot of fun. Just because you lose a match [when Miss Sears, in her youth, wasnât walking, riding or swimming, she was collecting tennis and squash titles] doesnât mean you quit playing the game. Iâve had a couple of winners, but I guess Iâd like a few moreâjust like anybody else in racing. Yes, I bought some more yearlings this week; I got one filly by Pavot for $4,000. Who knows, she may turn out to be much better than my $75,000 colt or the Blue Peter colt Iâve just paid $43,000 for. Buying yearlings is a gamble-all racing is a gambleâand I suppose youâve got to be something of a gambler to have fun in it. Iâm having fun.â
Additionally: Sports Illustrated - June 17, 1957 - âScoreboardâ
[Jockey Eddie] Arcaro also helped patience pay off for Miss Eleonora Sears, who waited three long years for winning dividend on $75,000 nod which brought her Tudorka, half-brother of famed stallion Tulyar, at Saratoga yearling sales (SI, Aug. 23, 1954). In fourth start, Tudorka was rushed to front by Arcaro, stayed there long enough to win first race and $2,730 purse.
Ultimately he had just 5 starts (1 - 2 - 1) and $4,580 earned at the track.
From the Middleburg, Virginia article on Sports Illustrated (which is an interesting read): SI February 11, 1963 - âA Rampart Of Pedigreeâ
Geographically, Middleburg has existed since 1787, when one Leven Powell, a politician and Revolutionary War officer who fell sick at Valley Forge and went home, founded and subdivided the town and named its streets after every Federalist he could think of. Middleburg still hews to Powellâs politics, going Republican in the last four presidential elections, but Miss Eleonora Sears is allowed to raise racehorses with impunity on a Middleburg farm despite the fact she is a great-great-granddaughter of Thomas Jefferson, whom Powell could not abide.
Aside â
The largestâand, oddly, the most exclusiveâof the three Middleburg hunts is the Orange County. It is sometimes known as the Toothbrush Hunt, because of a rule that limits guest riders to those who are visiting the homes of bona fide members (who incidentally must own at least 200 acres within the limits of the huntâs territory).
Ah the old days
Fridayâs card because of the pouring rains is completely off the turf - even the National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame S. (Grade II) - which may lose its graded status for this one edition. A few scratches but it allows a MTO entry to draw in and with it Jonny V. - freshly inducted today - to ride in the namesake race aboard Raconteur.
Optimizer and Daddy Nose Best both are still in the race.
The National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes being off the turf - and bit longer - and on the very sloppy main track didnât help the D. Wayne Lukas trained Blue Grass Hall runners of Optimizer & Skyring.
It was Rajiv Maragh pulling the upset with Quick Wit and Julien Leparoux aboard Csaba (having given up the mount on Daddy Nose Best - who finished a distant third) took a tight 2nd ⊠missing victory by about a head.
Saturday kicks off the NBC Sports coverage of the Saratoga Season!
Saturday, August 11 - 6:00-7:00 PM ET
NBC Sports Network
Grade 2, $500,000 Fourstardave Handicap
The Fourstardave - unfortunately no longer lead in the post parade by âDaveâ himself since his passing - looks to be cracker of a fine race! Itâs been shortened up in distance this year but the talent poured in. Itâs certainly a race to watch!
PP. Horse. A/S Jockey Trainer Wgt
- Data Link. 4/C Alex O. Solis Claude R. McGaughey III 121-lbs
- Wise Dan. 5/G John R. Velazquez Charles Lopestri 119-lbs
- Get Stormy. 6/H Eddie Castro Thomas M. Bush 120-lbs
- Guys Reward. 5/H Corey J. Lanerie Dale L. Romans 118-lbs
- Right One (Fr). 6/G Julien R. Leparoux Christophe Clement 116-lbs
- Surfrider (Ire). 4/C Jose Lezcano Eddie Kenneally 115-lbs
- Corporate Jungle. 4/C Javier J. Castellano Chad C. Brown 116-lbs
- Upgrade. 5/G Joel Rosario Michelle Nihei 116-lbs
- Yield Bogie. 8/G Edgar S. Prado Patrick J. Kelly 114-lbs
Main Track Only
10. Crossbow. 4/C Ramon A. Dominguez Kiaran P. McLaughlin 120-lbs
Video replay: SPA 8-10-12 "National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes
As noted, the race was listed a Grade 2 if it was held on the turf - but it was taken off and run main track which puts the grade in doubt
