I think Garcia did the best he could with Vineyard in the Bishop. He was being challenged by Captain Candyman and his horse was tiring, so he switched whip hands. He tried to hold him off with the left rein. Just bad luck.
And that horse paddles with his right fore like a Mississippi riverboat!
I agree, VH would have been beaten if he didn’t knock the other horse off his stride. He ran a great race, though!
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;4339770]
Godolphin are tearing it up stateside these days. Would have had a nice triple today at the Spa if it wasn’t for the jock on Vineyard Haven.
QUOTE]
Alan Garcia is a hell of a good young jockey (IMO). You can see on the head-on replay that he was leaning hard to the left when he felt the horse veer, and he grabbed for the left rein but just couldn’t get it in his hand quickly enough to be effective.
He’ll learn from this experience.
Replays
On the Thoroughbred Times homepage: scroll towards the bottom for links to all the major stakes replays (North American only).
Follow-up on Travers non-finisher … (from the DRF)
Our Edge, who was eased after setting the pace while wearing two bar shoes, grabbed two quarters and lost his left front shoe, according to trainer Nick Zito.
Summer Bird will next go to the Jockey Club Gold Cup (Grade 1) at Belmont before likely going to the Breeders’ Cup Classic
From the Times Union 8-30-09 “Proving doubters wrong”
Marylou Whitney, the grand dame of the Spa City, walked slowly into the winner’s circle with husband John Hendrickson after the great race.
“The birds are chirping today,” the Saratoga socialite said in a quiet voice.
You got that right, Marylou. The biggest bird of them all, a handsome bay colt named Summer Bird, was doing all of it. Summer Bird, a son of the Whitney-owned Birdstone, creamed the other six horses in the Travers.
On a cold, rainy afternoon that gave the feel of fall – and drew a crowd of 34,221, the smallest Travers crowd in 30 years – Summer Bird served notice that he indeed is one of the best 3-year-olds in the country. Well, colts.
Miss Isella runs today in the 10th race …
From the Times Union article:
You got that right, Marylou. The biggest bird of them all, a handsome bay colt named Summer Bird, was doing all of it.
Huh, he looks like a chestnut to me. 
I see chestnut, too.
I once told someone my horse was an Arabian and they said, “Is that why it has those black legs?”
He’s chestnut. I saw him today, he’s still chestnut.
As an aside and a bit amusing go to the Saratoga Special for 8-30 (pdf) and then go to page 36 of 40.
Who is that jockey in the Aqueduct win photo for the 5th race Feb 23, 1983 aboard ‘Shamstar’? Steve Asmussen, yep the trainer back when he was a jockey. If you look at how big Steve is today you wonder how he was able to big jockey even then. Of course Bob Baffert was a jockey at one time too.
[QUOTE=colliemom;4340157]
Alan Garcia is a hell of a good young jockey (IMO). You can see on the head-on replay that he was leaning hard to the left when he felt the horse veer, and he grabbed for the left rein but just couldn’t get it in his hand quickly enough to be effective.
He’ll learn from this experience.[/QUOTE]
Well not only was Alan/Vineyard Haven DQ’d in the King’s Bishop, Garcia has been suspended by NYRA for 7 days as of result of that ride too! NYRA said Alan was exhibiting “careless riding” hence the suspension which he’s going to appeal.
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;4341130]
Miss Isella runs today in the 10th race …[/QUOTE]
So, how did she do?
[QUOTE=rcloisonne;4342177]
So, how did she do?[/QUOTE]
Replay here of the Grade 1 Personal Ensign
It was an absolute romp … but sadly not by Miss Isella [4th] who didn’t hug the rail as expected with Calvin. Rather Icon Project took the race by 13-1/2 lengths with Julien Leparoux up. Oddly enough a bit of deja vu with ‘Icon’ as she had a 13-length victory in June in just her first career dirt start - the Grade 3 New York Stakes at Belmont Park.
We had a great time at the track Saturday. The racing was great despite the weather, and to be perfectly honest, the weather really increased MY enjoyment of the day- I can’t take excessive heat and I get squirrelly in crushing crowds.
I say this every year but it bears repeating- the employees at Saratoga are, without fail, the danged nicest folks in customer service anywhere. Everyone, from the guy sweeping up discarded tickets to the security at the paddock, is blindingly kind, patient, friendly and knowledgeable. Maybe it’s the air, maybe it’s the water, who knows, but it’s always SUCH a pleasure to talk to these folks, even if it’s just saying “Hi”, because it’s obvious how much they really love working there.
Salve Germania was certainly the talk of the day- up until the King’s Bishop, anyway. Her antics from the paddock to the gate were impressive to say the least, and when she pulled that magic act in the middle of the track to get up at the wire, I thought the old boys club seated behind me was going to have a collective coronary. If racing doesn’t work out for her, she could have a heck of a future in Vegas as an entertainer.
[QUOTE=FatDinah;4339936]
I think Garcia did the best he could with Vineyard in the Bishop. He was being challenged by Captain Candyman and his horse was tiring, so he switched whip hands. He tried to hold him off with the left rein. Just bad luck.
And that horse paddles with his right fore like a Mississippi riverboat![/QUOTE]
That horse has some of the ugliest movement i’ve ever seen on an upright animal of any species. I don’t agree that Garcia did his best- seemed to me that VH lunged right the instant he switched to a left whip, and he just kept hitting him left handed. He didn’t grab that rein until VH was climbing CCC. I just saw that he’s been suspended for it, and I think that was the right decision. He’s a nice young rider and he’ll certainly learn from this.
Summer Bird did exactly what I expected he’d do in the Travers. I’d like to thank him, Hold Me Back and Music Note in the ballerina for making my day profitable as well as enjoyable.
Who’s going to the Woodward? I’m thinking about driving up for the day but as of now don’t have any company- my Fiance is a trooper, but he’s out of enthusiasm for 4 hour car rides to see two minute spectacles at the moment.
I don’t mean Garcia was NOT at fault, he deserved the DQ and maybe the suspension.
I was trying to say that I didn’t think he meant for it to happen, that he wasn’t deliberately slamming into the other horse. By the look on his face after, you could tell he knew he was in trouble.
Is there a tape/replay that shows Salve’s antics? What about Quality Road dummping JV? It really looked more like he decided, time to get off here and let them shove him in that gate.
FatDinah - as you likely know running today in the 9th race the feature “Saratoga Dew Stakes” is My Dinah … a connection?
Earlier in the day the 4th race was the Mollie Wilmot Stakes for F/M 3-yrs and up. Marylou Whitney’s Stone Legacy sadly only took second. Its a shame as Marylou was best friends with the late Mollie Wilmot (among her ex’s was Albert C. Bostwick) who was one of thoe socialities of whom Hollywood couldn’t even make up! She truly was the stuff of legend and was a huge Saratoga fan and horse charity supporter albeit less visible then MLW
Her obit from 2002 Mollie Wilmot Dies; Socialite Played Host to a Freighter - cites the oft recalled tale of being aloof yet something charming about it
Mrs. Wilmot rose to prominence the day after Thanksgiving in 1984, when a maid awakened her. Madame had callers to her one-acre oceanfront estate, next door to the estate of Rose Kennedy on North Ocean Boulevard Drive.
‘‘I thought it was the man who was coming to photograph my home for Town and Country,’’ she said in an interview in The New York Times.
Instead, in a town that reveres privacy, it was visitors who arrived unannounced – something frequent visitors like the Duke and Duchess of Windsor just would not do.
‘‘Let’s have coffee first,’’ Mrs. Wilmot said with a sigh.
She finally padded out to the patio in her dressing gown to find a 197-foot Venezuelan freighter pounding her seawall into concrete chips. A freak tropical storm had driven the ship, a rust bucket named the Mercedes, hard against her wall.
She overcame her dread of escaping Venezuelan rats and served finger sandwiches, caviar and coffee to the crew of 10, and martinis to the journalists who showed up.
She also fed the ship’s cat, which the crew later gave to her. The cat, by then known as Mollie Mercedes, was passed on to her neighbors, the Pulitzer family, who sent it to the beauty parlor for a thorough fluffing and then outfitted it in velvet collars decorated with gold.
Caviar and martinis for breakfast?
I am so hopelessly bourgeois.
Could they not find a picture of young Stevie A in the winner’s circle upon a horse which wasn’t ultimately DQ’d?
Groom-turned-trainer Jacqueline Oleanik is positively fetching in that photo, no? Work that camera, girl.
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;4344096]
Could they not find a picture of young Stevie A in the winner’s circle upon a horse which wasn’t ultimately DQ’d?
Groom-turned-trainer Jacqueline Oleanik is positively fetching in that photo, no? Work that camera, girl. ;)[/QUOTE]
Of that win photo no one looks over 18 and if the three of them walked into a bar the last thing you would’ve guessed is that they worked at the track. The satin baseball jacket, sneakers and jeans of that picture and you just know blarring in the background was Steve Perry’s vocals with Journey
And yes only Mollie (with her trademark oversized white sunglasses on) would’ve served a crew of ship wrecked sailors caviar and martinis. Come now that was old Palm Beach with standards!
Mollie’s philanthropic beneficiaries included the National Museum of Racing, equine research at Cornell University’s veterinary college, and a radiation oncology center (now named for her) in Saratoga Springs. Some of the articles on her were as funky as she such as this from 1993 in the NYT when she was still 60+
“Marvelous . . . Divine . . . This is my look!” Mrs. Wilmot said in a voice grown husky by years of cheering her thoroughbreds home at the Saratoga track. She floated from room to room with the man in her life, Charles Washburn, a collector of autographs. Mrs. Wilmot wore her trademark white sunglasses and the colors of her racing silks – black leggings, black spike heels and white ruffled shirt. Her Saratoga home is one door down from the St. George house.
Looks like going back to KY and reportedly attending AA hasn’t helped. Further he is not in good standing with NYRA to ride Monday in what would’ve been a promising race long term …
Sep 2, 2009 “Mena jailed overnight after DUI arrest”
Jockey Miguel Mena was arrested and jailed Tuesday night in Louisville, Ky., for driving under the influence, his second alcohol-related incident in the last several weeks.
On Aug. 1, Mena missed a morning flight to ride Soul Warrior, the eventual winner of the $750,000 West Virginia Derby at Mountaineer Park, following a night of partying in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., where his Saratoga meet had peaked with a victory aboard Backtalk in the July 30 Sanford Stakes. Dale Beckner picked up the ride on Soul Warrior.
Mena, a 22-year-old native of Peru, rode in two more races at Saratoga before returning to Louisville, where he has a home. He had ridden in recent weeks at Ellis Park in Henderson, Ky., where into Friday he had won with 7 of 59 mounts. Mena told the Louisville Courier-Journal in a story on Aug. 24 that he had been regularly attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.
Mena was released after being arraigned Wednesday morning. His agent, Steve Elzey, said the DUI charge will not prevent Mena from continuing to ride races. Mena is named to ride in seven of the eight races carded Friday at Ellis.
The Saratoga stewards on Wednesday said Mena is not currently eligible to ride in New York, meaning Backtalk will need a new rider for the Grade 1 Hopeful Stakes on Monday.
Last steeplechase race today of the meet: The Paul R. Fout @ 2 1/16 mi for $70k. Eight entries will line up for the 1pm EST start.
The trainer standings are tied and it will be a battle down to the wire. Linda Rice v. Todd Pletcher and Todd has more bullets left in the holster but his aim hasn’t been as efficent
Saratoga Special 9-3-09 “On The Run With Linda Rice” - Sean Clancy
Tied at 16, Pletcher and Rice have used different guns to reach the same result. Pletcher saddled his 103rd starter of the meet Wednesday. Rice sent out her 48th. Wildly, Pletcher picked up his 21st second of the meet Wednesday. Rice has two. Thursday, Pletcher has a chance to win six races; Rice naturally has three.
"I looked at the entries and thought ‘I’m in trouble the next few days,’ " Rice said. “He’s got lots of nice horses, but I can’t complain, it’s been a great meet, if it ended today, it’s been a great meet, I’m very happy, I’d be crazy to be anything but.”
There’s the rub. In anything competitive, there’s a fine line between being content and being frustrated. Resting and yearning. Rice can feel content for getting this close or she can feel like this might be her only chance. Should she appreciate being tied or should she be thinking ‘when will this chance present itself again?’
“Maybe never. That’s the hard part. Who knows if I’ll ever get this close again, believe me, I consider that,” Rice said. “I try not to watch the races, I don’t want to sweat out every race whether Todd’s horse wins or not, that’s a bad omen and it’s not productive, I’ve got a
big job on my plate and I have to focus on that, do something about things that I can affect.”
Sunday will be NYRA’s send off for 8-yr old Commentator at Saratoga. He is to be retired to Kentucky although not the KHP or Old Friends. Instead he’s going to Farmer’s Shadowlawn Farm in Midway, KY.
On Sunday, the New York Racing Association will name the fifth race in honor of Commentator who will appear in the paddock and parade in front of the stands before entering the winner’s circle for his mint-flavored key to the city of Saratoga Springs.
Since the Whitney, Commentator has been seen several times on the Oklahoma training track for some light exercise. Nick Zito, who trained Commentator for Tracy Farmer, said if the gelding didn’t get out of the stall and around the track, he would be feeling too good for his Sunday duties.
“He’ll think he is running, anyway,” Zito said.
