Stall Tactics
Al Stall allowed himself to look forward a little as he sat in the office of his barn Wednesday morning at Saratoga.
Tom Law
Big days for Bourbon Lane
Fans at Saratoga Race Course here in upstate New York won’t be too out of line if they get the sudden urge for the barrel-aged distilled spirit made from corn and crafted in Kentucky better known as bourbon over the next two days.
Vintage Jerkens
Nearly everything about Monday’s $100,000 Saratoga Dew Stakes seemed cut from the mold of what is now the modern-day Allen Jerkens moment at Saratoga.
The Special’s picks for Monday, Aug. 26
A little more than a week to go in this year’s Saratoga meeting and the battle for top handicapping honors in The Saratoga Special is a lot closer than the trainer, jockey and owner races.
Anything But Sweet
As Sweet Lulu walked back along the main track following the tracks she made minutes before, fans applauded along the outside rail as she passed.
The Right Spot
Aron Wellman was at a loss, without a clue as he sat in his box and watched the field get to the serious running on the far turn in Saturday’s $500,000 King’s Bishop Stakes. A full field of 14 and a deep closer negotiating his way will do that to an owner.
Back for More
Something just wasn’t quite right with Royal Delta when she finished second in the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis Handicap this summer at Churchill Downs. The race wasn’t a total disgrace – she finished behind a filly in Funny Disposition who’s never lost on the dirt at Churchill – but Bill Mott went searching for answers.
Journey to the Travers
Rarely does a confluence of divisional stars come together and a series of events fall into place quite like it did for the $1 million Travers Stakes that will be run for 144th time today at old Saratoga.
Starship Truffles on the road again
Starship Truffles bounced around quite a bit over a two-week span last month. One day she won a Grade 1 stakes at her home track. Three days later she traveled from South Florida to Central Kentucky and a day after that started the rigorous presale inspection process leading up to the inaugural Fasig-Tipton summer horses of racing age sale. She went through the actual auction less than a week after arriving in her native state-bringing a sale-topping $1 million bid in the process-and two days later was back in Florida.
Step down for Csaba
Csaba was feeling good on one of the grassy spots near the Saratoga stakes barn earlier this week and shortly after trainer Phil Gleaves returned from a short trip home to Florida to see his son off on his first day of high school.
