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Tom Law 
Travers Weekend is here and everything kicks off with the annual Saratoga Showcase Day card for New York-breds. Eleven races are on tap, including six stakes, and the handicappers are hungry for some winners. Here are the picks for Friday, Aug. 26. Good luck. JOHN SHAPAZIAN (104/315):1-Maple Leaf Mel, Miracle, Song Parody.2-Photon, Funny How, Clement … Read more
Travers Week kicked off Wednesday and rolls along Thursday with a 10-race card topped by the $135,000 Riskaverse Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on the grass. A field of 11 entered the Riskaverse, a restricted 1-mile stakes on the inner turf for fillies which have not won a sweepstakes other than state-bred at 1 mile or … Read more
And then there were two. Well, almost two. Weeks that is, remaining in the 2022 Saratoga Race Course meeting. Where did your summer go? Where did ours go? OK, maybe we won’t get into the trials and tribulations that went into the 22nd season of The Saratoga Special. We have four issues remaining, and big … Read more
The weekend is here, and another strong card at Saratoga Race Course awaits. A 10-race program topped by a strong renewal of the $135,000 Summery Colony for older females and a puzzling edition of the $150,000 Skidmore for 2-year-olds sprinting on the grass is set for Friday. The handicappers dug into those races, and the … Read more
Alabama Week got underway Wednesday at Saratoga Race Course with a pair of stakes, including Snap Decision’s dominating victory under 164 pounds in the Grade 1 Jonathan Sheppard. The 8-year-old son of Hard Spun improved to 11-for-16 over jumps and remained squarely in the lead spot for this year’s Eclipse Award for champion steeplechaser. The … Read more
The 2022 Saratoga meet rolls on as Week 5 comes to a close with a 10-race card Sunday topped by the $150,000 Mahony Stakes for 3-year-olds sprinting on the grass. The 5 1/2-furlong Mahony attracted a field of seven led by Big Invasion, winner of the Grade 3 Quick Call way back on the first … Read more
Just the picks in the latest installment. The extended sales week bogged us down a bit but we’re rallying. Will anyone mount a rally to catch John Shapazian in the standings? He takes a hefty eight-win lead into Day 22 of the 2022 Saratoga meet. Friday’s 10-race card, a mini New York-bred Showcase Day of … Read more
Week 5 of the Saratoga meet flashed from the gate Wednesday and the second half of the 2022 season officially goes Thursday. Day 21 awaits horseplayers and horsemen and The Thursday Special has it covered. The $150,000 Galway tops the 10-race card, with post time for the 5 ½-furlong turf stakes for 3-year-old fillies set … Read more
From The Saratoga Special, Aug. 7 Edition. Eight words. That’s all WinStar Farm’s Elliott Walden needed to sum up latest tour de force in Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney in front of 39,478 sweat-soaked, then rain-soaked and finally sweat-soaked fans at Saratoga Race Course. “Best horse going in, best horse coming out,” Walden said in Saratoga’s … Read more
Here we go. A monster stretch awaits racing fans, horsemen and our team at The Saratoga Special. It’s Hall of Fame and Whitney Week, with Sales Week to immediately follow. The online edition of The Special won’t appear for a while, because we’re rolling out six consecutive print editions starting Friday. That will cover everything … Read more
