Mohawk: Saturday 8/29 Analysis
Garnet Barnsdale's analysis of the Saturday 8/29 card at Mohawk Racetrack.
Garnet BarnsdaleAug 27, 2015
Garnet Barnsdale's analysis of the Saturday 8/29 card at Mohawk Racetrack.
Jeremey Day's analysis of the Saturday 8/29 card at Balmoral Park.
The stewards have forced jockey Javier Castellano to sit out Saturday’s Grade 1, $1 million Sword Dancer Stakes at Saratoga after he elected not to keep a commitment he had made to ride Twilight Eclipse in the race.
Palace Malice, winner of the 2013 Belmont Stakes, has been retired from racing and will stand the 2016 breeding season at Three Chimneys Farm in Midway, Ky.
With 13 races on Saturday’s card, bettors will not want for wagering opportunities, though there are a few changes from a regular card.
Seven of the eight entrants in the Grade 1 Ballerina on Saturday at Saratoga enter off victories, but it is hard to get by La Verdad and Dame Dorothy, who share high weight of 124 pounds.
When trainer Steve Asmussen decided to run Untapable in the Shuvee Handicap here earlier this month, it was as much about the past as the future.In the past, Untapable had a penchant for firing her best race second time off a freshening. With that in mind, Asmussen hopes Untapable got what she needed running second to Stopchargingmaria in the Shuvee to set her up for a rematch with that filly Saturday in the Grade 1, $750,000 Personal Ensign Stakes at Saratoga.
The promising 3-year-old Moon Rainbow makes her turf debut Saturday at Woodbine in the featured fifth race, a first-level, 1 1/16-mile allowance for fillies and mares that carries a purse of $58,600.
Racing history is in store Saturday when American Pharoah becomes just the fourth of the sport’s 12 Triple Crown winners to compete in the Travers Stakes.
After taking on American Pharoah earlier this month going 1 1/8 miles in the Grade 1 Haskell, it is safe to say Competitive Edge will be getting decided class and distance relief when turning back to seven furlongs Saturday in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga.