Saratoga continues run of boffo business
Beautiful weather and big fields continue to help Saratoga show massive gains in all-sources and ontrack handle at the 2015 meeting.
David GreningAug 11, 2015
Beautiful weather and big fields continue to help Saratoga show massive gains in all-sources and ontrack handle at the 2015 meeting.
Expected Ruler’s win in the $60,000 Tyro at Monmouth Park on Sunday was the first stakes victory for 20-year-old trainer Liam Benson. It was also the first stakes win as an owner for Benson’s father, Liam F. Benson, and for jockey Wilmer Garcia and his agent, Joe Orseno Jr. If that isn’t enough, the Tyro was Expected Ruler’s first career start.
While fans in this region anxiously await a decision on whether American Pharoah will come to Saratoga for the Grade 1 Travers on Aug. 29, it looks like another of the game’s stars will not be coming here this summer. Wise Dan, the two-time Horse of the Year, will likely make his return to the races in the Grade 1, $1 million Woodbine Mile on Sept. 13.
Though the stewards say they are not judging this Saratoga meet any differently than they have other meets, they did say Saturday that the riders have asked them to “be a little more strict” when observing the races.
Deron Pearson does not have just a few horses in training. He has a growing empire which includes Prize Exhibit, who will try to win the first Grade 1 race of her career in the $300,000 Del Mar Oaks at 1 1/8 miles on turf.
Free: Del Mar Horses to Watch for the week of Aug. 10
Leading sire Tapit accounted for the top three prices of Monday’s opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, driving gains in gross and average compared with last year’s first evening.
In a show of combined sire power, a colt by reigning North American leading sire Tapit and out of a daughter of international titan Galileo sold for $2 million to El Capi Racing Stable during Monday night’s opening session of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale.
A colt by reigning leading sire Tapit and out of a Grade 1 winner capitalized on his royal lineage to become the first seven-figure horse of the Fasig-Tipton Saratoga selected yearling sale, going for $1.2 million to the partnership of Bridlewood Farm, Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, and Robert LaPenta.
Ex Ex Ex got away with a slow pace on the lead and avoided the trouble that struck some of his rivals en route to a half-length victory over Amazing Anne in Monday’s $100,000 Cab Calloway Division of the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Saratoga.