Watchmaker: 10 things I want to see at Saratoga

With apologies to Steve Crist, who used to write this sort of column annually, here are 10 things I would love to see at this Saratoga meet, which opens Friday (yay!):

** After romping in the Haskell at 1-1,000, American Pharoah runs in and wins the Travers. The Travers – not the Breeders’ Cup Classic (sorry Breeders’ Cup) – has long been considered the “plus one” should the Triple Crown ever be extended, and its prestige and history makes it the summer race a Triple Crown winner like American Pharoah should point to. And American Pharoah takes the Travers in front of a crowd not limited by an attendance cap after the New York Racing Association sees the light and realizes that when it comes right down to it, attendance caps are elitist and exclusionary.

** Some older male – Honor Code, Tonalist, someone – steps up in the Whitney and Woodward and becomes an actually worthy active divisional leader.

** Some older female steps up in the Shuvee and Personal Ensign and becomes a genuine East Coast challenger to Beholder.

** Someone steps up in the male and female turf divisions … wait, no, that is probably way too much to hope for.

** Take Charge Brandi, last year’s champion 2-year-old filly (remember?), comes back strong in the Test Stakes but not so strong that her connections actually follow through on their threat and run her in the Travers.

** The NYRA racing office makes a real and obvious effort to end the habit of slotting races loaded with first-time starters deep in pick four and pick five sequences. With such a focus on 2-year-old racing, this happens more frequently at Saratoga, and it is a real disservice to the proponents of these wagers. When you put these races at the end of multi-race exotic wagers and deny bettors an opportunity to gauge wagering action by even looking at possible double payoffs, you’re forcing some of your best customers either to bet in the blind or pass altogether. There are occasions when this kind of race sequencing is unavoidable. But more often than not, this can all be avoided with a simple, thoughtful flip-flopping of the position of one race with another.

** I’m sure there are some folks who love sloppy-track, off-the-turf days. I don’t know who they are, but I’m sure they’re out there. Well, sorry, folks, but I hope those monster thunderstorms that upstate New York is known for in August only happen on Tuesdays.

** Saratoga is a great place for a breath of fresh air. And what better breath of fresh air could we get in this game than to allow horses who have proven over time to be speed horses actually to perform like speed horses, instead of being strangled back off the pace. We all see this so often everywhere now, and we need a change. Of course, there is a downside to a return to predictability. Pace scenarios that play out like they figure to play out a reasonable amount of the time would take a giant excuse for losing away from horseplayers. But I’m OK with that. I’d make that trade anytime.

** A big, strapping, jet-black 2-year-old filly with the sort of intense speed that makes your jaw literally drop wins the Spinaway by about, say, 12 3/4 lengths. Or so.

** A massive, copper red colt wins the Hopeful by five lengths, give or take, with a last-to-first looping move on the far turn that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up.

Yeah, that will do.