First things first: This is the final week for the BreezeFigs 2015 cards—they end on Monday, Labor Day, as has been our custom the past few years. There are so few starters with less than four starts from last year’s sales that it really doesn’t help handicappers all that much. That said, the less we say about our Pix last week, the better. Just not our day. On the other hand, it was a very good week overall for both 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds.
Strident
Trainer: Shug McGaughey
Last race: Aug. 27, 1st
Finish: 8th by 17
Beyer: 41
Distance-bred colt caught an alert break, but was outrun in his debut dominated on the front-end by an experienced rival. He was never asked for much run while just racing on through the stretch, and is eligible to offer a lot more with added distance downstate.
LONGSTOCKING
Trainer: Michael McCarthy
Last race: Aug. 25, 1st
Finish: 3rd by 1 1/4
Beyer: 78
This N1X filly was badly blocked in the stretch. Her summer improvement coincides with switch to turf. Deep-closing sprinter should be formidable this fall in Santa Anita downhill sprint
Travers Day at Saratoga offers 13 races, including six Grade 1s, and features 14 of the best 3-year-olds in the country going 1 1/4 miles on the main track in a wide-open running of the Midsummer Derby. Where to begin?
There will be no shortage of opportunities on a card that offers a $1 million all-Grade 1 pick four (races 8-11), a $400,000-guaranteed pick five (beginning in race 1), and a $250,000-guaranteed pick six (beginning in race 6 and coverall all Grade 1 races).
We hardly expected our top 2-year-old Pick last week, Seven Forty Seven, to be sent off as the favorite, so we cringed as he and all the other BreezeFigs horses in the race except one threw in desultory efforts. The one that didn’t, Favorable Outcome, lived up to his name and BreezeFigs profile which we should have taken more seriously considering he paid only $9.90. Of course, if you had him, congrats.
There are days when I find a horse in the past performances whom I love and, barring some unforeseen betting action that kills his price, am ready and eager to back.
Travers Day at Saratoga just isn’t one of those days. Most races there Saturday are so deep and competitive, particularly some of the stakes, that I’m instead taking a watch-the-tote approach, planning to back the overlays I see in the betting.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Travers Day at Saratoga is special, and Saturday’s Travers card is as loaded as one would hope it to be to support the Grade 1, $1.25 million centerpiece of the nation’s biggest race meet. There are five other Grade 1 events on the card, as well as a Grade 2 race marking the return of Lady Eli.
Travers Stakes
I began this meet with a casual attitude – hoping that if Saratoga didn’t see me coming, I might have a chance.
The last two years I found myself spanked, slapped, and spit out by the old Spa. Both times I went into the meets with excitement and optimism, only to find myself baffled by the losses as they piled up.
I started last year’s meet okay, but a family issue brought me out of town and disrupted my rhythm to the point I couldn’t get it back. Given the way the meet ended last year, I wasn’t going to be played that way again.
DACATSA GEM
Trainer: Molly Pearson
Last race: Aug. 17, 2nd
Finish: 2nd by 2 3/4
Beyer: 61
This debuting 2-year-old filly by first-crop sire Gemologist finished more than nine lengths clear of third in a very solid debut for a $62,500 claim tag.
