SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - If nice guys finish last, then what is Pablo Fragoso doing in the winner's circle so often?
Talk to someone, anyone, about Fragoso and the conversation won't be two minutes old before that person tells you how nice a kid he is. Add the fact Fragoso's a naturally gifted rider, and you have the makings of, in the words of trainer Bobby Frankel, a potential "superstar."
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - arrived in Saratoga on Monday morning and on Saturday he will try to end a lengthy drought for himself and his trainer, Murray Johnson, in the Grade 1, $750,000 Whitney Handicap.
After winning four graded stakes last year, including the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap, Perfect Drift is winless in four starts this year and has dropped five straight overall. Johnson, meanwhile, has not won a race this year (0 for 49) and is 0 for 55 dating back to last Dec. 13.
Saratoga Springs, N.Y. - Formerly run downstate, the New York Stallion Series has been added to the Saratoga stakes schedule, and as might have been expected after a $50,000 purse hike to $250,000, Thursday's Statue of Liberty division for 3-year-old fillies drew 14 horses, although only 12 can run.
Good luck figuring this one out. Five runners are switching back from turf to dirt, and only two have won at the 1 1/8-mile distance of the race - , who is marooned in post 12 pending late scratches.
DEL MAR, Calif. - It was not until Alex Solis went to the sidelines that it became apparent what a job he and agent Scotty McClellan had done lining up top-class mounts for the rest of the year. Now, all those mounts are going to various jockeys who will benefit by Solis's lengthy recuperation for a fractured vertebra.
DEL MAR, Calif. - Sweet Win came west from Florida and won at Del Mar. So did Executive Deposit. Thursday, Verkade will try to complete the hat trick for trainer Jeff Mullins, whose recent shopping trip to Florida has proven quite bountiful.
Verkade was one of four horses Mullins purchased at Calder in late June for his clients. One of the horses subsequently was injured, but the other two both won this past week. Verkade makes his West Coast debut in Thursday's featured seventh race, a third-level allowance going a mile.
CHICAGO - Long rumored, the split between the owner Frank Calabrese and trainer Pat Cuccurullo has been made official. The bulk of Calabrese's horses were transferred this week from Cuccurullo to Jodie Sinclair, who trained in Chicago between 1989 and 1996. Sinclair's first starter for Calabrese will be a mare named Famula, who starts Thursday in the sixth race.
The Calabrese-Cuccurullo association, while fruitful, has been fraying all summer. The two have clashed several times over various issues, and finally parted company this week.
OCEANPORT, N.J. - The budding local star Habiboo, allowance winner Rings and Things, and Delaware Oaks runner-up Ender's Sister are among those likely for the Grade 2, $200,000 Monmouth Oaks on Aug. 15, a 1 1/16-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.
Habiboo is gaining rave reviews for her recent work. She won her last two starts impressively, an 18-length maiden victory and a 7 1/2-length allowance win.
OCEANPORT, N. J. - Was it a perfect prep or an unsteady stepping-stone?
Lion Heart was a 1-5 favorite in the Grade 3 Long Branch in what was supposed to be an easy lead-in to Sunday's Grade 1 Haskell at Monmouth Park. But he was all out to win the race after a stretch-long duel with former claimer My Snookie's Boy, and the effort raised some questions regarding his ability to handle the likes of Rock Hard Ten in the $1 million Haskell. Trainer Patrick Biancone, however, has some ready answers.
SANTA ROSA, Calif. - While ontrack handle has basically been flat during the first three stops of the northern California fair circuit, it has been up at the Sonoma County Fair.
And the best racing is yet to come.
Ontrack handle is up 4 percent over last year, although it is down by that same amount at the satellite facilities. Handle has generally been down at the satellites this year with more and more people using account wagering.
