SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - First-time Lasix. Turf to dirt. Third start off a layoff. All of those are fine handicapping angles.
But there may not be a more potent wagering strategy than playing trainer Bill Mott on his birthday. Since 1992, Mott has won a race on his birthday in 14 of the 19 Saratoga meets.
Monday, when Mott turns 60, he will have runners in five of the 10 races.
Big Feat, winless in his first seven career starts until he scored a 47-1 upset in his first try going two turns on turf, pulled off a second straight surprise when he scored a front-running victory in the $76,000 Crowd Pleaser Handicap for 3-year-old Pennsylvania-breds at Parx Racing on Saturday.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer George Weaver was eyeing a $100,000 overnight stakes for Lighthouse Bay when he decided to call an audible and enter the 3-year-old filly in Saturday’s Grade 1, $300,000 Prioress Stakes at Saratoga instead.
With a seven-horse field that scratched down to six, Weaver thought it was worth taking a shot if only to try and get third and a Grade 1 stakes placing.
“You never know, we might hit a home run and we did,” Weaver said.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Last August, before leaving Saratoga, Wise Dan had observers’ jaws dropping with an effortlessly fast workout over the Oklahoma turf course.
Saturday, with a bevy of onlookers present, Wise Dan – the reigning Horse of the Year – did it again, working a sensational five furlongs in 57.39 seconds while galloping out an equally impressive six furlongs in 1:09.41 under exercise rider Damien Rock.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Trainer Chad Brown scratched Dayatthespa out of Saturday’s Grade 1 Diana, but the 4-year-old New York-bred filly was in action Saturday, working five furlongs in 59.76 seconds over the Oklahoma turf course.
Working right after Wise Dan finished his move, Dayatthespa went her first three furlongs in 37.37 seconds and her final quarter in 22.39. She galloped out five furlongs in 1:11.76.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Jockey John Velazquez surpassed Hall of Famer Jerry Bailey as the winningest rider in the history of Saratoga when he guided Unitarian to victory in Saturday’s fourth race for his 694th winner at the Spa.
Bailey had broken the record held by Velazquez’s agent, Angel Cordero Jr.
DEL MAR, Calif. – Richard’s Kid will attempt to become the first three-time winner of the $1 million Pacific Classic on Aug. 25 after ending a year-long losing streak with a win in Friday’s $100,500 Cougar II Handicap at Del Mar.
Richard’s Kid won the 2009 and 2010 runnings of the Pacific Classic, and was third in the 2012 running.
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Any of the connections who thought Monday’s Grade 2, $200,000 Honorable Miss Handicap would be an easy prep for next month’s Grade 1 Ballerina were sadly mistaken when they saw the list of entrants in the seven-horse field.
Five of the seven fillies and mares enter the six-furlong race on winning streaks, topped by Dance to Bristol, who seeks her sixth consecutive victory.
FORT ERIE, Ontario – The Prince of Wales Stakes suffered a setback with the news that Midnight Aria, trained by Fort Erie-born Nick Gonzalez, had come out of his taxing victory in the Queen’s Plate a little bit the worse for wear and wouldn’t be running.
But, Fort Erie has landed another worthy performer for its signature race in Uncaptured, who was Canada’s Horse of the Hear and champion 2-year-old male last year for trainer Mark Casse.
As a 3-year-old last season, Travel Advisory blossomed in the spring, finishing second in consecutive starts in the Grade 3 Transylvania at Keeneland and the Grade 2 American Turf at Churchill Downs. He followed up by finishing third in the $210,000 Oliver Stakes at Indiana Downs, but took a bad step on the gallop-out and injured a tendon.
