Whitney Day at Saratoga…
Whitney day is very special and with the recent passing of Mary Lou Whitney, it’s worth a special mention. In New York racing she is not simply remembered as a Blue Blood, but rather as a “salt of the earth” type, who made many causes her passion… and one of those causes is New York racing itself. Many have said, she is responsible for the rebirth of Saratoga, of course I always had known Saratoga as alive and well. But that doesn’t matter, she has earned her PROPERS as far as I can tell. I thought it was a very fitting move by NYRA to name the main entrance at Saratoga after her, which confirms the credits she has garnered. so to Mary Lou, for all you did for me and my racing “Bros”, even though I might never have known, a big thanks and travel safe.
Back to horse racing, the Whitney as a race is always one that feels like one of my favs. My first experience of the Whitney was watching Alydar thunder down the stretch and win going away by 10 lengths, as a 3-year old, while going against older, handicap, racers. My friends, who spent a great deal of time schooling me, were almost crazy at explaining how significant it was that the 3-year old demolished the best handicap horses in the world! I hope you will get a chance to see the powerful Alydar as he thundered down the lane… he was truly phenomenal.
Tomorrow’s card, has another potentially great edition of the Whitney, I have McKinzie as my top Rated horse and he has STAR form, we all saw his travails in the Met Mile and that should set him up for a nice forward move. His rating of 80.5 for a fully matured 4-year old who ran nearly 78.0 at 1 1/16 as an early 3-year old is not tremendous progression. As an early 3-year old, I had forecast some really big number, maybe as high as a Ghostzapper at 83.5 or higher, but then he got injured before his Kentucky Derby. The rebound was a little slower than I had expected, but it appears he is finally moving forward in form. So his upside, at least in my mind, is exceptional – hence the STAR. For me the race basically pits McKinzie against the very late developing Preservationist and the Saratoga loving Yoshida. These 3 are all formidable in their own right, but I always thought that McKinzie was cut of a better cloth. But because his odds are so low, he did not get my Featured Play status on the JJPP-PLUS. Just because you love a horse and his form, doesn’t mean the horses is a good play – at least that’s my attitude.
And then the Test Stakes is front and center as well. If you have a need for speed, you will see Serengeti Empress and Convfefe lay it down… and I full expect to see “SMOKE” as they blaze around the track, but it is 7 furlongs and the potential speed duel, which I fell highly confident will materialize, which makes a plethora of options possible. Do I here UPSET…
Del Mar has a good card as well, but not the headliners. Just 10 good races…
Saturday’s Menu
Saratoga – Power Page Classic and Power Page PLUS
Del Mar – Power Page Classic and Power Page PLUS