Aug 23-24

Note: This blog is non-commercial and was developed for my own personal use to organize my racing viewing activity.  Your comments as to its usefulness to you would be appreciated.  Thanks!

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CORRECTION:  EBBY RUNNING ON SUNDAY, DEL MAR, RACE 2!

Saturday race outcomes and race replays available at the "CARDS" below.  On Sunday, scroll down to "Pacific Classic" and then to the CARDS and other Sunday special racing info.  Lots going on out west today (Sunday) at Del Mar with the Pacific Classic, and a special treat at Emerald Downs as the finale to the day! 

 

 That Handicapping Show - Claire Novak / Evan Hammonds
 TVG to have enhanced Pacific Classic Coverage
  

TELEVISION COVERAGE

Saturday, August 23                                               
Travers (G1)
Ballerina (G1)
4:30 - 6 p.m.  NBC
                                        
Sunday, August 24
Pacific Classic (G1)
8 - 9 p.m.  NBCSN
All Times Eastern

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The Mid-Summer Derby: Historic meeting ground for top 3-year-olds

Mike Kane

August 20, 2014

Affirmed and Alydar in the 1978 Travers. Photo: NYRA/Coglianese Photo.

 

William Travers’ name was already attached to what has become the oldest and most famous stake at Saratoga Race Course before his horse won the inaugural running 150 years ago.

 

The fledgling Saratoga Association, with Travers as its first president, opened its new race course on Aug. 2, 1864. The racing experiment of 1863 had been a huge success, and the association promptly purchased land across the street - the site still in use today - and built a one-mile track and viewing stands. 

 

At 11:30 a.m., racing commenced with the Travers Sweepstakes for 3-year-olds carrying a $1,000-added purse that totaled $2,500. After one false start, the 1 ¾-mile race with a field of five was won by Kentucky, owned in partnership by John Hunter, George Osgood, and Travers. At a track that would become known as the “Graveyard of Favorites,” on this day the third choice in the wagering easily defeated favored Tipperary. 

 

Long the marquee event of the Saratoga season, the Travers will be contested for the 145th time on Aug. 23. A field of 10, led by Belmont Stakes hero Tonalist, Jim Dandy victor Wicked Strong, and Haskell winner Bayern, the morning-line favorite, will vie for the winner’s $750,000 share of the stakes-record $1.25-million purse. Read more at source...

 Holy Bull's heroic and brave win of the 1994 Travers


Time ordered list of races and entries, plus a look at Sunday's Pacific Classic below.

PACIFIC CLASSIC - Sunday

Sunday 8:46 EDT - TV NBCSN 8-9 EDT

Sunday's Grade One $1,000,000 PACIFIC CLASSIC promises to be a show-stopper, with co-favorites SHARED BELIEF 5/2 and GAME ON DUDE 3/1 expected to hold their own against MAJESTIC HARBOR 9/2, CLUBHOUSE RIDE 8/1, and TOAST OF NEW YORK 10/1 and six others. The big question to be answered is, is Game On Dude "fading", and if so, who will step up to be Southern California's top contender for the Breeders Cup? Right now, Shared Belief's star is on the rise, and he hasn't shown a chink in his armor so far.

One who is in a position to know is Hall of Fame rider, Mike Smith, who has ridden both the Dude and Shared Belief. Bob Baffert, after watching Smith and Shared Belief cross the finish line in the Los Alamitos Derby, uttered these prophetic words: "'Oops! Looks like I'm gonna need another jockey"!!! Not surprisingly, Smith has chosen to stay with Shared Belief.

Here's a handicapping summary of each entry:   Handicapping the Pacific Classic - click here

If he should win the PACIFIC CLASSIC on Sunday, SHARED BELIEF will be following in his daddy's, Candy Ride's (ARG), footsteps, who was undefeated in 6 starts, including the Pacific Classic (See replay of the 2003 Pacific Classic). Candy Ride set a new track record in the 2003 Pacific Classic while recording the highest Beyer Speed Figure for any horse in 2003 of 123. This turned out to be Candy Ride's final race due to a fetlock ligament injury. However, his son, Shared Belief, a gelding, looks to continue on should he win his 6th straight on Sunday straight to the Breeders Cup Nov. 1. Interestingly, although not entered in this year's Pacific Classic, another Candy Ride son, the colt, Candy Boy, came up second to Shared Belief on two earlier occasions, once in the CashCall Futurity, and again in the Los Alamitos Derby. Pedigree for Shared Belief: Pedigree for Shared Belief - click here

Odds: Shared Belief 5/2; Game On Dude 3/1; Majestic Harbor 9/2; Clubhouse Ride 8/1; Toast Of New York 10/1. All others high double-digit odds.

Candy Ride and Julie Krone, 2003 Pacific Classic


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After a race has been run, return here and click on the CARD for a replay of the race.

FEATURED RACES

Time Ordered Races / Entries - Aug. 23-24 - Printable file

Race Entries Index

FRIDAY

2:02 ET  Lord & Taylor Tale of the Cat S  Sar   $100k a 3+ R  6f   R3  CARD
5:15 ET  Personal Ensign G1 BC  Sar   $500k  3+ f/m  1 1/8 mi  R9  Race Replay
Close Hatches dominates Personal Ensign  

SATURDAY

3:59 ET  Ballston Spa G2  Sar   $250,000  3+ f/m  1 1/16 mi T  R9  CARD
4:33 ET  King's Bishop S G1 Sar   $500,000  3yo  7f  R10  CARD   
4:52 ET  Ontario Colleen S G3  WO   $150,000  3yo f  1 mi T     R8  CARD
5:08 ET  Ballerina S G1 BC Sar   $500,000  3+ f/m  7f    R11  CARD
5:45 ET  Travers S G1  Sar   $1,250,000  3yo  1 1/4 mi  R12  CARD
8:30 ET  Del Mar H G2 BC  Dmr   $200,000  3+  1 3/8 mi T     R8  CARD

Results
Late running Abaco wins Ballston Spa thriller
The Big Beast gobbles ground in King's Bishop
Artemis Agrotera steps out in Ballerina romp
Travers upset: V E Day over Wicked Strong
Huge run for Big John B in Del Mar Handicap win

SUNDAY
1:32 ET  Funny Cide S Sar   $200,000  2yo S  6.5f  R2  CARD 
2:37 ET  West Point S  Sar   $150,000  3+ S  1 1/16 mi T  R4  CARD
3:10 ET  Seeking the Ante S  Sar   $200,000  2yo f S  6.5f    R5  CARD
4:18 ET  Yaddo S  Sar   $150,000  3+ f/m S  1 1/16 mi T  R7  CARD
4:28 ET  Seaway S G3  WO   $150,000  3+ f/m  7f AW  R8  CARD
4:30 ET  Allowance, Dlmr, $80,000, 3+ f/m 1 1/16 mi T, R2  CARD Eblouissante
4:52 ET  Fleet Indian S Sar   $200,000  3yo f S  1 1/8 mi  R8  CARD
6:00 ET  Del Mar Mile G2  Dmr   $250,000  3+  1 mi T    R5  CARD
6:04 ET  Albany S  Sar   $250,000  3yo S  1 1/8 mi    R10  CARD
8:00 ET  Pat O'Brien S G2 BC  Dmr   $250,000  3+  7f   R9  CARD    
8:30 ET  Pacific Classic G1 BC  Dmr   $1,000,000  3+  1 1/4 mi  R10  CARD 
8:09 ET  Longacres Mile G3  EmD   $200,000  3+  1 mi    R7  CARD 
 
GO EBBY! Good luck to Eblouissante in her Allowance today at Del Mar, first time on the turf!   Joe Talamo, jockey.

Shared Belief gets outside post 11 in Pacific Classic
Toast of New York just another out of towner

Emerald Downs - Longacres Mile Day - Sunday
Stryker Phd looks good for the Longacres Mile; Stopshoppingdebbie will try to lengthen win streak to 9     Curlin has a little girl who has dominated things at Emerald Downs. Stopshoppingdebbie hopes to continue her win streak and increase it to 9. She is the highweight for the Emerald Distaff Handicap and will be giving from 7 to 12 pounds to 4 rivals on Longacres Mile Day Sunday.  The goal for her is to face the best in the world at the Breeders’ Cup in the fall. If all goes well Sunday, she will likely head to Southern California for a prep race before that event.

 

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EBOR FESTIVAL AT YORK
American based jockey shocks British racing world
AMERICAN BASED JOCKEY SHOCKS THE RACING WORLD IN ONE OF THE BIGGEST UPSETS IN BRITISH RACING HISTORY! "The Benson & Hedges Gold Cup (forerunner of the Juddmonte International, run today at York racecourse) run at York on Aug. 15, 1972 had more plot-lines than a Sakespeare comedy."

Even knowing the outcome today doesn't lessen the thrilling and exciting accounting of the inaugural running of the B&H GC and one of the most fantastic upsets in British racing history. A replay of the race is included, but the details must be savored in every word of the telling of this tale. All of the players you will recognize, which makes the outcome all the more improbable. The 3 year old, Roberto, whose flop in the Irish Derby after his English Derby win had made him a longshot and wasn't even considered in the same breath as the two brilliant 4 year old stars, Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard. When Mill Reef was ruled out of the race for a slight issue, it looked like the Brigadier just had to show up, that the race was a mere formality. 

Ah, but the plot thickens, as the great Lester Piggott elected to take off of Roberto to ride Rheingold whose close second in the Derby behind Roberto at least made him more likely to get a piece of the lucrative action than Roberto at that point. In comes the ringer... owner of Roberto, bereft of a jockey, brought over crack American-based Panamanian rider Braulio Baeza, who rode regularly for Galbreath’s Darby Dan Farm in the U.S., but had never ridden in Europe. What follows turns into a jaw-dropping performance, one for the ages...... read on

THE STARS COME OUT