Saratoga Cup Classic XIII Daily Recap

[cherokeescot]

Day 1

First controversy of the year,
came with race three
Jackk88 thought he made history
but alas his pick of Vincento
Was made after three
Just as well Bobtailnag had him anyway
Once I was seven years old

Now we have a guy called Bert Convy
Gives us illustrations every year ,very groovy
But today he’s our new leader
Because he answered the Big Q
Which gave him 30 bucks
And for the rest of us that sucks
Once I was thirty years old ..,

[cherokeescot]

Day 2

Overnight leader BertConvy drew up another winner when Derby Memories ($8.60) absolutely romped in the opener on a dry sunny day at the Spa. Jacckk88 made up for the disappointment of missing a winner through late posting on Thursday with a Vast ($27.80) improvement in the fifth to put himself right there in the picture. Longshot of the day was Mr Havercamp ($29.60) to give something for Hezethebest to write about and share with Grommet and  Papabear. Finally in the closer Bill Hirschman got his second winner of the contest when Accabonac Harbor ($17.80) sailed home.

Vast and Junior Alvarado

[cherokeescot]

Day 3

Saturday started Warm ($5.80) and chalky but most of the contest players were frozen out. Doctor Disaster was one of the few who didn’t miss out when Linda’s Ballet ($9.20) tip-toed home in the second but after that it was painful to watch for our group with only HrHobby having a Special Story ($23.60) to tell . Meanwhile Jeff the Baker is on a roll having failed to set his oven timer for the noon deadline for the second day in a row.

[cherokeescot]

Day 4

Jeff the Baker finally got his timing right to chalk up the early double with Sweet Melania ($5.20) and Keeping the Peace (($4.90) . No royal family hunch bettors in our group as Call Me Harry paid the princely sum of ($33.20) while usurping Wild William in the third. Unlikely it may seem but it paid to Bank on Shea ($7.10) in the fourth as Arsignman made his first winning deposit while in the fifth Pedal Car moved into top gear with Decorated Ace ($20.40).

T Loves A Fight ($13.20) lived up to her name while claiming the seventh which was good news for Calabres and the Bobtailnag but there were no more wicked tricks for our group and most of us failed to break even. 

RIP Sea Hero

[cherokeescot]

Day 5
A late rain shower played havoc at the Spa as the opening Steeplechase of the meet was canceled with the horses saddled and only 15 minutes to post. Contestants who are not fully vested today however missed some great opportunities to get out of the red as Sky of Hook ($20.60) got the day off to a rosy start in the featured Rick Violette stakes. It was unusual that no one had
Pete’s Play Call ($11.40) in the third and not even the zealots amongst us took a stab at The Sicarii ($30.60) in the fourth. Acting on legal advice Bill Hirschman got our group of the mark when Just Fly ($6.20) was sharp enough to take the fifth.

Large MAC had the luck of the Irish with him when Ardara Belle ($16.40) rang up her first win of the season in the sixth but no one was willing to go Off The Record ($6.60) in the seventh.

Hezethebest hopes to win not only the main contest but his own prize too and he made slick progress in both events when Slimey ($32.40) ghosted home in the sloppy eighth. You didn’t have to be a genius to pick Special Relativity ($16.20) but Eye123 and Beetlebomb had the smarts to do so in the ninth. Half the field scratched in the off the turf finale but in any casse none of us had Violent Point ($4.20) who made his mark with a wire to wire win .

Billboard outside Open Championship golf course

[cherokeescot]

Day 6

In the Thursday opener Bill Hirschman continued his Zealous ($11.80) pursuit of the contest trophy by not only picking the number of the winner but getting the name right too. In the second race January Won ($9.80) and the rest of us lost but Jacckk88 and Big Red 1 were kaching in the third when My Italian Rabbi ($19.80) defied his poor Bris numbers. . He’s No Lemon ($5.10 ) showed some zest to take the fourth but had no appeal to our group who also got zip with City Man ($4.50) in the fifth. Papa Bear is now the leader in the shortest price winner contest when Smooth With A Kick ($3.40) took the sixth and if that holds out until Labor Day a box of chalk will be heading his way. Laughing Manners ($11.80) gave Papa Bear and NDSC 32 something to smile about in the seventh but it was a shame that Chuckles just missed out on providing us with a hilarious exacta .

Value Proposition ($4.70) was anything but in the eighth but Doctor Disaster earned a little beer money with Hofburg ($4.00) in the ninth while in the finale Elk Kept True ($6.00).


 

[cherokeescot]

Day 7

After striking  out swinging for the fences in his first seven at bats Cherokee Scot opted for an easy single in the first and Bourbon Mission ($3.60) duly obliged with an accomplished performance. Jacckk88 selected Lorcan but obviously did not notice that he ran yesterday so there was no chance of him Kaching today ! Phlierfreak kept the Philly run going when Carrizo ($4.90) stepped on the gas in the second to rule over the popular Queen Kahen. Phlierfreak was on a roll , or should I say hoagie and found the right formula again when Andretta ($12.00) motored home in the third.

TimS70Ar tried to get the monkey off his back in the fourth but unfortunately it was only a bet on Shareholder Value ($5.50) that paid any dividends. Doctor Disaster found that the prescription for success was Sweet Kisses ($7.50) in the fifth but our streak of winners was iced in the sixth as no one was able to Cross Border ($13.60). In the seventh race Pillar Mountain ($6.00) performed with valor much to the delight of Hooper and his team .

He Hate Me ($8.10) was an unsurprisingly unpopular winner of the eighth and when the featured Lake George evaporated to a Brown mess only Phlierfreak was  there to pick up some Regal Glory ($6.00). In the finale Super Silver looked to be a sure fire winner for Italian Stallion and Joly B but it was the unfancied  Claytnthelionheart ($26.60) who had the final say. 

[cherokeescot]

Day 8

Racing  returned to the Spa on Sunday with a thirteen race card which proved lucky for some . Phlierfreak started the ball rolling in the third when Bad Boy ($6.80) prevailed in a Foti finish. Being UpinClass it was no surprise that we missed out on Scars Are Cool ($11.40) in the fifth but shockingly none of our Philly crew ended up on Chestnut Street ($10.00)  in the sixth. GoldandMyrrh had the frankin sense to have Basin ($6.00) in the eighth where SpiderJohn also cleaned up. Most of our group were in Rapt attention watching the ninth but paid the Penalty ($8.90) for a foul effort. 

Only the Italian Stallion was drunk enough to select Borracho ($6.10) in the tenth but the highlight of the day was Ziggy earning major stardust when Monimou ($61.50) took the feature to put him just a dime behind the best in the contest to date. A large group were laughing when Riendo($12.60) took the twelfth . In the interest of time and space I wasn’t going to name them all but I suppose Arsignman , Big Red 1 , Italian Stallion, Jacckk8, PhlierFreak and SpiderJohn are expecting a golden award for their achievement.

[cherokeescot]

Day 9

A beautiful sunny day at the Spa but the recent heavy rains still meant that we had a couple of races off the turf. Fortunately the jumps race did go which was just as well after Propro produced a wonderful elucidation on the opener. Nevertheless we still all missed out on recent British import Redicean ($8.50) whose flat racing experience told in the long stretch. Indeed if you look through the annals of time this was one of the least successful days for our group with only 2 winners on the day. However one of those winners was a most significant one as SBWest found some fragment of information to pick Frammento ($65.00) in the fifth to propel him to the top of the leaderboard.

While the rest of us were wasting our past time searching for another miracle SpiderJohn was making a racket after serving an ace with Rinaldi ($8.10))in the seventh. That was our lot for the day but we can always console ourselves with a cold beer and the hope that in this contest you can still be only a minit to stardom.

[cherokeescot]

Day 10

”It’s another beautiful day at the Spa” said Larry Colmus before the opener and he was reminded of those words when a deluge hit the track before race 5 canceling the remainder of the card. 

The day had indeed brightly with the Grade 1 A.P. Smithwick where it was a case of close but no cigar for Propro’s pick  of Vosne Romanee who succumbed to a churchillian effort by Winston C ($8.70) with only Jacckk8 cashing.  Persian Queen ($14.20) claimed the second for the Zayat and was  herself claimed but not by any of our group. Papa bear woke up in time to make a Lucky Move ($8.40) in the third and Kinkey2017 has the hunch bet of the day when Tide of the Sea ($7.30) rolled in before the heavens opened. 

[cherokeescot]

Day 11

”Let’s have more time between races” said no race fan ever but that’s what NYRA did at the Spa on Friday and whatever the reason it seemed to have a positive effect on our group who had a fairly successful  day at the office although we did shockingly all miss No Lime ($20.20) in the second just a few days after National Tequila Day. Note for future reference , Bet the Mott the Tipple angle. Ivy‘s College Fund ($7.90) was the wise guy horse of the day and she proved to be in a league of her own in the fifth. This put Jacckk8 temporarily at the top of the leaderboard and his victory dance was also enjoyed by Big Red 1, Joly B and PhlierFreak. 

Hezethebest is living up to his name in this year’s contest and Beau Belle ($14.00) got a ringing endorsement from him in the sixth and was also the first of three on the day for newbie Kinley2017 while Onion also found the Belle a peeling. Larry however was not finished there and hopefully had an outrageous bet on Slimey ($7.50) who had to go 5 Wide to win in the muddy conditions to show his Wright Stuff in a La Tour de force performance in the seventh .It seems that every year Dowse’s Beach ($8.00) makes the recap and the veteran campaigner did it again in the eighth to gather some more shells for Kinley2017. JohnnyBatTBD was looking to open his account in the Curlin Stakes but Looking at Bikinis got waxed by the other Chad Brown who achieved the Highest Honors ($10.20). Two guys having a bad Saratoga meet are our own DBLakers (0-28) and jockey Dylan Davis (0-45). However it was Davis who got the monkey off his back in the finale when the DQ of Champagne Chills elevated Mister Bobby ($7.20) to give Kinley2017 a hat trick. 








some shells 

[cherokeescot]

Day 12

Day twelve of the contest and we are still getting contestants putting in their selection after the 12.00 EST deadline. This time it was yesterday’s hat trick hero Kinley2017 who went from hero to zero after posting his picks almost an hour late. Hopefully this will be a teachable moment for him and he won’t incur my wrath for the remainder of the tournament. Meanwhile in the opener South West Bay ($6.10) went to the front early with a knockout punch and was able to comfortably ward off all challenges and earn more dough for Jeff the Baker and Bit of Wisdom on what is bound to be a wild weekend. 

In the second race several of our groupie went with the regally bred Doll Collection but we were chucking our tickets early as she stumbled out of the gate and never got close to Lexintonia ($8.60). I try and find a story behind the name of every winner but scout’s honor I have no idea who or what Shekky Shabazz ($15.20) is but maybe TimS70Ar will enlighten us as he was the only one to get a Polaroid picture in the third  In the fourth Cherokee Scot was looking for a stella performance from Kowalski but although the desire was there Shoplifted ($3.40) went past him like a speeding streetcar just when he looked to have it won. 

In the fifth Emaraaty ($8.20) proved to be a strong combatant and brought home the valuables for Goldandmyrrh. The talk on the streets of Saratoga was that there was a New Girl in Town ($47.40) but she must have disappeared in the sweet meadow mist as none of our group was makin out in the sixth.

It would have been a hard sting in the seventh had Are You Kitten Me ($12.00) been taken down but none of us were eagerly awaiting the result of the objection with neither the winner nor runner up selected. In the eighth Big Red 1 put the glass down and had a few francs on Chateau ( $12.40) who took it to the house in impressive fashion. It would have been nice if JohnnyB had given us an Imperial Hint ($12.00) that the pocket rocket from Tampa Bay Downs was firing on all cylinders for the Vanderbilt. So next time you think a horse might break a 37 year old track record please do share.

NDSC32 and Trapshot25 may have 57 varieties between them but they came up with the right recipe putting Channel Cat ($29.20) in at a very nice price. It seems that Tacitus and his jockey would find trouble in a one horse race and it happened again in the Jim Dandy where Tax was the main beneficiary but not even Bobtailnag was able to cash a refund.

On to the finale where Badactor went four deep aiming to hit another home run . It would have been fitting had Time Expired won given that the race went off at 7.25 but sadly it was the Chad Brown trained favorite Surge Pricing ($6.00) that motored home in front and that didn’t give a Lyft to anyone.

[jolyb]

In your Day 12 commentary, you were at a loss to explain the derivation of the name for Shekky Shebaz, the Presque Isle shipper and winner of yesterday's third race.  This morning's Saratoga Special heard your plea and obtained the answer from owner/trainer Adam Rice's mother.  She explained that Adam had watched The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air as a kid and in it actor Will Smith had once claimed his name was "Shekky, Shekky Shebaz." 

[cherokeescot]

That’s great . Love hearing how owners come up with unusual names. There’s a horse running in the Amsterdam today called Wendell Fong. I found out that the name comes from an episode of Frazier when Niles answers the phone and says “There is no Wendell Fong here” . The owner confirmed to me that he’s a Frazier fan . I take the recap very seriously 😜


Ps. Some of my references can be pretty obscure so feel free to post any queries here if you need an explanation .

[cherokeescot]

Day 13

“I don’t believe it “. If any of you have seen the British comedy series , One Foot in the Grave , that was the catchphrase of the show’s leading character,Victor Meldrew , and that’s what I was screaming after the last race on Sunday. It’s always been my view that to win this contest you have to select at least one huge long shot winner. Over the years the majority of those long shots have come in the last race of the day , therefore I always look for one in the finale. On Sunday there were two first timers that fitted the bill. At first glance I was sure I’d found one in Heartstrings. It was even the first horse that came up in Ziggy’s free PPs . That surely was an omen and finally how many Line of David runners do you see at Saratoga ? So that was it decided , Heartstrings it was . But wait a minute what about this other long shot , E Z Lorelle . And look her trainer has had only 3 runners at Saratoga and they were two winners and a second. So with that I pulled Heartstrings and the rest is history. If I only had a tiny Bitowisdom like one member of our group I would have held on to my Heartstrings ($81.50) and be up near the top of the leaderboard instead of languishing near the bottom along with host Ten Furlongs with a solitary low price winner .

The other big news of the day was that SBWest’s Romantic Pursuit ( $37.20) of the title got a big boost in the tenth which took him to the top of the table. Jeff the Baker is not clowning around in his challenge debut and Pagliacci ($14.80) hit all the right notes in the 9th. Shancelot ($4.70) certainly put his rivals to the sword in what was surely a knight to remember for both his connections and Big Red 1 but unfortunately the word was out on this monster and he did not payalot. Finally if you had a winner Sunday and I didn’t mention it then sit back in your chair , roll your eyes and say out loud “ I don’t believe it”
 

[goldandmyrrh]

It's A Gift($19.32) you have Bev to come up with your clever fittingly funny references. I didn't see that Frasier episode, but perhaps the writers derivation was this scene from the WC Fields movie.

[tc]

Jul 29, 2019 15:15:42 GMT -5 cherokeescot said:

Day 13

“I don’t believe it “. If any of you have seen the British comedy series , One Foot in the Grave , that was the catchphrase of the show’s leading character,Victor Meldrew , and that’s what I was screaming after the last race on Sunday. It’s always been my view that to win this contest you have to select at least one huge long shot winner. Over the years the majority of those long shots have come in the last race of the day , therefore I always look for one in the finale. On Sunday there were two first timers that fitted the bill. At first glance I was sure I’d found one in Heartstrings. It was even the first horse that came up in Ziggy’s free PPs . That surely was an omen and finally how many Line of David runners do you see at Saratoga ? So that was it decided , Heartstrings it was . But wait a minute what about this other long shot , E Z Lorelle . And look her trainer has had only 3 runners at Saratoga and they were two winners and a second. So with that I pulled Heartstrings and the rest is history. If I only had a tiny Bitowisdom like one member of our group I would have held on to my Heartstrings ($81.50) and be up near the top of the leaderboard instead of languishing near the bottom along with host Ten Furlongs with a solitary low price winner .

The other big news of the day was that SBWest’s Romantic Pursuit ( $37.20) of the title got a big boost in the tenth which took him to the top of the table. Jeff the Baker is not clowning around in his challenge debut and Pagliacci ($14.80) hit all the right notes in the 9th. Shancelot ($4.70) certainly put his rivals to the sword in what was surely a knight to remember for both his connections and Big Red 1 but unfortunately the word was out on this monster and he did not payalot. Finally if you had a winner Sunday and I didn’t mention it then sit back in your chair , roll your eyes and say out loud “ I don’t believe it”

 

Bev,

Not that I'm in a position to offer advice but I did feel your pain after reading your recap.  Sometimes, you just have to play 2 in the same race...especially when one of them ends up an $80+ winner

Everything else you say about winning this contest is absolutely correct.  Need longshots and they more often than not can be found in the last race.  

Btw, you forgot to mention my $3 winner...LOL.

[cherokeescot]

Btw, you forgot to mention my $3 winner...LOL.[/quote]


“I don’t believe it”

[cherokeescot]

Jul 29, 2019 18:49:23 GMT -5 goldandmyrrh said:

It's A Gift($19.32) you have Bev to come up with your clever fittingly funny references. I didn't see that Frasier episode, but perhaps the writers derivation was this scene from the WC Fields movie.

Thanks for the compliment Warren . I am sorry however but I have to correct you on the pay out of It’s A Gift ($19.34)

That’s just my two cents 😜

[eye123]

Bev, woulda,coulda,shouda been there, done that (the horse players creed (we've all been there) ) (The new cooler ? ) lol!

[cherokeescot]

Day 14



Racing returned to the Spa Wednesday but normal Servis was not resumed when the hot favorite finished last in the opener in what might have been a Team Win ($9.10) for racing in general but not for any of our group in particular. 5 Wide went 2 deep in the second but despite having an incredible miss he still managed to score with Big Benny’s Tribute ($10.40) like the good man he is. Into Mischief is a hot Stallion right now and it was another of his offspring , Risky Mischief ($3.50) who brought home the Bacon for Bitowisdom and Ozzy in the third. Pickens were slim for the next three races with winners rarer than one eyed jacks but thankfully sweet mother of Jesus the barren spell was ended when Mascha ($4.30) took the seventh for Kinley2017.

All the world’s a stage and we are merely players in this contest but it was Ziggy who took the star billing on a rather lackluster day when Theaterintheround ($17.00) was directed into the winner’s circle in the eighth. Finally , as soon as I post a long thesis on why to pick long shots in the last race then Morelikelythannot ($5.70) the favorite is going to win it which really left me browned off again.
Still the good news is that we have now got hump day over and done with and an exciting weekend lies ahead.

[cherokeescot]

Day 15

W.C. Fields is quoted as saying “If at first you don’t succeed, try try again. Then quit. No use in being a damn fool about it.” That’s the feeling our group had after going winless in the first three races at the beginning of August at the Spa. However Gallant Bob lived up to his name did not quit and along with the entire population of a small village in Illinois cheered home Pecatonica ($10.00) in the fourth..

After stopping for a Tiple ($7.40) in the fifth , it wasn’t a case of black or white in the sixth as the consensus went for I Love Jaxson ($13.60) who ran flat out to win in a thriller to the delight of Triguy, HRHobby, Italian Stallion and of course Sammy the Sage. Newcomer Nan53 found a bit of wisdom also in the eighth when Empressof the Nile ($4.20) had just enough motion to tagg Ferdinanda and for once leave Chad hanging off the board. 

Triguy’s Good Thursday was complete when King Zachary ($18.40) ruled in the ninth and sympathies to BertConvy who picked him last week when he was totally lost in space on the turf.

[italianstallion]

Hey Bev

Look at the italianstallion, he has quietly STUMBLED into 10 th place in the standings.

LOL. , Gene

[italianstallion]

Bev, I should add the drunken italianstallion has STUMBLED into 10th place.

LOL

[cherokeescot]

Day 16

Drove up from Philly to Saratoga to find the track enveloped in a Northern Haze ($15.60) which mysteriously cleared after the opener. In the second race we all got fleeced when the longest shot on the board, Mazmania ($37.40) won as cool as you like. We should talk about a $40k claimer trained by Jason Servis breaking the track record in the fourth and Macagone ($5.00) was one of two winners on the day that put the Italian Stallion up into tenth place. Chief Know It All ($12.60) knew it all in the fifth while none of our group were heroes again but did however manage a passable Sergeant Schultz impression. 

Bemma’s Boy ($5.80) was a popular winner of the sixth but could not have done it without the support of Sammy the Sage, WrightStuff and the afore mentioned , now drunken, Italian Stallion. Our winning streak stalled when favorites Casa Creed ($6.00) and Tom’s D’Etat took the eighth and ninth. In the featured Saratoga Oaks , Concrete Rose ($2.60) cemented her position as the top 3 year old folly of the year but at that short price not even JolyB picked her. Finally WrightStuff rounded off the day on a bright note when Mrs Orb ($7.20) although he had to endure 10 minutes of anxiety before the Stewards reviewed the NYRA rules book the and decided they could not take down a winner ridden by one of the Ortiz runners

[cherokeescot]

Day 17

Saratoga was awash in pink as the racetrack community gathered in large numbers to honor the memory of the late great Mary Lou Whitney with even Governor Cuomo making a surprise appearance (Ps he said recently he did not like horse racing)

Fearing a possible backlash no one selected Our Country ($6.80) in the opener and all the Grandpas (including yours truly) missed out on Grumps Little Tots ($10.40) . After three races not a soul had hit Glory Road ($3.50) and Our Way ($13.20) was not paying any dividends either in the fourth.

Leinster ($5.50) avoided a world of trouble to pull off a munster win in the fifth and got our group off the mark with Triguy, Cruzan and Shoes all scoring.
En Wye Cee ($23.40) should have been a popular choice but our group were having a bad spell Saturday.

Lucullan ($5.90) had a lavish win in the seventh but only Eye123 saw that coming. The next three races all saw us drawing a blank before MySaladDays Fled ($8.10) home in a Pedalcar after the finale. 
By the way a big shout out to Bert Convy who has started a great trend of contestants now adding graphics to their selections. However Bert’s post on Saturday raised the bar considerably . Awesome . Just a shame they were all losers ! 

[cherokeescot]

Day 18

It’s party week in Saratoga with the Fasig Tipton sale going on and even the cowboys are having a paella fun. Unfortunately this means that the daily recap has the potential to be delayed but I promise to catch up as soon as the dark days are over. 

Doctor Disaster was making house calls on Sunday and had the prescription for success with Daphne Moon ($6.30) in the opener  and a few beers later followed up with some Celtic Chaos ($13.20) in the third. Fortunately none of our group had Crystalle in fourth who had she not been disqualified would have paid $86 ! A long dry spell engulfed us for five races before NDSC 32 and Ozzy sewed up the ninth with a Thread of Blue ($28.40)🧵 . 

Goldandmyrrh and Kinley2017 did not require any excuses on this beautiful Sunday (not that I saw much of it ) as they had a Perfect Alibi ($15.40). Finally I am now having to change my theory that the last race is always won by long shots to “the last race is always won by long shots or Chad Brown “ as I believe it would be Good Governance ($7.50) to do so .Daily Recap back on Wednesday ( hangover permitting ) 

Attachments:

[cherokeescot]

Day 20

The weather forecast predicted thunderstorms throughout Wednesday afternoon which scared away Ten Furlongs but fortunately the predicted monsoon did not hit the track until after the last race. 

Propro and Jacckk8 got got us off to flying start overcoming all the hurdles that were put in front of their choice Market Alley ($20.80) . o one zeroed in on Crack Shot ($11.80) in the third but Pedal Car kept motoring with Connectivity ($4.10) in the fourth while Bert Convy correctly forecasted Hardcore Folklore ($7.00)in the seventh.  

[trapshot25]

I had Ready to Escape in 7th race yesterday

[cherokeescot]

Day 21

Once again racegoers got lucky at the Spa as not only did the rain hold off but after Wednesday’s downpour the turf course was still firm. 

Cuddle Kitten ($3.30) kept super trainer Jorge Navarro’s run going in in the opener and My Roxy Girl ($5.00) chalked up another winner for Danny Gargan in the second. Mo Gee ($5.40) was the winning entry in the third to give Irad Ortiz a fast hat trick . Turbine fueled Potomac ($4.70) kept the winning short priced favorites run going in the fourth while TIz the Law ($9.10) looked a promising newcomer while tagging the 5th easily . Goldandmyrrh had no need to Restructure ($14.90) his ticket in the sixth.

Trapshot25 and 5Wide were Ready to Escape ($17.60) in the seventh while Out of Orbit ($11.70) (see picture below)led a procession in the feature. Hierarchy ($8.40) was sharp enough to sink the Belgrano in the ninth while Artemis Bridge ($23.40) was the longest shot to win on the day in the finale which delighted NDSC32 and JolyB