Saratoga Report #6

3 Stars of the Week

– 1st Star: Willy Beamin (NY) – You win two stakes in the same week, how can you NOT be the number one star of the week?  On Wednesday Willy Beamin won a New York bred stakes with ease, then TWO DAYS later comes back to win the Grade 1 King’s Bishop.  Now that is spectacular!  I’m sure there will be lots of speculation about how he did considering Rick Dutrow is his trainer, but Willy Beamin still deserves credit.  He was claimed for $25,000 and now he’s a Grade 1 winner!  It’s an incredible story, and one that’s being overlooked because of all the big races that happened this weekend.  I, however, will not over look this accomplishment.  He’s the number one horse of the week, and I don’t consider there to be a close second.  Seriously, TWO STAKES WINS in the same week!  Unheard of in today’s racing.

– 2nd Star: Love and Pride (KY) – This is not a horse I expected to be one of the stars of the week, but the winner of Sunday’s Personal Ensign certainly deserves it.  I never considered Love and Pride to be honest, but she ran a great race winning in front running fashion.  She got a little help when It’s Tricky stumbled HORRIBLY out of the gate, and also was helped when Royal Delta didn’t fire her best race.  Regardless, it was a Grade 1 victory for Love and Pride, and also a free pass to the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic.  Also, she earned a solid beyer number of 100, which puts her in the same realm as some of the top females.  Love and Pride won’t be a favorite to win the Ladies Classic, but she’s certainly worthy of running in the race.

– 3rd Star: Alpha (KY) and Golden Ticket (KY) – The mile and one-quarter distance of the Travers couldn’t separate them, so how can I?  The race that had lost so much steam because of injuries, fevers, and defections sure did provided us with a thrilling race after all.  Golden Ticket ran the race of his life and looked to be the winner until the very end.  Alpha ran solid once again, and I think his name is one that can be considered among the top five three-year olds.  He’s been great in New York, and showed a lot of heart in catching up to Golden Ticket in the final strides.  I’m not sold on either one of these two as “elite” horses, but they’ve both proved to be solid when running their best races.  I hope both these horses remain sound, and move forward to face each other again.

– Honorable Mentions: Turbulent Descent, Sign, Contested, Optimizer, and Zagora

Flop of the Week

– Trinniberg (KY) – Big time flop from Trinniberg in the King’s Bishop.  As expected he set the pace, and while the fractions were fast, they weren’t blazing.  Entering the stretch you could tell he was done, as he faded to finish ninth out of ten horses.  Also flopping in this race was Currency Swap, who was the favorite and finished off the board.  Both deserve the “Flop of the Week” but I chose Trinniberg because he finished worse than Currency Swap.

Trainer Standings

Rank	Trainer Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $		Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Todd A. Pletcher	117	30	18	11	$2,710,528		26%	59	50%
2	Chad C. Brown	78	22	19	11	$1,511,122		28%	52	67%
3	Steven M. Asmussen	56	11	9	9	$816,668		20%	29	52%
4	George Weaver	51	10	1	7	$503,773		20%	18	35%
5	Anthony W. Dutrow	35	9	6	3	$459,991		26%	18	51%
5	Bruce N. Levine	41	9	10	3	$439,418		22%	22	54%
7	William I. Mott	72	8	14	11	$1,242,430		11%	33	46%
7	Christophe Clement	41	8	7	7	$606,179		20%	22	54%
7	Rudy R. Rodriguez	54	8	6	12	$489,993		15%	26	48%
7	Gary C. Contessa	64	8	7	7	$395,787		13%	22	34%
11	Kiaran P. McLaughlin	39	7	5	5	$1,636,732		18%	17	44%
11	Richard E. Dutrow, Jr.	50	7	12	9	$960,993		14%	28	56%
11	Eddie Kenneally	34	7	10	3	$490,796		21%	20	59%
11	David Jacobson	39	7	6	4	$404,656		18%	17	44%

Jockey Standings

Rank	Jockey Name	Sts	1st	2nd	3rd	Total $		Win%	Top3	Top3%
1	Ramon A. Dominguez	241	57	46	36	$4,206,890		24%	139	58%
2	Javier Castellano	224	40	34	31	$3,006,568		18%	105	47%
3	Jose Lezcano	175	29	31	24	$2,077,447		17%	84	48%
4	John R. Velazquez	118	26	13	11	$3,195,410		22%	50	42%
5	Joel Rosario	185	23	24	29	$1,839,547		12%	76	41%
6	Junior Alvarado	170	21	23	25	$2,038,956		12%	69	41%
6	Julien R. Leparoux	160	21	25	16	$1,771,102		13%	62	39%
8	Rosie Napravnik	178	17	18	18	$1,552,624		10%	53	30%
9	Rajiv Maragh	182	15	20	19	$1,291,086		8%	54	30%
10	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	183	14	21	21	$1,608,629		8%	56	31%
11	Cornelio H. Velasquez	130	12	16	19	$874,025		9%	47	36%
12	Alan Garcia	81	11	7	11	$1,143,948		14%	29	36%
12	Eddie Castro	107	11	9	11	$880,444		10%	31	29%

Preview to Next Week

– The P.G. Johnson Stakes – Wednesday – Two year old fillies – 1 1/16th miles (Turf) – $100,000

– The With Anticipation Stakes (Grade 2) – Thursday – Two year olds – 1 1/16th miles (Turf) – $200,000

– The Riskaverse Stakes – Friday – Three year old fillies – One Mile (Turf) – $100,000

– The Woodward Stakes (Grade 1) – Saturday – Three year olds and upward – 1 1/8th miles – $750,000

– The Forego Stakes (Grade 1) – Saturday – Three year olds and upward – Seven Furlongs – $500,000

– The Bernard Branch Stakes (Grade 2) – Saturday – Three year olds and upward – 1 1/16th miles (Turf) – $250,000

– The Spinaway Stakes (Grade 1) – Sunday – Two year old fillies – Seven Furlongs – $300,000

– The Saranac Stakes (Grade 3) – Sunday – Three year olds – 1 1/8th miles (Turf) – $150,000

– The Hopeful Stakes (Grade 2) – Monday – Two year olds – Seven Furlongs – $300,000

– The Glens Falls (Grade 3) – Monday – Fillies and Mares three-year olds and upward – 1 3/8th miles (Turf) – $150,000