They're on at Saratoga

July 30, 9:34 AMNY Horse Racing ExaminerBobby Smith

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Today's featured races at Saratoga: claiming races!

They managed to get started well enough at the 141st Saratoga Thoroughbred meeting yesterday. In recent past opening days, track announcer Tom Durkin’s announcement of, "And they're off at Saratoga!," was apparently taken literally, like when steeplechase horses would fall and toss their riders 30 seconds into the race, or when a class-dropping claimer that hadn’t raced in many months opened up a three-length lead in the stretch, then broke his leg, fell, and sent the rider flying and crashing. Yes, they really were "off at Saratoga."

But bad planning isn’t always met with the bad luck associated with it. Yesterday, only one of the five grass races scheduled had to be moved to the main track after rain hit at mid-day, and horses waited until the fourth race of the day to break bones and strain ligaments. A horse trained by a trainer currently appealing a six-month suspension for administering illegal medications in Texas won what they call the “featured” race, although the feature races of any day at the track really are the ones that a bettor targets for his own personal interest as the best available opportunities to make money. You know, like the following at Saratoga today, where big-name trainers desperate for wins are eyeing chump change with arranged mismatches on the scale of Florida vs. SMU in football:

THURSDAY, JULY 30
Saratoga
Race 2 (1:35 pm, ET)
Type: 3-yo
Class: $20,000 Claiming
Distance: 6 furlongs
Surface: Real Dirt
Trainer: Ken McPeek
Horse: Inquisition
Rich guys go slumming alert! This thing was purchased for $215,000 as a yearling by the Allan Parsons Project – I mean the Allen Paulson Living Trust. But to get it to break its maiden, Mr. I Retired For A While But Then I Came Back McPeek resorted to a Two Turns to One, Grass to Dirt Tango with a class drop to a Maiden-Claimer to get 10-1 odds on the horse. On that particular day, it was coming off 21- and 29-length losses. Today, it is coming off 16 and 18-length losses. You don’t ship a horse from Keeneland to Saratoga to get it claimed. They could have gone to Ellis Park for that. You ship a horse from Keeneland to Saratoga to take the sting out of overpaying for a $20,000 claimer that has earned back only $15,000 of the initial $215,000 investment. ‘Boy, we really showed them today!’ On July 3, McPeek went fishing for suckers at Churchill Downs by entering this thing for $50,000, to see if anyone would claim it so they could cut their losses. Today, it’s a huge class drop, and blinkers on. Robbie Albarado rode him for the first time in the stiff, er, $50,000 claimer at Churchill and will ride him again today. Come on with this 2-horse!

THURSDAY, JULY 30
Saratoga
Race 3 (2:08 pm, ET)
Type: 3-yo and up
Class: $25,000 Claiming
Distance: 6 furlongs
Surface: Real Dirt
Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
Horse: Jazz Nation (#4)
D. Wayne takes this thing from four straight off-the-board grass sprints at Churchill Downs and Pimlico, to a dirt sprint at Saratoga. His last race, for $50,000 claiming, (like the class level used by McPeek above), was against Orphan Brigade, a winner of 21 lifetime races who has never raced below that level when available to be claimed. D. Wayne -- record-setting, multi-million dollar purse earner of the past -- goes slumming for chump change at the Spa. You gotta love it. Come on with this 4-horse!

For more info: Bobby Smith is editor of sportsreporter.com