Last Days of Summer

It's hard to believe, but this is the last weekend of major Summer racing, lets take a look at Saratoga's final Saturday card.

I'm not going to preview the Personal Ensign as it's the same exact field as it was expected to go last week. Staying with the same top three that I picked last week.

9th Race - Saratoga - Saturday, September 3rd, 2011 STAKES. 7 Furlongs Dirt. Purse $250,000. Forego S. (Grade 1). FOR THREE YEAR OLDS AND UPWARD. No nomination fee. $2,500 to pass the entry box. All starters will receive a $1,250 rebate. The purse to be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 5% to fourth, 3% to fifth and 2% divided equally among remaining finishers if there are six (6) or more starters. All starters will be guaranteed no less than $1,000. If only five (5) or less were to start the purse will be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 6% to fourth and 4% to fifth. Anyhorse that competes in both the Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap and the Forego will have their entry fee waived for the Forego. Three Year Olds, 122 lbs.; Older 124 lbs. Trophies will be presented to the winning owner, trainer and jockey. Closed Saturday, AAugust 20, 2011 with 27 Nominations. (05:12 PM) (9) PP Horse A/S M/E Wgt Jockey Trainer
1 Jackson Bend 4 C L 124 Nakatani Corey S. Zito Nicholas P.
2 Sidney's Candy 4 C L 124 Velazquez John R. Pletcher Todd A.
3 Golddigger's Boy 4 C L 124 Elliott Stewart Preciado Ramon
4 Jersey Town 5 H L 124 Velasquez Cornelio H. Tagg Barclay
5 Hamazing Destiny 5 H L 124 Albarado Robby Lukas D. Wayne
6 Escrow Kid 4 G L 124 Castillo Oliver Doran Carl
7 Aikenite 4 C L 124 Castellano Javier Pletcher Todd A.
8 Regal Ransom 5 H L 124 Dominguez Ramon A. bin Suroor Saeed
9 Rule By Night 4 C L 124 Cohen David Asmussen Steven M.

While I'm disapointed that Trappe Shot was not entered, this is a pretty good field. Jackson Bend, Sidney's Candy and Aikenite know each other pretty well from their Derby runs last year. Regal Ransom is diff better going one turn then two, Jersey Town is coming off a good effort in his seasonal debut. I'm going with Sidney's Candy in here. He seems to perfer the one turn races when running on dirt.

Top Three:
Sidney's Candy
Aikenite
Jersey Town

10th Race - Saratoga - Saturday, September 3rd, 2011 STAKES. 1 1/8 Mile Dirt. Purse $750,000. Woodward S. (Grade 1). FOR THREE-YEAR-OLDS AND UPWARD. No nomination fee. $7,500 to pass the entry box. All starters will receive a $4,000 rebate. The purse to be divided 60% to the winner, 20% to second, 10% to third, 5% to fourth, 3% to fifth and 2% divided equally among remaining finishers if there were six (6) or more starters. All starters will be guaranteed no less than $1,000. If only five (5) were to start the purse will be divided 60% to the winner, 20% second, 10% to third, 6% to fourth and 4% to fifth. Any horse that competes in both the Whitney Handicap and the Woodward will have their entry fee waived for the Woodward. Weights for age. Three-Year-Olds, 121 lbs.; Older, 126 lbs. The estate of Mrs. William Woodward, Sr. to add the Woodward Challenge Cup, to be won three times, not necessarily consecutively, by the same owner before becoming his or her property. The owner of the winner will also receive a trophy for permanent possession and trophies will be presented to the winning trainer and jockey. Closed Saturday, August 20, 2011 with 22 Nominations. (05:45 PM) (8) PP Horse A/S M/E Wgt Jockey Trainer
1 Ice Box 4 C L 126 Lezcano Jose Zito Nicholas P.
2 Mission Impazible 4 C L 126 Velazquez John R. Pletcher Todd A.
3 Giant Oak 5 H L 126 Bridgmohan Shaun Block Chris M.
4 Rule 4 C L 126 Castellano Javier Pletcher Todd A.
5 Convocation 5 H L 126 Maragh Rajiv Jerkens James A.
6 Havre De Grace 4 F L 123 Dominguez Ramon A. Jones J. Larry
7 Flat Out 5 H L 126 Solis Alex O. Dickey Charles L.
8 Mambo Meister 6 G L 126 Jara Fernando Gleaves Philip A.

Ice Box did not return the races well. Mission Impazible looked like he was going to right way earlier this year, but has seemed to back up a bit lately, Giant Oak could be rounding back into form, Rule looks like he's finally putting it back together as well, Convocation is a horse who looks like he's on the edge of doing something big, but can't put it together. Havre de Grace is bringing up memories of Eight Belles, and is coming off a nose loss to her arch rival. Flat Out is the horse to beat here (even though Grace is the favorite) and Mambo Meister is a Florida specialist.

As much as I love Grace, I've prob. loved Rule longer. Keep in mind, I was estatic when I saw that WinStar had bought his dam (Rockcide) to bring his female family back into the fold. He did something that his famous uncle couldn't and that's win at Saratoga. I would love to see Uncle Funny Cide be proud of his nephew and give his sire Roman Ruler his first in-tact G1 winner (Homeboykris and Ruler On Ice are geldings). The big question will be will Grace's duel with Blind Luck in the Del Cap take too much out of her? It might a little bit, but I think she'll just out finish Flat Out.

Top Three:
Rule
Havre de Grace
Flat Out

That's it for today! Recap coming on Tuesday of next week.