Horses to Watch – Ed Meyer
The weekend had all eyes on the Spa and Monmouth Park, and this was a great weekend to watch and wager. Tracks were stocked with graded stakes and solid performers. Good Samaritan won the G1 Jim Dandy making his first trip over the dirt for Bill Mott. The trainer always wins one on his birthday, and this was quite the present as he is heading toward the G1 Travers in late August. – Monmouth did not disappoint with a super undercard, and Girvin nailing McCraken on the square in the G1 Haskell. – Here are some runners who may have had a troubled trip or a good excuse for not making it to the winner’s circle. Keep them on your radar screen before heading to the windows. – Best of luck from your friends at BetPTC.com!
Saratoga
7/29/17
Race #7 – Alw – 1 1/16 on the turf – #7 – Mom’s On Strike
#7 – Mom’s On Strike = Filly by First Dude and she came flying late last in the $200,000 Pebbles. They made a rider change from Rajiv Maragh to Luis Saez who is winning (16%) on the turf and making her first start in 9 months. She was dropping in class and saw every bit of the track this day getting caught 4 wide on the first turn and 5 wide on the final turn. She closed like a downbound train getting beat by a 1 3/4. She’ll get into gear and rebound greatly off this race.
Race #9 – G2 Bowling Green – 1 3/8 on the turf – #4 – Sadler’s Joy
#4 – Sadler’s Joy = Son of Kitten’s Joy was making his first start off the shelf in 49 days for Thom Albertrani. He was exiting the G1 Manhattan and looked to fit like a glove in this race. Javier Castellano was weaving in and out of traffic getting caught wide a few times. Once he shook free and started to roll he was inhaled by the top two down the lane. I’m tossing this one to “race-rust” and we’ll look for good things to come on the next outing.
Race #10 – G1 Jim Dandy – 1 1/8 – #4 – Pavel
#4 – Pavel = Trainer Doug O’Neill shipped in from California off an impressive 6 1/2f mdn win. This son of Creative Cause may be a good runner to follow as he had to show the connections he has the makings but he may need a little more time. From a maiden score to a G1 across the country may have been too much to ask. Keep your eyes peeled for him next time out as I think he’ll reward his backers coming soon.
Saratoga
7/30/17
Race #8 – A.O.C – 6f on the main – #3 Duquesne Whistle
#3 Duquesne Whistle = Son of Posse from the Linda Rice barn had the services of hot rider Ricardo Santanna. He was making his third off the shelf (25%) and had a bullet work on 6/25 before his victory on 7/1/17 at Belmont. He looked like a good play at (12-1) and he lost his footing at the start and then had to be “snatched” up by the rider to keep off of another runner. Once he got moving he made a solid effort running 4th this day.
Belterra Park
7/29/17
Race #3 – Mdn Sp Wt – 1 1/16 on the turf – #6 – Grey Queen
#6 – Grey Queen = Shipping in from Indiana Grand for the Calumet Farm connections. Edgar Paucar was the rider and trainer Jose Fernandez is winning (20%) on the year. – This daughter of More Than Ready was blocked, shuffled back and still came flying very quickly to be a bridesmaid this day. – She gets her picture taken next out with a cleaner trip.
Race #4 – Starter Alw – 1 3/16 on the main – #4 – National Defense
#4 – National Defense = Solid gelding shooting for three-in-a-row. He was 6/8 ITM over the track and made a perfect stalking move under Euclyn Prentice Jr. – He made a ground saving move against the rail and tried to tip off for clear sailing. He was impeded and blocked and was forced to settle for 3rd until a DQ placed him 2nd. I spoke with the riders after he had a meeting with the stewards over this incident and the rider felt he had the best horse by far and lost much of his momentum after being forced to check up off heels. – He’ll be a tough guy next time to the races.